Cool Places to Stay: DeGray Lake Resort State Park.

Whether's it's for the fine fishing, a weekend escape or a celebration, DeGray Lake Resort State Park is flexible. Take a look inside this multi-functional park, one of the most popular destinations in the Arkansas State Parks System.

Roughing It In Comfort at Devil's Den State Park.

Tight budget? No problem. Worried about wildlife? No problem. No tent? At Devil's Den State Park in northwest Arkansas? No problem.

Sleep at Arkansas’s Oldest State Park Lodge - Mather Lodge at Petit Jean State Park.

On the edge of the crest of Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton, you’ll find one of the oldest places to stay in the state.  Mather Lodge has recently been renovated, but it still retains much of the original charm that’s been bringing people up the mountain for generations.

Exploring Conservation at Hobbs State Park Conservation Area.

Arkansas's largest state park is a preserved section of land along the south shore of Beaver Lake.  Let's take a look at Hobbs State Park Conservation Area.

Relax In Front Of A Roaring Fire at Lake Fort Smith State Park in Mountainburg.

I am rather fond of Lake Fort Smith State Park.  After waiting three years, I finally had a chance to spend a night in one of the cabins at this facility near Mountainburg.  It was extraordinary.

Wild Beauty at Cossatot River State Park Natural Area.

One of Arkansas's great state parks celebrates a river as clear as glass, which also offers some of the most challenging rapids to shoot in the state.  Hunter and I visit Cossatot River State Park Natural Area.

Cool Place to Stay: Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge.

Has anyone ever told you that you have your head above the clouds? There's one particular lodge along Arkansas's western border where you can stay above it all.  That great place is the recently renovated lodge at Queen Wilhelmina State Park.

A First Look Inside Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge.

Over the years, a series of lodges have sat atop the tallest peak along the Arkansas-Oklahoma

What a view.

border. Today, I had a chance to tour the latest of these lodges, the brand new lodge at Queen Wilhelmina State Park. And it’s a knockout.

A Little Fun at DeGray Lake Resort State Park.

As we're traveling, Hunter and I are staying at different places all along the way.  We'll be staying in a cabin and a treehouse later this week... but Tuesday night we got to stay at one of our state's excellent lodge parks.  DeGray Lake Resort State Park has a lot of fun stuff for adults, like golf and a spa and such.  And there's a lot for the kids, too.

Hunter and I explored Scenic Arkansas Highway 7 from end-to-end one week in March 2015.  Read my Twitterfeed @TieDyeTravels to see how our trip unfolded.

Because we're staying somewhere different each night, we didn't spend as much time as we'd like at DeGray, but we saw enough to know we're coming back soon.

We arrived in the afternoon, after our detours of flooded sections of Highway 7
to the south.  The sky was a perfect blue and the temperature was in the 70s.

Hunter wanted to see the hotel a little closer, and saw the brook that ran by
the first story rooms.

I noticed all the boats out near the marina. This has been the first decently warm
week we've had since fall, and people wanna go fishing.

We checked into our room, which had two beds with excellent luxury linens...

and an excellent view. But Hunter was far more interested in what she heard at the front desk...

that the heated outdoor pool was open.

It didn't take her long at all to be dressed and for us to be by the pool.  The water
was just great.  Unfortunately, as the sun went down, it got cold above the surface.
But we enjoyed it while it lasted.

While I got changed for dinner, Hunter had to write down
how she felt about our trip.

Lake DeGray has the most marvelous sunsets.

Hunter insisted she'd be staying up for a while, but once she curled up in bed
she was out like a light.

We didn't want to check out the next morning, but we had places to go... including
a special program on the park grounds.

Hunter wanted to learn, and a program offered in the amphitheater called Animal
Tracks, Scat and Sign fit the bill.

Our interpreter, Jonathon, used this handkerchief to show us
what different tracks and scat animals might leave in the woods.

He showed us Playdoh that had been molded to appear
like different forms of scat, and molds of different
animal tracks that might be found around the park.

