TRIP: Cossatot River State Park, Arkansas

While we were camping at Queen Wilhelmina SP in Mena, we decided to take a day trip to another state park just to see more of Arkansas. Just a little over an hour was all it took to get to Cossatot River State Park-Natural Area. It is almost hard to describe how incredibly beautiful this park is.

We did get a little lost on the way there ending up at the north river crossing instead of the south. My persistent husband took us down an unpaved road to get to the right spot. See the red line on the map below for the path we took. 

It ended up being a really pretty drive in the tree processing Arkansas countryside and some well maintained gravel roads. It shaved a good amount of time off our journey had we taken a highway to get to the falls it would've taken much longer.





When we finally arrived to the correct part of the park we were blown away by the beauty of the rocks and boulders, the crystal clear water, the tall pine trees and rolling hills that completed the scenery. It was quiet and peaceful while we were there, only seeing two other adventurous souls out there aside from our family. We climbed, skipped rocks, and hiked around taking oodles of pictures.

There are no RV sites available at Cossatot SP, but there are primitive tent sites available (I'm too spoiled for that now) so the day trip worked out just fine for me! Our only regret was not packing a picnic to share at the cozy picnic areas nestled around these rapids. Maybe one day soon we will return in the summer when we can wade in these beautiful Arkansas spring waters.