Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Taking a forest walk

We went on vacation in Arkansas and went on some nice drives along the Buffalo National River. One spot that was accessible for my wife to get out was near the Henry R. Koen Experimental Forest. We had a picnic and enjoyed the view of the river and forest. Access to the Koen Interpretive Trail in the experimental forest can be found along the Erbie Loop drive on the following website: http://www.nps.gov/archive/buff/autotour.htm . It is a short and easy trail with a lot of labeled trees. If you ever wondered how they experiment on a forest, here is your chance. It is also worth a drive for the views and the old farmsteads along the way. A beautiful area with some great views of rugged hills covered with forest and, of course, the Buffalo river.
Petit Jean State Park has another wheelchair accessible trail that gave me great ideas for our property. It is a boardwalk to an overlook of Cedar Falls. It was easy to walk on and for her to roll on. I believe it would be a great way to make some of the seasonally flooded areas accessible to everyone. A short raised boardwalk over the water and around some of the pond would be great for seeing some of the wildlife. A boardwalk is a lot of work and needs a large amount of wood, but it may be the best option for the property for making it accessible.

No comments:

Post a Comment