Then we were off into the woods on the Towering Pines Trail, which makes a
half mile through a section of woods and comes close to the water's edge.

Jonathon pointed out this sign, which wasn't created by an animal. The black
marks are scorching from a controlled burn last summer.  Burning the area clears
out undergrowth and gives space for new pine trees to grow.

We went down to the lake's edge.  Jonathon told us the sand trap that's usually
a good place to find animal tracks is currently under water.  He also mentioned
that over the past few weeks, parts of most of the park's trails had been under
water, thanks to flooding in the area.

We were happy to see the somewhat overcast skies starting to clear.

We finally found something to check out -- a pile of scat directly on the trail.

After examination, we came to the conclusion that this was either skunk or
possum scat.

We continued along the trail, looking for more animal signs. Jonathon tried very hard
to find something else we could check out.

These mushrooms had sprouted alongside a decaying branch.

The Towering Pines trail is not paved or covered in gravel.  It's been left natural.
These small orange markings show visitors where the path lies.

After we completed the program and finished the trail, Hunter and I roamed the
park and looked around.  The folks on this party barge seemed to be having
good luck fishing.

We decided next time we come, we're going to stay in a yurt.  They're really
big and really neat, and we won't have to bring our own tent.  Hunter says we certainly
can stay here, but we have to go to the lodge to go swimming.  I think we
can manage that.

If you'd like more information about DeGray Lake Resort State Park, head over to this website. You'll find the park six miles north of Interstate 30 on Arkansas Scenic Highway Seven.

Nearby:

Exploring the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources.

Hunter and I are exploring Scenic Arkansas Highway 7 from end-to-end this week. Watch my Twitterfeed @TieDyeTravels for updates each day on where we've been and where we're headed.

The Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, formerly the Arkansas Oil and Brine Museum, is located in Smackover.  It's a facility that shares the history of oil and brine in the region, and the story of the 1920s oil boom that put Smackover on the map and got El Dorado dubbed "Boom Town."  It's a neat museum... and Hunter agrees.  Here's a quick photo essay about our visit to the museum.

There's a temporary exhibit right inside the front of the Arkansas Museum of
Natural Resources called Shaping Our World.  Hunter loved this chance to
get her hands into a little science.

She was especially enamored with the magnetic globe and iron filings, which
created "hair," as she called it.

You enter the main part of the museum by passing through a globe that shows
where oil is drilled all over the earth.  There's a tunnel that shows what each
layer of the Earth's crust looks like, then an explanation of how oil is made.

But this is what Hunter was really interested in... the time traveling elevator
that takes its passengers back 200 billion years in time.  She loves time travel.

When the doors opened, we were in a reconstruction of 1920s Smackover, complete
with a depiction of oil workers and the noise of striking oil.  This was a little
startling the first time.

Hunter headed straight into the town to look around.

This odd looking contraption was a mobile home made special for a local woman.
That's right -- she actually lived in this rolling home! It was found in the woods
and donated to the museum and now it's a historical curiosity.

Hunter got to see how the oil workers lived, with sleeping quarters in a small hotel.

She also saw where they slept when they broke the law.

This informational video incorporated historical photography and film to share
the story of the oil boom.  This is where Hunter learned how the mules would get
so tired of slogging through the thick mud in the streets, they'd just lay down and
drown.

The town of Smackover grew from 95 people to more than 12,000 very quickly,
as folks came in to strike oil themselves. Those individuals needed places to sta
and food to eat, and restaurants and hotels popped up.

There's a sign on the wall that shows some of the things these oil workers
might have eaten.

For people who like classic gas station memorabilia, there are a lot of old,
restored pumps and signs.

Hunter even learned how oil is pumped from the Earth.

But by far her favorite thing in the entire museum was this Tinkering Studio.
She didn't know what to do at this station at first,

But it didn't take long for her to figure out how to make great marble runs on a
pegboard from pipes, hoses and funnels.

If you're interested in the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, check out this Arkansas State Parks website or visit the museum at 3853 Smackover Highway (that's Scenic Arkansas Highway 7).