Shady Lake Recreation Area

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Cabra Loca 87
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Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Cabra Loca 87 » Wed Jan 08, 2014 5:20 pm

I did some driving around this past weekend in the Albert Pike area and came across the Shady Lake Recreation Area. There is currently a lot of construction on the roads In the area between there and hwy 246. The campground was closed but the forestry service showed it to be open on the internet. I am from Texas and not familiar with this area. I just wanted to see if anyone had more details about the place and if it is closed to camping indefinitely like many of the other campgrounds around the lil mo.

Thanks,

Reese

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Jim E
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Jim E » Wed Jan 08, 2014 5:36 pm

"Officially" it is closed seasonally December 1 thru March 1st. It may be like other AR parks though and that just means the water and electricity is turned off, bathrooms closed etc. Was the new road work done up to the dam when you were there?
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737driver
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by 737driver » Wed Jan 08, 2014 5:41 pm

Dang! I was planning on taking the RV there this weekend. Love that little place!
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okieboater
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by okieboater » Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:18 pm

I do not know what is going on this winter, but in the summer time Shady Lake Camp is one of my favorite camps along the Mulberry.
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737driver
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by 737driver » Wed Jan 08, 2014 8:37 pm

I think they are talking about the Shady Lake in the Caney Creek, Albert Pike area. Down close the the Tot.
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okieboater
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by okieboater » Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:07 pm

Thanks 737driver, I am not familiar with that one. Thought it was shady lake off the mulberry

dave
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Moniker » Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:36 am

I've camped at Shores Lake close to the Mulberry many times,is this the campground you're thinking of Okieboater?If there are other campgrounds in the area I do'nt know about I would definetely like to check them out.
I checked the USFS Ouachita website and it shows the Shady Lake campground to reopen at the end of Febuary.
Shady Lake is a nice campground but it does fill up in the summer,lots of folks from Lousiana and Texas come up.My experience has been that people down there like to cook and like to share.I took steaks one time but between the fish fry on one side and the BBQ on the other I never got the chance to take them out the cooler.
I would definetly recommend Shady Lake.
"If it's a dull party,leave it that way."
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okieboater
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by okieboater » Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:21 am

Moniker


Shores Lake it is!!!

Having a senior moment there for sure.

Very nice place to camp and usually open spots as well.

dave
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Jim Krueger
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Jim Krueger » Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:48 am

Shady Lake has been a favorite of mine too for many years. I've never camped there but have stopped to walk around, picnic, etc. on many occasions when I was up in that area hiking or just making scenic drives. On one trip, I actually had my kayak with me so I paddled all around the lake. There are some great views of Tall Peak from several places around the lake, but I really liked the water-level view of it I had that day.
There are two great examples of WPA stone work there to see, one is a small bridge over the creek on the north end of the lake, and the other is of course, the dam itself. When I took a two year photography course at Henderson in the eighties, Shady Lake was some of my subject matter for sure.
I would encourage anyone that has the time while at Shady Lake to also hike or drive up to the top of Tall Peak for a look. There is an old stone fire tower up there that's a classic, and was still in use when I first drove up there in the seventies. The mountain top has become more of an antenna farm in later years, but the views are well worth the effort, on clear days you can look west over into Oklahoma, or back east across a large swath of the Ouachita mountains well past Albert Pike. There is a trail from Shady Lake up to Tall Peak, however I have never hiked it. I always drove up there until the Forest Service gated the road in the eighties sometime. On some trips over there, the gate would be open occasionally and I'd drive on up, other times when it was closed, I'd park and hike up the road.
The district Forest Service office in Glenwood would probably have current information about the gate access, as well as other questions related to Shady Lake.

Best Regards
Jim

Cabra Loca 87
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Cabra Loca 87 » Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:48 pm

Construction looked complete almost to the entrance of shady lake. Gates were closed however. As for the mountain tower I did pass a gate for it that was closed. How far is the hike from the gate up?

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Jim E
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Jim E » Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:38 pm

There used to be a gate about half way up the Tall Peak road that was always locked. Often took a 4X4 just to get there because of loose rocks and ruts added to the steep climb. Wouldn't doubt that they the entrance gated and intend for it to be a hike in only now-a-days. Next time you go, look around the lake dam and below as that is the put-in for the Upper Saline River float. Water needs to be flowing over the dam pretty good for it to runnable though.

Bard Springs area half way between Shady Lake and Albert Pike is a pretty place to visit also. Used to have primitive camping there but not sure if that has changed since the flood.
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Jim Krueger
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Jim Krueger » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:15 pm

The road up to Tall Peak is about two miles in length. Jim is correct, they used to have a gate about halfway up, then the located one back at the intersection some years ago. Also correct about the road being rough, when I went up there in the seventies, I drove my Ranchero up there, but gritted my teeth a little, much preferred the ground clearance of my truck later on. This area is in the National Forest, and the road listed as a NF road but I noticed it now carries a Polk County road number, at least on Google Earth. Regardless of the gates, the road is still my pick for a walking route.

I don't know about Bard Springs currently either, I do know Marlo and I stopped in there two years ago and there were campers there. Nice place.

Jim

Cabra Loca 87
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Cabra Loca 87 » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:29 pm

Bard springs was locked up as well. May just be off season though. What is the attraction to that campground? It was quite a bit further back in the woods close to a creek was all I could tell.

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wally
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by wally » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:25 pm

Camped at Shady Lake in October when the road construction was in a bad state. The dozer had to clear a place for me to pass. but there were quite a few campers there. Drove to Bard Springs and it was open but no campers. Campground looked to be in good shape and very interesting. Nice trail going from there back to Shady Lake. Really nice scenic area, well worth the drive.
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Jim Krueger
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Re: Shady Lake Recreation Area

Post by Jim Krueger » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:28 pm

For me, the attraction of Bard springs was it's cool location during the hot summers, just like Albert Pike, and Shady Lake. Also if a person wanted an equally easy access to Winding Stairs, the Ouachita Trail, the Athens-Bigfork Trail, and so forth, it was fairly centrally located. One of the attractions for me earlier on was that it was even a bit more remote than Camp Albert or Shady Lake, with pretty good access to either, and more. Of course I was a hippie too :D

Jim

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