Millwood State Park

Millwood Lake is a federal reservoir, and the park sits at its dam. The Army Corps of Engineers built the lake on the Little River in 1966, about sixteen miles above the river's meeting with the Red River, and the Cossatot and Saline rivers also feed it. A 3.3-mile earthen dam holds the water, the longest of its type in Arkansas according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The Encyclopedia says the lakes of the Little River basin play an important role in controlling floods on the Red River. The name comes from a frontier river landing used between 1845 and 1875.

The Corps developed several recreation areas along the shore, among them Cypress Slough at the dam's southwestern end. On April 1, 1976, it signed a lease with the state parks division, and Cypress Slough became Millwood State Park. The lake covers roughly 29,000 acres, and its trademark standing timber, marshes and oxbow cutoffs give fish cover and keep them in shallow water, which is why anglers come for largemouth bass, catfish and crappie.

The state parks page also calls the lake an Audubon-designated Important Bird Area, with sightings of over 300 of the state's 400 recorded species. The park has 45 campsites, picnic sites, a pavilion, a self-guided walking trail and a bicycle trail. The marina sells groceries, bait and gas and rents fishing boats, canoes and kayaks. The park is just outside Ashdown, north of Texarkana, and hosts fishing events, bird walks and lake tours.