There’s always LOTS to do at Lake Dardanelle State Park at Russellville, especially on Memorial Day Weekend!  Make this fun park a part of your weekend celebration! Friday, May 24th 7:30p.m. – Hidden Creatures – We humans wear camouflage on a daily basis to blend in while hunting, and sometimes just for style. But, animals [...]

Bug Guns of the Civil War Fort Smith National Historic Site – 301 Parker Avenue Fort Smith, Arkansas Saturday, May, 25, 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m How many people enjoy the thunder and smoke of Civil War cannon? There is much more to cannons than just the booming sound. Each Saturday in May at 11 [...]

The first step in a unique but demanding form of Arkansas hunting – urban deer hunts – is now open through July 1. Potential hunters can register online at www.agfc.com. The hunts will be held from Sept. 7 through Jan. 31 in seven communities – Fairfield Bay, Bull Shoals, Russellville, Fort Smith-Barling, Horseshoe Bend, Lakeview [...]

The National Weather Service Prediction Center in Norman, OK is forecasting the development of a few strong tornadoes and also scattered to widespread damaging winds and large hail over parts of the Southern Plains and Arklatex this afternoon and tonight. The areas most likely to experience this activity include… South Arkansas Northwest Louisiana Far Southeast [...]

The National Weather Service has increased the chance of severe weather in the west part of the Arkansas River Valley to “moderate”.  Chance of rain will be slight (20%) until 7:00pm tonight in the Fort Smith area, then increase to a 70% chance by 10:00pm.   Chance of showers and thunderstorms will then be 90% overnight, [...]

Beginning on Monday, May the 20th, three Logan County school districts will be teaming up to allow their students to conduct a Civil War battle reenactment in full period clothing. Working in conjunction, Dr. Curtis Varnell of the Western Arkansas Educational Co-op & The Paris Area Chamber of Commerce, a grant from the Arkansas Humanities [...]

Friday May 17 at 12:00pm Food For Thought: Coach John McConnell – Book Talk and Film Fort Smith Public Library, 3201 Rogers Avenue Retired University of Arkansas Coach John McDonnell appears with the release of the book John McDonnell: The Most Successful Coach in NCAA History by Andrew Maloney and John McDonnell. Emmy award-winning filmmaker [...]

As a lot of our readers already know, ArkansasRiverValley.com maintains several Facebook groups designed for serving a variety of interests for those in the river valley region.  Among those, the “Arkansas River Valley Swap & Shop” is among the most popular with nearly 6000 members strong at the time of this article.  There are also [...]

PARIS – In the highest parts of Arkansas’s Ozarks, the slow-moving Magazine Mountain shagreen snail won the race to become the first invertebrate to be delisted under the Endangered Species Act. “This week we are excited to announce that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is delisting the Magazine Mountain shagreen,” said Cindy Dohner, Southeast [...]

Don’t let the cold weather in early May fool you! Spring time has come to Mount Magazine. Whether you visit for the day or stay overnight, you can enjoy the sights and sounds of spring time.  Zebra swallowtail and painted lady butterflies can be seen flitting along roadsides. Enjoy the violets and spider wort blooming [...]

National Moth Week is a citizen science project, recently established to celebrate moths and biodiversity. National Moth Week is being held worldwide on the last full week of July (July 20-28, 2013). Moth Week brings together everyone interested in moths to celebrate these amazing insects. It is hoped that groups and individuals from all the [...]

Tuesdays and Saturdays at 1:30 pm – What’s for Lunch? –We have 8,000 gallons of aquariums, filled with many of the fish species found in Lake Dardanelle. Join park staff, as they feed the fish live food. See for yourself, what’s for lunch? Saturdays at 1:45p.m. – Critter Crunch – Lake Dardanelle’s diverse habitats provide [...]

Lake Dardanelle State Park will be hosting a bicycle rally as part of the annual Resource Rendezvous event. Join us in celebrating the great outdoors. This bicycle rally will be held May 4, 2013 for age 2-13. Helmets are required; we will have a limited number of helmets on hand that can be borrowed. We [...]

In sports, 13 minutes and 25 seconds is an eternity. Teams can stage come-from-behind rallies, where athletes can have their names etched into the history books where their stories can be retold for years to come. But outside the world of sports, 13 minutes and 25 seconds goes by quickly.   For former Arkansas Tech and [...]

Lake Dardanelle State Park will be hosting a bicycle rally as part of the annual Resource Rendezvous event. Join us in celebrating the great outdoors. This bicycle rally will be held May 4, 2013 for age 2-13. Helmets are required; we will have a limited number of helmets on hand that can be borrowed. We [...]

Youth ages 10-13 are invited to take part in 2 fun-filled days and one night of nonstop adventure with the aquatic environment at Lake Dardanelle State Park. The park will host Aquatic Conservation Experience (ACE) Camp April 26-27, 2013. Throughout the 2 days participants will develop an understanding and appreciation for the unique aquatic environment [...]

