Clinton Park Bridge

It's now been ten years since the Clinton Park Bridge was opened up to pedestrian use. It was back in September of 2011 that the pedestrian access on the old railroad bridge was finally dedicated. Since then the bridge has cemented its place as one of the most popular locations in Central Arkansas. Even in the midst of the pandemic, there is almost always people out walking or riding bikes on the bridge. The bridge itself is 122 years old, built in 1899 as one of three rail crossings in Little Rock.



The bridge offers some good views of the river and Little Rock, and also the Clinton Presidential Center (which opened in 2004).



And the view, looking down the bridge back towards the Library:

Muddy Waters

One activity we started during the pandemic would be to drive downtown and have a family picnic. We would pack up the kids, order takeout from Flying Fish and then find a shady spot on the grounds of the Clinton Library to eat a good meal while being socially distanced from everyone else. Now that things are opening back up, there is usually a good crowd of people in the park and on the bridge. And also, tons of people getting their pictures taken. It never fails, but there's always lots of people getting their senior/graduation/engagement/pregnancy photos taken at the park around sunset. I apologize to all of the other photographers out there who have had to photoshop us out of the background of their pictures.

But after eating our delicious meals from Flying Fish, we burned off the fried foods by taking a walk across the bridge. This night, some interesting clouds were reflected in the high and muddy waters of the river. The river was high, you can see how it had flooded the wooden walkways at the wetlands below.

Bridge Into The Fog

Thick fog still hung over the city, so even though it was starting to get really late I made one more stop at the Clinton Park Bridge by the Arkansas River. It is a great place to visit in foggy weather. The fog mingles with and amplifies the bright LED lights on the bridge. The result is surreal, as the night sky lights up with colors. It looks like the setting of some sort of science fiction movie.







The bridge was built in 1899 for the Choctaw and Memphis Railroad, and was called the Choctaw Bridge when it was built. The Choctaw Station, which was the original rail station, stil stands. It is now used by the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.





The bridge would be acquired by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and would be renamed the Rock Island Bridge. In the 1960s, part of the bridge was removed and a lift span was installed in order to allow for barges to pass underneath.





The bridge would next be acquired by Union Pacific in 1983, after Rock Island declared bankruptcy. The bridge was decomissioned, and sat unused. In the 1990s, Union Pacific wanted to demolish the bridge. But amazingly, the bridge was saved after protests by the governments of Pulaski County, Little Rock and North Little Rock.



In 2011, a $10.5 million rennovation was completed and the bridge was converted into a pedestrian span. The bridge now serves as the eastern end of the Arkansas River Trail, which stretches all the way to Pinnacle Mountain.





It was starting to get late (it was getting close to midnight), so I hurried to get a few more pictures. I headed down to the shore and got this view of the bridge reflected in the river.



These were taken on a Saturday night and there were a few groups of drunk people who were singing and laughing while walking on the bridge. I couldn't see them, but the noise they made drifted through the fog.



And one last shot before I drove home, of the bridge dissolving into the thick fog....

Something Fishy

My big present under the Christmas tree this year was a brand-new fisheye lens. So one night after getting the kids to bed, I headed downtown to make sure the lens worked ok. I ended up at the Clinton Park Bridge and started to set up the camera and tripod. But even though the trip was meant to test out a new lens, the first picture here is actually one taken with the iPhone (and a neat photo app called Spectre). There was a full moon that night, which is what made the clouds look so bright in the sky.



And here is the view of the bridge with the fisheye....



And the view of the bridge from the shoreline, with the Little Rock skyline poking out underneath the bridge.



And then the view from along the shore on the other side of the bridge, but for the next two shots I actually swithced over to a wide-angle lens. I was amazed at how still the river was, which created some nearly-perfect reflections in the water.



The reflections got messed up at one point because some sort of critter swam through the water nearby (it may have been an otter, or maybe something like the Loch Ness Monster?). Luckily it didn't attack anyone standing by the water taking pictures.



I headed over to the Junction Bridge and tried to get a few pictures with the fisheye lens. This is the view of the bridge, the skyline and the full moon hanging in the sky overhead.



It's amazing how many stars the fisheye lens was able to pick out in the sky (at least I hope those are stars and not just dead pixels in the camera). This is the view of the Main Street Bridge and the Junction Bridge, and in the middle is a sculpture named "The Center" by an artist named Chapel.



It was starting to get late, but I made one last stop at the State Capitol. I'm kinda surprised that I didn't get a visit from the security guards as I set up the camera and tripod right by the fancy brass doors at the front of the building. This is the shot looking straight up towards the columns, still showing off their festive holiday decorations. In the distance you can see Capitol Avenue and the rest of downtown.



I was able to get out again last night, and headed over to the Big Dam Bridge for a few pictures with the fisheye. This is the view of the bridge and the river, which also had some nice reflections (I'm guessing because the water level is really low right now).





And the view looking downriver, with the sky a mix of soft blue from the moon and warm orange from the city lights.



I switched out lenses to the wide-angle for this last shot, with some low clouds quickly moving across the sky above the Big Dam Bridge.

What We Do In The Shadows

One evening we went downtown and had a little picnic by the Clinton Library, and then walked across the bridge. It was getting late in the day, and the setting sun was causing deep shadows of the old bridge to appear in the muddy water of the river.

Tripod Test

I needed a new tripod since the legs of my old tripod had a tendency to randomly fall off (which isn't a great quality for a tripod to have). So when I got my hands on the new one, I needed to head out to test it out to make sure it works (which was just an excuse to go take a few pictures). I drove downtown and ended up at the top of a parking deck, sticking the camera on the new tripod and pointing it towards this view of the old Albert Pike Hotel (which was built in 1929).



And another view from the parking deck, looking west towards Main Street.



From there it was the quick drive over to the Clinton Library, where a short bridge crosses the Arkansas River onto a small island. The island was covered in sand, which I'm guessing was deposited there after the big flood last year. But all that sand made it seem like you could go and build sandcastles here in the shadow of the Clinton Library building and the old Clinton Park Bridge.



And some views of the Clinton Park Bridge, which was built 1899 for the Choctaw and Memphis Railroad.





And the view looking across the little bridge onto the island, which was submerged last year during the floods.





And one last shot, as the tripod proved to do a pretty good job on a cold and rainy night (which was good, since we were about to go on a quick trip and it needed to work well).