When it’s complete, the Delta Heritage Trail will extend 84 miles, from just west of Helena to Arkansas City. After leaving Mississippi River State Park, I drove 20 minutes to the headquarters for the trail, at the Barton Trailhead.
The visitor center is housed in an old cotton gin, which I thought was very cool, but there are no exhibits, just a lame gift shop.
I got my passport stamped, and I felt like I should do something to earn it, so I walked south along the trail for about half a mile, then turned around and walked back. The trail ran arrow-straight on an old railroad bed through woods with no points of interest except this bridge.
One guy passed me on a bike, but otherwise I was alone for as far as I could see, except for this big bug.
Late last summer, I went birding in southeastern Arkansas with some friends. We stopped at the Arkansas City trailhead, the southern terminus of the trail and ate our lunches in the pavilion.
I went back last month, on the day I visited Lake Chicot State Park. Arkansas City is an unmanned trailhead, so I made my first attempt at doing a rub on the sign to get my stamp. I didn’t have a crayon or pencil, so I attempted to use a pen. It was such a major failure that I tossed that passport and began again with a new one. Anyway, when I was in Arkansas City, I took some photos of the interpretive signs that give a history of Arkansas City.
