With autumn’s arrival in eight days, the cooler weather offers a great chance to get outdoors and not sweat a river.

Instead of scorching hot days, the fall offers a cooler breeze that whistles through the trees and a climate more hospitable to staying outdoors.

At the crossroads of several kinds of ecosystems, the greater Texarkana area is blessed with a fair amount of diversity in flora, fauna and landscapes.

Arkansas, after all, is called “The Natural State” for good reason. Nearby stops in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana also have distinctive natural settings to explore.

Here are six destinations you can get to quickly that put you right in the mix of Mother Nature’s glory.



Queen Wilhelmina State Park

Just outside of Mena, Ark., atop Rich Mountain, Queen Wilhelmina State Park gives glorious views from a sky-high perspective.

Come fall, park vistas should showcase prime color-viewing time from atop the mountain and in the thick of the forests.

“We have some great fall color,” said interpreter Brad Holleman. If there are cool nights and warm, sunny days between now and October’s end, he said, those colors will “really pop.”

“It’s never a waste of time to drive over here. We never have a bad fall. Just some are prettier than others,” he said.

The top of Rich Mountain is graced by the 38-room Queen Wilhelmina Lodge, first opened near the turn of the last century and named for a Dutch monarch.

“The first lodge was built back in 1898 by a railroad, and the railroad was traveling between Kansas City, Mo., and Port Arthur, Texas,” said Holleman.

Several trails and three campsites offer a chance to get up closer to nature’s wonders on the mountain. The Lovers’ Leap Trail offers a beautiful overlook, “a sheer dropoff and you look off to the south over a beautiful valley scene,” said Holleman.

Rich Mountain is also home to serious biodiversity. Animals such as the slitmouth snail are unique to Rich Mountain due to the elevation and ecosystem. The vegetation is also uncommon for the area.

“It’s very different up here on the mountain than it is in the valley below,” said Holleman.

Talimena Scenic Drive, a 54-mile National Scenic Byway, carves its way through the park and elsewhere in Ouachita National Forest, offering fine views and historic sites that tell about the area’s rich past, including the prehistoric Caddo settlers.

Phone: 479-394-2863.



Albert Pike Recreation Area

Like Rich Mountain, Albert Pike also rests inside the Ouachita National Forest.

Albert Pike, a popular spot for recreation of all kinds, sits on the Little Missouri River, where all sorts of water sports provide fun for the family.

Albert Pike is part of the Caddo Ranger District and has 54 campsites available with eight water and electricity hookups. There’s access aplenty to trails, such as the 15-mile Little Missouri hiking trail. Backpackers and serious hikers may enjoy the Eagle Rock Loop. And floating down the Little Missouri in a canoe is one way to see the landscape.

“The Little Missouri River runs through Albert Pike and that’s a wild and scenic river,” said Tom Ledbetter, recreation technician at Albert Pike, noting there are plenty of rocky outcroppings in this section of the Ouachitas.

He said the Eagle Rock Loop is the longest loop trail in the state as a combination of three trails and coming in at 26.7 miles.

Besides the people having fun there, the wild residents include black bears, deer, turkey and all sorts of small game species.

“During the wintertime from November through April the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission stock rainbow trout and a lot of folks will fish Albert Pike for rainbow trout,” said Ledbetter.

Elsewhere, there are opportunities for mountain biking and horseback riding. There’s also an amphitheater.

“At times there might be some conservation education or special programs,” said Debbie Ugbade, public affairs specialist with the U.S. Forest Service, which oversees park management.

“Albert Pike is a beautiful area,” she said.

Phone: 870-356-4168.



Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge

Situated on 27,500 acres near Lockesburg, Ark., the Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge is a haven for wetland and bottomland hardwood habitat off Little River.

Seven primitive campgrounds, plus hiking, hunting, fishing and birdwatching opportunities, make this a prime place to see wild animals up close.

“You can drive all the main gravel roads with any vehicle and observe the wildlife through the windshield,” said refuge manager Paul Gideon.

Bald eagles use the area late in the winter. Alligators find the refuge to be hospitable terrain, and tropical migrant birds come through in the spring to nest for the season. More than 200 species of birds live here at some point in the year, including several varieties of flycatchers, six different wrens and roughly 30 species of warblers.

“Just about any kind of bird you can image,” Gideon said.

Right now, said Gideon, visitors can spot deer, wild hogs, turkey and raccoons.

