Welcome to Lake Fort Smith State Park
Lake Fort Smith State Park is your gateway to adventure in the natural diversity of the Boston Mountains. The park overlooks Lake Fort Smith in the rugged Boston Mountain Range of the northwest Arkansas Ozarks. Originally a 1930’s WPA Fort Smith city park, the area became a popular state park in 1973. Following a move from its original location, the state park reopened in 2008 on the western side of a 1,400-acre reservoir made by enlarging and joining lakes Fort Smith and Shepherd Springs. This is a beautiful lake surrounded by the Ozark Mountains, for recreation, plus, water storage to supply Fort Smith and the surrounding area. The 165-mile Ozark Highlands Trail has its western trailhead in the park. This backpacking trail, heralded as one of the most scenic in the nation, begins at our visitor center skirts Lake Fort Smith, enters the Ozark National Forest where it takes the hiker across hills and hollows, crevices, bluffs, and past numerous waterfalls. The backpacker can walk from the state park, across the Ozark National Forest, through several wilderness areas, and along the Buffalo National River. The park offers hiking and backpacking workshops, boating and kayaking courses, birding and wildlife courses, nature photography, art, and journaling classes, outdoor cooking, and many adventures by land and water. Every season is a new adventure in the Ozarks. From the splendor of the blooming dogwoods and redbuds in the spring to the blaze of bright oranges, reds and yellows in the fall, the mountains are always alive. A few moments of quiet observation at dawn or dusk reveals the sounds and sights of the bountiful wildlife which live here.


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