Lake Dardanelle State Park

Lake Dardanelle is a 34,300-acre reservoir on the Arkansas River near Russellville and Dardanelle. The Army Corps of Engineers finished the dam in 1964, and the lake filled in 1965, with the lock and powerhouse complete in 1969. The dam was part of the McClellan-Kerr navigation project that opened the river to commercial vessels. The state park was commissioned in 1966, and today it holds two areas leased from the Corps, 163 acres in Russellville and 83 in Dardanelle.

Long before the lake, this stretch of river carried the forced removal of Native nations. During the removals Dardanelle was a village and a stopping point between Little Rock and Fort Smith, and the more important crossing was the ferry at Norristown, just across the river. Between late 1831 and 1859, groups of Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole and Chickasaw people passed through or by Norristown, and parties taking the southern route to Indian Territory crossed there to Dardanelle. Many went on along the north side of the river on the road to Dwight Mission. The park is a certified Trail of Tears National Historic Trail site, and its visitor center in Russellville has exhibits on the removal.

The visitor center also holds 8,000 gallons of aquatic exhibits in four aquariums on the local waters. A fishing tournament weigh-in pavilion, the first of its kind in the state, opened in 2002, and the lake is one of the most popular bass tournament sites in Arkansas. There is a swimming beach with no lifeguard, and the park has 57 campsites in Russellville.