Recently I traveled to Ashdown (Little River County) to the nursing home and rehab facility where my mother-in-law worked for several years. They were celebrating “National Nursing Home Week,” and asked my musical mother-in-law if she would perform as part of the festivities. She never misses the chance to sing in public and invited my wife and me to join her. My wife, a busy attorney, was unable to attend. But as a teacher, I'm out for the summer and was able to go.
Afterwards, my mother-in-law, who grew up in the area, wanted to show me some of the places she visited as a child and young adult. The first: Millwood State Park at Millwood Lake.
As a former employee of the Department of Parks & Tourism, I’ve visited all 52 state parks, including Millwood. But I didn’t tell her that and went along with the ride. She had a great time recalling memories of her and her dad fishing on Millwood, as well as camping with my father-in-law’s family at the park.
I stopped in at the park’s visitor’s center where I was greeted by two friendly park employees who welcomed me and shared information about the park and the lake.
Millwood Lake is located 9 miles from Ashdown and was formed by damming the point where Little River and the Saline River meet. According to local legend, the dam, lake and state park take the name “Millwood” from a frontier river landing in the area, which was in use between 1845 and 1875.
The dam was built by the Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, starting in 1961 and was completed in 1966. The dam and lake were officially dedicated on Dec. 8, 1966. The cost of the project was estimated at $44 million. Built mainly for flood control purposes, Millwood Lake is the lynch pin in the flood reduction system for the Red River below Lake Texoma.
The 29,260-acre lake is best known as a fishing lake and wildlife habitat. Its 35,000 acres of sunken timber provide homes for the many kinds of fish in the lake, including the indigenous Millwood lunker largemouth bass. Numerous animals can be found inhabiting the land around the lake, including white-tailed deer, bobwhite quail, squirrel, dove, rabbit, raccoon, armadillo, opossum, fox, mink, American gator and beaver. In 2012, a 1,380-pound alligator — the biggest alligator found in Arkansas — was caught in the lake.
Millwood Lake is also an important water source. It supplies Domtar's communications paper division with 50 million gallons of water per day for its operations. The lake also provides drinking water to the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, through a water treatment plant located near Ashdown.
Among several recreational areas the Corps of Engineers established along the lake’s shoreline was Cypress Slough Park, which was located the southwestern end of Millwood Dam. On April 1, 1976, the Corps of Engineers signed a lease agreement with the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism making Cypress Slough Park part of the state park system.
Millwood State Park features a visitor’s center, a full-service marina, camping, picnicking sites and hiking and bike trails. The park also hosts several recreational events and interpretive activities, including fishing events, bird watching and lake tours. For more information, you can visit the park’s website at www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/millwood-state-park or contact the park’s visitor’s center at (870) 898-2800.
If you’re looking for a great place to fish and spot some wildlife, Millwood Lake and the state park that sits along its shore is a great place to go. Just be on the lookout for alligators — you never know what might be lurking in the murky waters of Millwood.
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