Giving The Devil It's Due

Devil’s den state park. 

By Drew Harris

Situated near West Fork, just south of Fayetteville in Washington County, is one of Arkansas’s premier state parks: Devil’s Den.

This Natural State wonder atop the Ozark Plateau is the largest sandstone crevice area in the country, lending to countless caves, intrusions, bluffs and rock shelters. How the area got its name is a matter of conjecture; maybe it was from the outlaws and Confederate raiders who used its crevices and ravines to hide from enemies. Or maybe it’s the boulder where Satan himself is said to have left a hoof print. Regardless of backstory, this jewel of Northwest Arkansas is a little slice of heaven providing one hell of a good time.  

Construction of the 2,500-acre park was begun in 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps program, an effort to increase employment during the Great Depression. Devil’s Den is considered one of the best-preserved CCC projects in the United States with wood and stone structures that attest to and complement the rugged natural surroundings. 

The park has three group facilities well-suited for family events or business gatherings, plus a pool and an 8-acre lake for fishing and canoeing. Devil’s Den also offers a variety of lodging choices when it comes to overnight stays.  

Full-service cabins in one-, two- or three-bedroom and studio sizes offer everything one might expect, including full kitchens with cookware, dinnerware and, yes, television. (But try not to turn it on.)  

Camper cabins are heated and cooled and sleep up to four people. Each cabin has a screened porch, an inside dining table and a picnic table. However, these accommodations have no kitchen or bathroom (patrons share a bathhouse) and guests must provide their own linens. 

If camping is your thing, options range from Class AAA sites with water, electricity and sewer to Class D walk-in.  

There are more than 60 miles of trails in the park open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding, with some sections of the well-defined paths and old roadbeds overlapping and intersecting. It’s important to note that some of the trails are shared by bikers, hikers and horses alike, so pay attention if your activities are on a weekend when usage is at its peak. Difficulty levels range from easy to strenuous, and all trails are marked. 

The Butterfield Hiking Trail is named after the stagecoach line that carried mail from St. Louis and Memphis to Fort Smith. Rated by the park service as strenuous, this 15-mile loop ventures across park boundaries into the Ozark National Forest. A leaf peeper’s dream, it offers phenomenal views, including Vista Point and numerous rock outcroppings. Free backpacking permits issued at the park office are required. 

Fossil Flats runs along Lee Creek, rated moderate. The trail lets you choose the distance you want to travel from roughly 2.5 to 6 miles. Once you see the exposed rock in the creek bed and spot a few fossils left over from the Niobraran Sea during the Cretaceous period, you may want to slow down or extend your route. 

Vista Point trail is a strenuous, 8-mile trek that crosses Lee Creek and enters the National Forest before it ascends Holt Ridge. You’ll see the original quarry used by the CCC for rock structures and an old homestead, not to mention a look at the park from above. 

Named for a true trailblazer who helped establish the horse camp and maintain trails for the park in the 1970s, the moderate-rated Gorley King Trail begins at the horse camp and connects with Butterfield and Vista Point trails. 

Devil’s Den also has offerings for the casual walker and younger children who want to experience the outdoors. The Lake Trail follows the original pathway to the dam that creates Lake Devil, while Woody Plant trail covers mostly flat terrain around Campground E. The latter provides an opportunity to learn about the diverse plant life in the park. The self-guided CCC Interpretive Trail passes through the original camp and offers insight into the legacy of the program with several exhibits. 

The park also features a mix of some of the older mountain biking trails in the state and some new ones waiting to be enjoyed, called Monument Trails. These routes intersect and cross the hiking and horse paths and give up-close-and-personal looks at the geology and plant life in the park, provided you can take your eyes off the trail. Which, with names like Devil’s Racetrack and We Can Take It, may not be advisable unless you pull over. 

Difficulty levels range from a tame Green to Black Diamond rides that challenge those who thrive on technical. Routes show off the diversity of the park, taking the rider along bluffs, behind or through seasonal waterfalls and winding between cartoonish rock formations. 

The singletrack, downhill-only Orville carries the only Black Diamond rating, with a descent of 366 feet from a high point of 1,447 feet. Similar to Orville, Sparky is listed as an intermediate downhill-only run that shares a waterfall feature with its neighbor. Orville goes over; Sparky passes under.  

No matter how you experience it, Devil’s Den is one of the crown jewels of outdoor adventuring in Arkansas. Don’t let another summer pass by without paying it a visit.