Woolly Hollow is the closest state park to my house, and I go there often to bird and hike. It’s named for the Woolly family who moved to Arkansas from Tennessee in 1852. Martin Woolly, son of the original settlers, built a log cabin nearby. It was moved to the state park in 1974.
There’s a lake, with fishing piers and a swimming beach. There’s a campground. And there’s a hiking trail around the lake and some bike trails that cut through the woods. Sometimes I walk the lake trail, but when I’m concentrating on birds, I usually walk along the bike trail, thereby probably missing all the good birds.
There’s a scenic waterfall below the dam, but in the spring of 2026, when I took these photos, the water was very low and the falls was unimpressive. You can see how low the lake is.
The birding isn’t great, but I like the park because it’s not usually crowded. I’ve walked the trail at times when I didn’t meet another person.
When I got my passport stamped in the gift shop, the woman behind the counter really, really wanted to give me the Club 52 sticker, but that’s the prize for five stamps, and Woolly Hollow was only my fourth. I felt like I let her down.