Bull Shoals-White River State Park: Lakeside and Gaston Wildflower Garden Trails (Blog Hike #847)

Trails: Lakeside and Gaston Wildflower Garden Trails

Hike Location: Bull Shoals-White River State Park
Geographic Location: west of Mountain Home, AR (36.36367, -92.56764)
Length: 1.3 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: May 2021
Overview: A pair of short nature trails, one with good Bull Shoals Lake views and one through a native wildflower garden.
Park Information: https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/bull-shoals-white-river-state-park
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=872822
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From Mountain Home, take SR 5 west 6.8 miles to SR 178 and turn left on SR 178.  Drive SR 178 west 7.1 miles to the state park entrance.  The trailhead for the Lakeside Trail is found at the Lakeside Picnic Area on the right just inside the state park entrance.  To find the Gaston Wildflower Garden, continue west on SR 178 to Powerhouse Road, angle softly left on Powerhouse Road, and drive Powerhouse Rd. downhill to the campground entrance.  Angle left on River Road where the campground access road continues straight.  The parking lot for the Gaston Wildflower Garden is on the left less than 500 feet after beginning River Rd.

The hike: Built by the Army Corps of Engineers between 1947 and 1951, the Bull Shoals Dam on the White River was one of the largest concrete structures in the world at the time it was completed.  The Bull Shoals Dam and 6 others on the White River were authorized by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in response to severe flooding between 1915 and 1927.  The dam is located on the Marion/Baxter County Line in northern Arkansas, but the lake it forms goes well into Missouri to the north.

Bull Shoals Dam, as seen from Visitor Center

            Established in 1955, Bull Shoals-White River State Park protects 732 acres around the Bull Shoals Dam.  The park's Visitor Center provides excellent views of the dam and offers interesting exhibits about the area's natural and human history.  The park offers excellent amenities, which include a 103-site developed campground, numerous picnic areas, a marina, fishing on Bull Shoals Lake, and 4 short hiking trails.  When I came here on a cloudy afternoon in mid-May with thunderstorms threatening, I needed to keep my hike short, so I hiked 2 of the park's easier trails: the Lakeside Trail and the Gaston Wildflower Garden Trail.  These two trails are the ones described here.

Start of Lakeside Trail

            Starting with the Lakeside Trail, the Lakeside Trail begins at the east end of the picnic area as a gravel trail that descends over some wooden waterbars.  A sign at the edge of the woods tells you that this trail was built by the Young American Conservation Corps in 1979.  Just after entering the woods, the trail splits to form its loop.  To save the best lake views for last, I continued straight and used the trail going left as my return route, thus hiking the loop counterclockwise.

Hiking the Lakeside Trail

            Marked with yellow paint blazes, the trail heads northeast through dense forest dominated by oak, hickory, and sweetgum trees.  Interpretive signs identify some of the more common plants in this forest.  Ignore a red-blazed short-cut trail that exits left and soon cross a habitat boundary into much younger and thinner forest that borders the lake.  This younger forest offers good sightlines that allowed me to see a couple of blue herons along the lake.

Bull Shoals Dam across the lake

            At 0.5 miles, you pass a bench that offers a nice lakeside view of Bull Shoals Dam across the lake.  Next the trail re-enters the older and denser forest, and the red-blazed short-cut trail re-enters from the left.  After following the lakeshore and crossing a wooden footbridge, you reach a final lake view at 0.9 miles.  A short uphill walk closes the loop, and a right turn returns you to the picnic area to complete the Lakeside Trail.

Entrance to Gaston Wildflower Garden

            While you are in this part of the park, you may as well check out the Gaston Wildflower Garden, which is located near the campground.  More of a walk than a hike, a short system of concrete trails winds through the cultivated garden.  The garden features flowers and plants that are native to the Ozarks, and interpretive signs identify and tell you about the various plants on display.  The garden is named for Jim Gaston, former Commissioner of Arkansas State Parks, and it makes an interesting way to round out your visit to Bull Shoals-White River State Park.