Protected Areas
See also: List of Arkansas state parksArkansas has many protected natural areas administered by several different organizations. The Ozark Mountain forests have been subdivided into the Ozark National Forest, St. Francis National Forest, and the Ouachita National Forest, maintained by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service also maintains the Black Fork Mountain Wilderness, Blanchard Springs Caverns, and several other recreational areas within the forests.
Administered by the National Park Service (NPS), Hot Springs National Park was the nation's first national park. The park includes Bathhouse Row, a formerly bustling avenue of Gilded Age architecture bathhouses which used the spring water to cure dozens of ailments. The NPS also maintains three National Historic Sites in Arkansas: Fort Smith National Historic Site, Little Rock Central High School, and the President Clinton Birthplace. Pea Ridge National Military Park is the only National Military Park, and Arkansas Post National Memorial is the lone National Memorial in the state.
The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism maintains 52 state parks in Arkansas as well as Poison Springs State Forest. Parks range from large forested areas for hiking enthusiasts, to lakes and rivers for watersports, to interpretive historical sites, to cemeteries celebrating historically significant Arkansans. Some of the most frequently visited parks include Mount Magazine State Park, DeGray Lake Resort State Park, Crater of Diamonds State Park, Pinnacle Mountain State Park, Petit Jean State Park, Devil's Den State Park, Crowley's Ridge State Park, and Lake Ouachita State Park.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Arkansas
Famous quotes containing the words protected and/or areas:
“Guns have metamorphosed into cameras in this earnest comedy, the ecology safari, because nature has ceased to be what it always had been—what people needed protection from. Now nature tamed, endangered, mortal—needs to be protected from people.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“The discovery of the North Pole is one of those realities which could not be avoided. It is the wages which human perseverance pays itself when it thinks that something is taking too long. The world needed a discoverer of the North Pole, and in all areas of social activity, merit was less important here than opportunity.”
—Karl Kraus (1874–1936)