[outdoors] Devil's Den State Park

D and I were looking to enjoy the warm weather this weekend - sunny and 75 - so we looked into a couple hiking options  just south of Fayetteville. Devil's Den is a state park near West Fork, 30 minutes from our place. It is part of the Lee Creek Valley in the Boston Mountains and you can really feel the elevation change as you descend into the valley on Hwy 170 into the park.

The park was built in 1933 by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) amidst sandstone caves, bluffs, ravines, and rock shelters. The Butterfield Stagecoach line ran through the area in the 1850s and those caves and bluffs served as hiding places for outlaws. The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places CCC-related architecture.

We opted for a short hike on Devil's Den Self-Guided Trail, which is a National Recreation Trail. It is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. It passes by two of the most popular attractions at the park: Devil's Den and the Devil's Icebox. It also features erosional remants of sandstone strata, wet weather waterfalls and a variety of plant and animal life (Wikipedia). A trail leads from the visitor center to some of the most intriguing natural attractions in the park. Among these are the Devil's Icebox Cave, so named because of the cool breeze that can be felt coming from its mouth on hot 

days, and the remarkable Devil's Den Cave. A fracture cave like the Devil's Icebox, the Devil's Den Cave extends more than 500 feet into the mountain and is one of the largest fracture caves in America (http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ardevils1.html).

Without further ado, here are some pics of our afternoon!