Felsenthal NWR is the world's largest green-tree resevoir with 15,000 acres being covered by water nearly year round. Some years this acreage more than doubles to 36,000 acres during winter flooding. The refuge is a very diverse ecosystem with open water, bottom land hardwood, and upland timber habitats. For more information you can read the refuge's fact sheet here or go to their website.
For my canoe trip I picked a short 3.5 mile path in the Grand Marias area of Felsenthal. The Grand Marias area is in the southwestern most corner of the refuge north of the Felsenthal Dam. I put my canoe in at the county boat ramp and campground which is provided and maintained by Union County, Arkansas.
View From Boat Ramp down the boat canal.
From the boat ramp it is a short paddle down a boat canal which leads to the open water of Grand Marias. The canal is surrounded by lily pads. It is not very wide and you should be cautious and watch for other boaters (especially if you are in a canoe).
As I exited the canal I saw the beginnings of a very beautiful sunrise over Grand Marias. Instead of beginning with my original plans of paddleing northwest I first went east to get a front row seat for one of God's many beauties...a Sunrise.
Sunrise over Grand Marias From My Canoe
After watching and taking several photos of the sunrise I traveled northwest and began my trip around the island in the middle of Grand Marias. While in the area I saw many types of waterfowl, wading birds, and woodpeckers. The scenery of Felsenthal NWR is beautiful with the many Cypress trees, each with its own unique form, lining the banks and lily pads growing in huge patches throughout the shallow water of the refuge.
Blue Heron in Cypress Tree in Grand Marias Area of Felsenthal NWR
For more photos and to see the path I traveled see the interactive map below. The red line indicates the canoe path I took. There are multiple points also placed on the map:
- Yellow Stickpins are Geotagged photos of either scenic points of interest or wildlife seen on the trip.
- Orange Stickpins are Geotagged photos taken just to show my point of view at various locations of the trip.
- Orange Circles are Geotagged photos with notes about various locations in the trip.
- Yellow Arrows are written notes or observations made during the trip.
All of the above mentioned points are interactive in that you can click on each to see either the photo taken or read notes from the trip. On geotagged photo points you can also click the underlined description to see a larger view of each photo.
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
The data indicating boat ramps and other reference information is provided by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's GIS Division.
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