Things to Do on Lake Ouachita

Crystal Mining: Ron Coleman and the Quartz Culture

Ron Coleman's Quartz Mine in Jessieville is the largest open-to-public quartz crystal mine in the world. Visitors rent digging equipment, head to the crystal-bearing earth formations, and keep everything they find. The mine is open year-round and draws visitors from across the country who are serious crystal collectors, geology enthusiasts, or simply curious about the region's unusual geological character. The Mine itself is located in Garland County near the lake's eastern edge, approximately 25 to 40 minutes from most Lake Ouachita resort communities.

Several other pay-to-dig crystal operations exist in the Mount Ida and Jessieville area, each with different access, formation depth, and crystal character. Crystal dealers in Mount Ida -- including Crystal Seen Trading Company and Arkansas Crystal Works -- buy rough specimens, cut and polish finished stones, and display dealer inventory ranging from small chips to museum-quality multi-pound formations. The Mount Ida Quartz Crystal Festival, held annually in October, brings buyers, sellers, and collectors from around the country to the community for a weekend market event.

Ouachita National Recreation Trail

The 223-mile Ouachita National Recreation Trail is the signature long-distance trail of the region and one of the finest backcountry trails in the American South. The trail runs from Talimena State Park in eastern Oklahoma to Pinnacle Mountain State Park just west of Little Rock, passing through and around the Lake Ouachita area along the way. Sections of the trail near the lake offer ridge-top views of the lake surface from above -- a perspective available to hikers who put in the elevation gain to reach the ridge sections.

The trail is maintained by a combination of USFS staff and volunteer trail associations and is generally well-marked with frequent access points from road crossings throughout the Ouachita Mountain corridor. Day hikers have access to short sections through dozens of trailheads. Long-distance hikers completing the full trail use the Lake Ouachita area sections as an important mid-trail milestone. For full-time Lake Ouachita residents, the trail provides essentially unlimited hiking variety -- sections north, south, east, and west of the lake offer different character, and the trail can be accessed fresh from dozens of directions without ever repeating the same route in a reasonable driving radius.

Geo Float Trail

The Geo Float Trail on Lake Ouachita is the first water-based interpretive trail in the National Trails System -- a 16-mile self-guided boat trail developed jointly by USACE, the Arkansas Geological Commission, and the US Geological Survey. The trail guides boaters around the lake stopping at geological formations, explaining the Ouachita Mountain geology in context, and providing interpretive information about the crystal quartz formations, folded rock structures, and ancient seabed evidence visible in the lake corridor. Geocache stations along the trail add a navigation game element to the geological education.

Iron Mountain Trail System: World-Class Mountain Biking

The Iron Mountain Trail System near the DeGray Lake Resort area -- approximately 45 minutes to one hour from most Lake Ouachita addresses -- offers 24-plus miles of singletrack mountain biking described by regional riders as among the best in Arkansas and competitive with trail systems that draw national-level event traffic. The trail system is regularly expanded and improved, hosts events throughout the year, and serves riders from across the South who specifically travel to Bismarck for the Iron Mountain trails. For Lake Ouachita residents who mountain bike, this represents an additional major outdoor recreation asset within weekend trip range.

Hot Springs National Park

Hot Springs National Park -- the oldest protected federal reservation in the country, established in 1832 before the National Park Service existed -- is approximately 30 to 60 minutes from Lake Ouachita. Bathhouse Row, the historic district of early 20th-century thermal bathhouses along Central Avenue, provides historical architecture and several operating bathhouse and spa facilities where visitors can take the original hot spring mineral baths. The national park also includes hiking trails, overlooks, and the historic downtown Hot Springs commercial district as an integrated unit. Day trips from Lake Ouachita to Hot Springs National Park are a regular activity for both residents and visitors.