Finding Nebo

It was still pouring down rain as I drove towards home, but I did have enough time to make one last stop. So I exited off the freeway and made the curvy drive up to Mount Nebo State Park near Dardanelle. Mount Nebo sits at an elevation of 1,750 feet, which isn't that much compared to the mountains out West but it does rise dramatically above the Arkansas River Valley. I reached the top and, like White Rock Mountain, it too was covered by a thick blanket of fog. This was the view from the playground/picnic area:









Mount Nebo has been a state park since 1927, but before that it was a popular resort location. In the 1890s, two large hotels were on the mountain, each with over 100 rooms. Visitors would ride steamboats up the Arkansas River, since it was always a little bit cooler on top of the mountain. Plus there are a few springs which people thought may have had medicinal powers. The hotels are gone now, but you can still find a few old buildings scattered across the park. This building here was once a maintenance shed that was built in by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The area that is surrounded by the low rock wall used to house a well and pumping equipment.



Nearby was this small creek, which ran through a carpet of pine needles.



It was time to head back down the mountain towards home, but I couldn't help but stop a few more times to get pictures in the fog.





And the view looking back towards the mountain...



And then one last stop from the trip, before heading off to home. I drove by this old church in Dardanelle and quickly pulled over for a few shots...