Plum Bayou Mounds Archaeological State Park (Blog Hike #825)

Trail: Plum Bayou Trail
Hike Location: Plum Bayou Mounds Archaeological State Park
Geographic Location: southeast of Little Rock, AR (34.6456, -92.0599)
Length: 1.7 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: July 2020
Overview: A nearly flat hike around Arkansas' tallest ceremonial burial mounds.
Park Information: https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/plum-bayou-mounds-archeological-state-park
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=825978
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: On the southeast side of Little Rock, take I-440 to US 165 (exit 7).  Exit and go south on US 165.  Drive US 165 south 12 miles to SR 386 and turn right on SR 386.  The park is 0.6 miles ahead on the right; park in the only parking lot.

The hike: Jutting up to 50 feet above the otherwise dead flat farmland of central Arkansas, the 18 mound complex protected as Plum Bayou Mounds Archaeological State Park (formerly known asToltec Mounds Archaeological State Park) contains the tallest surviving ceremonial burial mounds in Arkansas.  The mounds were built by the Plum Bayou people, who lived in permanent villages throughout eastern and central Arkansas from 600 to 1050 AD.  The Plum Bayou people had a distinct culture from their contemporaries of the Mississippi River valley, and these mounds stood near the Plum Bayou's largest village.  Thus, much of what we know about the Plum Bayou people comes from archaeological work done at this site.

            Despite the park's former name, the Toltec people who lived 1000 years ago in present-day central Mexico have no known connection to this site.  The site was given the name Toltec by Mrs. Gilbert Knapp, who owned this land from 1857 to 1900 and mistakenly thought the Toltecs had built the mounds.  Although the mounds have attracted national interest for over 100 years, the state park was established only in 1975, and the mounds were designated a National Historic Landmark only in 1978.

            Of course the mounds form the centerpiece of the 132-acre state park, but the park also features a Visitor Center with many informative interpretive exhibits and an Education Pavilion.  For hikers, the park offers two short trails that wind among the mounds: the paved ADA-accessible 0.8 mile Knapp Trail and the dirt 1.7 mile Plum Bayou Trail.  The two trails cross each other at several points, and the longer and more extensive Plum Bayou Trail is the route described here.

Trailhead near Visitor Center

            First stop in the Visitor Center or Education Pavilion to pick up a trail guide for the Plum Bayou Trail, then begin at the trailhead located between those two buildings.  After following the concrete entrance trail for a short distance, turn right to leave the concrete and begin the dirt Plum Bayou Trail.  Numbered posts correspond to entries in the trail guide, and marker #3 tells you that this portion of the trail follows an ancient embankment wall that used to stand 8-10 feet high and form a semicircle around the south side of the site.  Most of this hike will be hot and sunny in the summer, and the site's large mounds can be seen across the grassy plaza to the left,.

Gazing at the mounds across the plaza

            At 0.4 miles, the trail curves left as you pass through a small grove of oak trees near the south shore of Mound Lake.  I hiked here on a stifling hot and humid morning in late July, and shade from the trees and a breeze from the lake provided welcome relief from the heat.  Now heading south, lettered signs mark locations of former mounds that were destroyed by time and/or the farmer's plow.  Large amounts of goose droppings smattered the trail here on my hike.

Mound A

Mound B

            Near 0.8 miles, you cross the two arms of the paved Knapp Trail and pass the two largest mounds.  Imagine all of the basketfuls of dirt that were dumped here to build these mounds!  Next the trail makes a loop through the southern corner of the park, which features some smaller mounds that have been excavated in attempts to learn more about the Plum Bayou culture.

            Ignore the road that exits left and leads to the park superintendent's house, choosing rather to turn right and intersect the paved Knapp Trail at 1.2 miles. Turn left to head for the boardwalk over Mound Lake.  Mound Lake is an oxbow lake that was the channel of the Arkansas River some 4000 years ago.  The Arkansas River now runs almost 4 miles north of here.  Parts of the boardwalk were closed for repair on my visit, but the lake breeze and shade from the shallow water's cypress trees made the boardwalk a pleasant spot.

Cypress trees in Mound Lake

Back side of Mound A

            On the other side of the boardwalk, the Knapp and Plum Bayou Trails run conjointly on a concrete surface for the rest of the hike.  When the Knapp Trail closes its loop, turn left to return to the parking lot and complete the hike.  Make sure you stop in the Visitor Center and view its exhibits on your way out if you did not do so before.