LITTLE ROCK—The State Review Board of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program nominated six Arkansas properties to the National Register of Historic Places when it met April 3, AHPP Director Frances McSwain announced today. Properties nominated to the National Register are: * Moose Addition Historic District at Morrilton in Conway County, featuring buildings constructed between 1881 [...]

Tuesday, April 2nd 1:30pm – What’s for Lunch? –We have 8,000 gallons of aquariums, filled with many of the fish species found in Lake Dardanelle. Join park staff in the visitor center, as they feed the fish live food. See for yourself, what’s for lunch? Friday, April 5th 7p.m. – Game Scene Investigation: G.S.I.  – [...]

ROBINSON MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ark.– National Guard officials here today closed access to the public hunting areas of the installation through December 30, 2012, due to inaccessibility under current weather conditions.  The majority of roads accessing the hunting areas are dirt/gravel road and have not been cleared of the heavy snowfall and downed trees due [...]

With Recent Power Outages, Holiday Goodies May Not Be Worth the Risk Little Rock—The worst ice storm in the recent past is taking its toll in central Arkansas. In total, over 200,000 Arkansans have been impacted by power outages and the icy roads are making travel precarious. A less obvious outcome of the power outages [...]

Little Rock — The first death of the 2012-13 flu season was reported to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). The Health Department does not disclose any other information about the death because of privacy concerns. According to Nate Smith, MD, Deputy Director at ADH, this report serves as a reminder that the flu can [...]

Arkansas Schools and the Health Department Partner to Vaccinate School Children Grades K-12 for Seasonal Flu (LITTLE ROCK) —The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and local school districts statewide are again offering the seasonal flu vaccine to school children in grades K-12 beginning the week of October 8.  School [...]

Chris Daniel in Mena reports that the International Space Station will be visible in the area the next two nights, weather permitting, as it orbits over the valley region. Tuesday night for two minutes starting around 9:27 PM, look to the west for it as it travels from the west to the south southwest at [...]

Do you think you could survive in the wild?  Come test your outdoor skills and learn some new ones! We want to encourage people to get out and enjoy all that this great state has to offer. By giving them the knowledge to have a safe enjoyable experience, we hope that more people will get [...]

(Little Rock)  – The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) is reporting the first death this year in Arkansas from West Nile virus (WNV). So far this year, there have been 15 cases of WNV in the state. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) there have been 1118 reported human cases nationwide, [...]

The 13th Annual Bargains Galore on 64 starts this Thursday and will continue through Saturday in West Arkansas! This is the 13th year of the popular event featuring antiques, collectibles, and who knows what else.  Yard sales will again saturate Highway 64 for 160 miles from Fort Smith to Conway to Beebe.  Bargains Galore offers [...]

Warning!  Temperatures will be hovering around 110 degrees both Monday and Tuesday in some parts of the Arkansas River Valley…and are not expected to be back near 100 until the weekend! Extreme heat is not only uncomfortable…it can be QUITE DEADLY!  So we thought we’d gather up some comforting…even “lifesaving” tips during this most extreme [...]

Very hot temperatures and isolated precipitation…at best…will continue through the first few days of July. With the possibility of an isolated “pop up” shower occasionally, the weather service has added a slight chance of rain to Monday’s forecast in the valley, but that alone is not expected to ease the drought conditions substantially enough to [...]

A heat advisory by the National Weather Service remains in effect until 8 PM CDT Saturday for the Arkansas River Valley. The area’s heat index values will rise to 105 to 112 degrees today…and 105 to 110 degrees tomorrow across most of the state. A heat advisory means that a period of hot temperatures is [...]

The Johnson County Health Unit has notified ArkansasRiverValley.com of a possibly rabid bat found at Lake Ludwig north of Clarksville.  The bat was found at the lake’s swimming beach on Tuesday, June 19th and was unable to fly. The health department is worried about the possible spread of rabies and asks anyone who may have [...]

Hot, dry drought conditions can create greater fire hazards than usual, and many people are unaware of just how easily a major wildfire can ignite. ArkansasRiverValley.com wants you to stay safe, this summer, and offers these fire safety tips. Avoid outdoor burning, such as brush piles, burning trash, campfires, or any other open flame. Even [...]

Our website will be undergoing some serious upgrades for the next few days. We’ll try to keep our most visited sections available, although they may not be as “colorful and pretty”. Please bear with us during this time, as we make this online service even better for YOU! ;o)

Many locations across The Little Rock County Warning Area reached or in some cases…exceeded the century mark Monday afternoon. The following is a list of official reporting stations that have eclipsed 100 degrees as of this time with many stations setting record highs for the day. Russellville……………………109 degrees Guys RAWS………………………108 degrees Clinton………………………..106 degrees Jessieville…………………….106 degrees [...]

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission Special Permit Hunt application reminder, check the dates below. ALLIGATOR Hunt – now – June 25. WMA DEER Hunt – now – July 1. URBAN DEER Hunt – now – July 1. PRIVATE LAND ELK – now – July 15. Choose your hunt preference, find the application details and apply. [...]