Mushroom Rock

On our Valentine's Weekend trip to Alabama, we visited the Little River Canyon. See pictures from Little River Canyon by clicking HERE. We love driving on Canyon Rim Drive (Alabama Highway 176). This little road connects eight overlooks along an 11 mile stretch of the Little River Canyon. The drive begins near Little River Falls where Alabama Highway 35 from Fort Payne crosses the Little River.

One of the neat places where we stopped along our scenic route was MUSHROOM ROCK. This is a rock formation found in the MIDDLE of Highway 176. The rock is shaped like a giant mushroom. It has also been known as Needle Eye Rock due to the slot in its base.

The story is that several decades ago, a road crew constructing the original scenic drive is credited with saving this canyon landmark. Plans called for the rock formation we now call Mushroom Rock to be removed. Construction staff refused to blast it away (thank goodness). SO---thanks to the determination of the crew to leave the formation intact, we now have Mushroom Rock in the national preserve.

Here are some pictures in and around Mushroom Rock. As you know by now, I am fascinated by all rock formations. SO--I loved these. While looking at the pictures, note also the lichen/colors--and overall beauty.

Does it look like a big Mushroom to you??? Aren't we all glad that the construction crew decided to save this beautiful rock? You can see how the road passes by it --on both sides.

For your info, the other 'rock' pictures shown here are in the same area ----on the canyon side of the road. It is a gorgeous little area---and if you ever get to the Little River Canyon, stop at Mushroom Rock.

Hugs

Petit Jean State Park, AR

There are three mountain ranges between the Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. One is Mt. Nebo (where our cabin is). Another is Mt. Magazine --to the west of Mt. Nebo. And the third one is Petit Jean (to the southeast of Mt. Nebo). Situated upon beautiful Petit Jean Mountains, the park encompasses 2,658 acres of rare natural beauty. Included in this lovely mountain setting are an abundance of unmarred woods, ravines, streams, springs, spectacular views and interesting geological formations preserved as French explorers found them 300 years ago.

The mountain received its name from the legend of Petit Jean (Little John), the story of a French girl who disguised herself as a boy and secretly accompanied her sweetheart, a sailor, to America.

We spent a gorgeous day at Petit Jean (Feb. 24, 2010) while we were in Arkansas. I will divide my blog posts into several different groups --since we saw so many sights that day. Today I will show you the park itself and some of the gorgeous views. Above George is sitting at one of the Petit Jean State Park entrance signs. You can see what a gorgeous day we had while we were there. Below are more.

I took this picture of George standing at the Palisades Overlook (on the South side of the ravine, near the Petit Jean Sign in the top photo).

From the Palisades Overlook--we can see another overlook at the point across the Cedar Creek Canyon. See it????? It's the CCC Overlook. We took the loop road totally around the park so that we could enjoy all of the overlooks.

Now we are across the Cedar Creek Canyon, at the CCC Overlook on the north side of the canyon. This overlook as built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the early 1930's. You can see the Palisades Overlook across the ravine.

George took this picture of me at the CCC Overlook... I was taking a picture of the Cedar Creek Canyon and also the Palisades Overlook where we started our day!

Here's another picture taken from the CCC Overlook. We we looking southwest. You can see the Petit Jean River in the distance --and the Arkansas River Valley.

Using the zoom lens on our cameras, we took a close-up of the Arkansas River Valley and the Petit Jean River.

I am standing at the third overlook, the Mary Ann Richter Overlook. This overlook is located north of the CCC Overlook. This overlook was built by the YACCC, family and friends of Mary Ann Richter. From this overlook, we got a great view of the Arkansas River Valley.

This picture was taken from the Mary Ann Richter Overlook --and shows the mountain ranges while looking south. You can see the road we took while traveling up the mountain to Petit Jean State Park.

This picture of the Arkansas River Valley was taken from the Mary Ann Richter Overlook. In the distance you can see two rather large mountain ranges. The one in the middle of the picture is Mt. Nebo and the tall one to the left of the picture is Mt. Magazine.

Using the zoom lens on our camera, we zoomed in on the Arkansas River and Mt. Nebo.... Can you see our cabin up there????? ha ha

There's much more to share from Petit Jean (waterfalls, caves, rock formations, etc.)--but those will have to wait until another day!!!!

Hope you are having some good weather now!!!! We are still cold and dreary here, but they say that warmer weather and some sunshine is coming soon... I hope!!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to ALL.

Hugs,