Follow The Yellow Rock Road
View Worth the climb on devil's den hike
Last updated Wednesday, January 7, 2009 2:55 PM CST in Outdoors
By Flip Putthoff
The Morning News
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Devil's Den State Park--Simple noontime fare like a sandwich and a swig of water becomes a five-star feast when savored atop one of the most stunning overlooks in the Ozarks.
A gradual climb up the Yellow Rock Trail at Devil's Den State Park helps hikers acquire an appetite. The overlook that transforms bologna into prime rib is about a mile along the trail that meanders three miles total through the forest.
Views up and down the Lee Creek Valley are worth lingering for lunch or just to snap a few photographs. The headwaters of Lee Creek can be seen to the north. Vast, unbroken forest unfolds in every direction. Campsites and the heart of the state park are to the south from the Yellow Rock overlook. Yellowish stains of iron oxide on the bluff give the feature its name.
This vista is the high point of a hike on the Yellow Rock Trail, but there is much more to enjoy.
Steeped In History
Rugged, rocky scenery unfolds from the get-go at the start of the trail that hiker and backpacker Sandy Staszkiewicz of Rogers and I explored on a cool and overcast Saturday, Dec. 13.
Block formations the size of a two-story house greet hikers on the first steps where the trail enters the woods at the trailhead. Just beyond, the path makes a hard left at a switchback. Keep a keen eye out for this turn because it's easy to miss.
You're on the right path if you pass a small cave and almost bump your noggin hiking through a bluff shelter. This area, like the overlook, is also worth a linger before the trail heads up, up and up.
Railroad ties contain the trail tread on the initial ascent. The rough-hewn timbers conjure up visions of shirtless men wrestling with the heavy ties when Civilian Conservation Corps workers hacked out the Yellow Rock Trail. Devil's Den State Park and its trails were built in the 1930s.
No one knows how the 1,679-acre park got it's devilish name. According to park rangers, the area was called Devil's Den before it was selected for a state park in 1933.
The trail levels out for a ways and views of the rock formations at the trail head reveal themselves through the cedars.
A dogleg to the left and the trail heads uphill again. The Yellow Rock overlook and bluff are in the distance.
Path Less Traveled
Here it was a December Saturday perfect for hiking and we had the trail to ourselves. Crowds aren't a problem even on idyllic weekends. Brochures indicate that Yellow Rock is the second most popular trail in the park.
Devil's Den Trail gets the most use. It leads to Devil's Den Cave, a linear grotto that is open to exploring by anyone. Bring a flashlight if that's on your agenda.
The climb was truly a walk in the park for Staszkiewicz, who helps out on women's backpacking trips organized by Pack Rat Outdoor Center in Fayetteville. She's also got a solo rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike under her boots.
At the overlook, we visited with Erica Cason of Harrison and Leah Samour of Fayetteville, the first hikers we saw on the trail. They settled down on two boulders to enjoy lunch and the view.
High as the overlook is, it's not the top. There's another short climb with some dicey footing not long after the trail returns to the forest.
From here it's easy going along a level trail that crosses a small creeklet and winds through hardwood forest to a T intersection.
Hike to the right for one-half mile and you'll come to a pavilion that was built by CCC workers. Visitors in vehicles can drive to the pavilion and overlook on Arkansas 170 near the park boundary.
Go left to get back to the trailhead on a downhill tack most of the way.
We chose the left and Staszkiewicz stopped to wonder at an eye-catching flat rock situated at a small seepage of water. Square and triangular patterns in the rock looked too perfect. They had to be man made.
A peek at a trail guide available at the visitor center provided the answer: They're natural after all.
Water passing through the pours in the sandstone picked up quantities of iron. When the water reached a joint or crack in the rock, the iron came in contact with air to form ridges of iron oxide that are much harder than the sandstone. As the sandstone eroded, it left behind ridges of iron oxide that form the artsy patterns.
Just beyond, cedar boughs form a shady tunnel that hikers step through. At the next intersection hikers find themselves on the path they'd already traveled, from the trail on the way up to the overlook.
The upside is, it's all downhill from here. The downside? A pleasant hour or two on the Yellow Rock Trail is almost over.
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