The refuge has about 45 miles of gravel roads and 27 miles of ATV trails for hunters, anglers, wildlife observation and photography. (Not for mudding, though.)

“You can use your tent or, if you’re tough, you can sleep on the ground,” said Gideon.

Forty-five miles of the seasonal Pond Creek wind through the refuge with several oxbow lakes. The Cossatot River runs through the eastern part of it, and the Little River borders the refuge to the south.

Phone: 870-289-2126.



Beavers Bend State Park

With its location along the Mountain Fork River and Broken Bow Lake in Southeast Oklahoma, Beavers Bend State Park entices with tall trees and clear waters.

Broken Bow Lake has more than 14,000 surface acres and 180 miles of shoreline.

“What makes Broken Bow Lake unique is there’s no development on the lake other than the park. It’s all undeveloped,” said park manager Jim Miller.

He said Beavers Bend has a bit of everything, including several lodging options. Forty-eight cabins and a 40-room inn offer nightly accommodations, as well as RV and primitive tent camping locations.

There’s also trout fishing year-round on the Mountain Fork.

“You can catch them any day of the year,” said Miller.

“The fishing on the lake is really good, too, and it’s a whole different type of fishing,” he said about the bass, walleye and crappie catching. “It’s two different extremes within a couple miles of each other.”

Hiking trails, star-watching, and arts and crafts at the nature center offer hands-on opportunities to learn, as well as the forest heritage museum that chronicles the history of forestry in Oklahoma.

A miniature train transports visitors through the woods. There are horseback riding, a marina and boat rentals. Downstream and outside of the park, kayaking and canoeing are popular pastimes along the river.

“Wildlife, we’ve got tons of it here,” said Miller.

Deer, turkey, squirrels, bobcats and a few black bears are among the creatures who call the park home.

There’s variety in the forest with pines and hardwoods like hickories and oaks.

“We have some huge trees, some large, large trees. It’s a gorgeous time to come here in October, November and December. You can’t beat it,” Miller said.

Phone: 580-494-6538.



Atlanta State Park

Just a half-hour drive from Texarkana and nestled on the south side of Wright Patman Lake, Atlanta State Park offers a woodsy wonderland and the usual recreational opportunities expected at a big lake.

“It is a very wooded park with a mixture of native pine and native hardwood trees. We are directly on (the lake),” said park manager Kody Waters.

Two boat ramps give lake access to anglers and boaters. There are 66 camping sites for relaxation and rest and 3.2 miles of hiking and nature trails to walk at your leisure.

“A lot of our trails have access to the waterfront. You’ll see some of it is very hilly. It’s a lot of rolling terrain,” said Waters.

Local wildlife populating the park include whitetail deer, squirrels and pileated woodpeckers, which are large and usually black with a prominent red crest. Waters said the woodpeckers can be found in smaller woodlots but prefer extensive forest habitat.

“You find a lot of them in your parks in Northeast Texas,” he said.

Springtime brings deer to the park, and there is one bald eagle nest, said Waters. Good eagle viewing can be found at Knights Bluff or at either boat ramp.

“You may have a chance to spot a bald eagle,” he said.

Phone: 903-796-6476.



Caddo Lake State Park

Near Karnack, Texas, sits Caddo Lake State Park with its lush bayous, bald cypress, Spanish moss and an air of mystery.

Right in the Piney Woods, the nearly 28,000-acre lake has much to make it one-of-a-kind. Caddo Lake, said interpretive specialist Chuck Hubbard, is “the only significant body of water which was formed through natural processes.”

The inundated forest has an average water depth of 8 to 10 feet.

Much like life at Queen Wilhelmina, biodiversity brings some interesting wildlife to the watery land here.

“Caddo Lake’s tremendous diversity of life is easily seen in the flora and fauna which stimulates the senses at every turn,” said Hubbard. “Wildflowers, birds and small woodland creatures are in abundance for the casual viewer.”

So who call Caddo Lake home? More than 500 species of plants, 200 species of birds, 90 species of reptiles and amphibians, 50 mammal species and 90 types of fish, said Hubbard.

As it is with the flora and fauna, the water is where human activity can be found. Fishing, swimming and canoeing are all popular, said Hubbard. Hiking and camping also abound.

On weekends, he provides nature hikes and a fishing clinic for the family. He also teaches folks something about owls (during the “owl prowl”).

“The list of activities is only limited by one’s own imagination,” Hubbard said.

Phone: 903-679-3351.