Mulberry Mountain, Treasure of the Ozarks
The Ozark Mountains are home to beautiful scenery and tranquil environments, but one particular area stands out in the minds of local residents: Mulberry Mountain.
The mountain is home to many forms of wildlife and can help anyone get in touch with nature and find a peaceful side of the world. The owners of the land have created a resort where visitors can spend time while preserving the area’s natural beauty.
The resort features lodge and cabin rentals to keep with the hideaway mountain home feel. In addition to these housing options, the mountain also offers a large convention hall where many different events are held, according to mulberrymountainlodge.com.
The mountain is close in proximity to the Mulberry River, making canoeing and fishing both fun and convenient activities for visitors. The Mulberry is one of the wildest streams in the state of Arkansas and is very attractive to the area’s floating community, according to mulberrymountainlodge.com. In drier times, the river calms down and becomes a wonderful area to swim, skip rocks and fish for smallmouth bass.
Outside of the water, the mountain also offers many different trails to hike or ride through. While on these trails, guests are bound to come into contact with many varieties of wildlife native to the Ozarks, including whitetail deer, black bears and bald eagles, according to mulberrymountainlodge.com.
Mulberry Mountain is a great location for visitors and Arkansas natives alike to visit. UA students even enjoy going up to the mountain.
“It’s fun to go camping and down the river during the spring,” said Victoria Bradshaw, psychology major.
The mountain appears natural and serene even for residents familiar with Arkansas’ surroundings.
“I like to get away from campus and hang out with friends at the mountain,” Bradshaw said, “and I love listening to the music at the Harvest Festival in October.”
The mountain is home to a number of special events every year. Two of the biggest music festivals to come to Arkansas take place on the mountain: the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival and the well-known Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival.
The Harvest Festival is one of the biggest music events to come to Arkansas. The festival features 50 bands and takes place Oct. 11-13. The main band that takes center stage during the festival is Yonder Mountain String Band, or YMSB.
The festival is a collection of bluegrass bands selected to play for a large audience. The bands are divided between four stages that they play on, with each stage given a name, like Backwoods, to reflect the natural feel of the festival. The location of the entire festival is also a choice that helps to reinforce the overall feeling that bluegrass music conveys.
This weekend, audiences will gather around the stages on Mulberry Mountain and listen to the soundtrack of the Ozarks. The mountainous location serves its purpose in the festival well and provides many festival-goers with a vacation from society and the stresses of everyday life.
Whether it be a stroll along the hiking trails in the woods, fishing and canoeing down the Mulberry River, watching the local wildlife, or kicking back and listening to bluegrass, Mulberry Mountain has something for everyone to be excited about.
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