View to the West From Fort Roots Summit Featuring Pinnacle Mtn

One of the best places to capture all of these subjects and many more is from the summit of Fort Roots. Fort Roots is on the North Little Rock side of the Arkansas River. I am not sure of the actual history of Fort Roots, but it goes back to as far as the Civil War when a fort was built on the summit to protect Little Rock and the Arkansas River boat traffic. It is a very impressive sight, with large shear red rock cliffs that plunge at least 150 feet or more down to the Arkansas River. Fort Roots is now a VA Hospital and apparently private Federal property. This is most unfortunate since this means that someone can not park on VA grounds and then walk around the hilltop to find a good vantage point.

There are many other ways up to the top of the cliffs, none of them quite as easy. The other traditional route is to park at a small city park, Emerald Park, then walk a trail that connects with the trail that runs around the bluff rim. You have about a 15 to 20 minute walk and then you will come out on bluff itself and will be separated from the Fort Roots property by a large 6 foot chain link fence. From here you you can either shoot up river to catch views of Pinnacle mountain and the smaller peaks along with views of the Big Dam bridge. This view is directly to the west and thus can make a great sunset if the conditions are right. If you shoot downriver, you will catch a great view of the downtown Little Rock skyline. There are several large trees that block the view when looking at the downtown Little Rock skyline. I was able to find one spot where you can get most of the skyline without being blocked. With a little work, you can pan across and get both the Little Rock Skyline and the State Capitol.

I was very dismayed when I went over to Emerald Park the other day. The issue is that I found less than safe conditions. There were gang signs all over the park, and plenty of broken car glass, which made me feel that it was not safe to park a car here and walk out to the bluffs. The park also closes at 8:00 pm and if you are late getting back, you car will be locked inside overnight. I used to go to Emerald park all the time to watch people repel down the bluffs. Back then you would often find people running, walking dogs, etc. now all I found was trash and a group of people that didn’t make me want to leave my car and walk to the bluffs.

This is a sad state of affairs. You can’t go up to Fort Roots proper to park, where you would be safe and if you walk in from Emerald park, you best not be alone. There is also only one way into the Fort Roots area now, as the old Hill Road is now gated closed. That is the way I always used to go up to park.

Sad signs of the times.