Degray Lake

About Degray Lake

This part of Arkansas is known for its picturesque views, which are breathtaking and provide an ideal environment for a relaxing retreat. DeGray Lake, built as a recreational lake, offers beautiful views of the Ouachita Mountains, the Arkansas River and the Ozark Mountains to the west. It is located in an area logically known as the Ouachitas Mountain Region in Arkansas, north of Fort Smith, Arkansas and west of Little Rock.

In addition to recreational use, the River Harbor Act of 1950 authorized the DeGray Reservoir to control flooding and generate hydropower. The water supply was later transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Arkansas Department of Natural Resources (ARDNR) under the Water Supply Act, 1958. In 1972, after the conquest of Caddo, the De Gray Dam was completed, as was the construction of a dam on the Mississippi.

Conventional water turbines are located downstream of the dam and are used to generate electricity for parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The DeGray Dam is the first pumped storage plant built by the Corps of Engineers.

DeGray Lake has become an important resource in the Ouachita Mountains, as a water source for Hot Spring, Clark and Garland County, Arkansas. In addition, water supply laws require both Hot Springs and Clark / Garland Counties to source water from Gray Lake.

The history of DeGray Lake dates back to 700 AD, and the region that gave the river its name was originally inhabited by the Caddo Indians.

Fur traps soon arrived in the region and were named after the "DeGray Community" that gave the region its future De Gray Lake. The explorer DeSoto was in this area around 700 AD, when the Caddo Indians were still living in the area.

Caddo artifacts are displayed at the DeGray Lake Visitor Center, and visitors to De Gray Lake will enjoy many recreational activities.

Fishermen can throw in their fishing lines and try to catch wild fish such as bluefish, whitefish, perch and many other fish species. Lake guests who enjoy nature and bird watching should overlook the lake. Hunters will find a designated hunting area where they can encounter a variety of birds of prey as well as a number of other wildlife species.

The State Wildlife Management Area (WMA) was established in 1972 and covers approximately 1,000 acres of land in DeGray County, Arkansas. The W MA offers opportunities for hunting and observing the wildlife, while protecting the animals that make the De Gray reservoir their home, as well as the wildlife in the area.

Visitors to DeGray Lake who like to camp will be happy to find campsites on the shores of the lake. In addition to camping, there are a number of other recreational areas in the area. Lake De Gray offers a variety of leisure activities including fishing, boating, kayaking, canoeing, hiking and camping.

In fact, DeGray Lake Resort State Park is the only state theme park in Arkansas offering a variety of recreational activities including fishing, boating, kayaking, canoeing, hiking and camping.

While there is no residential development on DeGray Lake, the De Gray Hot Springs area offers mountain lodges and vacation homes for sale or rent. Visitors and residents can enjoy the rustic flair at the foot of the Ouachita Mountains and all the amenities of the lake.

Visitors to DeGray Lake can visit Hot Springs National Park, which has been protected by a Congressional Act since 1832. The park is the oldest in the national park system and one of the largest national parks in Arkansas and the third largest in America.

Over the years, the hot springs have been used as a spa for many diseases, and people from all walks of life flocked to the resort, nicknamed "The American Spa." Today, visitors can relax in the thermal baths or bathhouses, but people of all ages and abilities enjoy the natural beauty of the springs.

Hot Springs National Park offers hiking and picnics in the bathhouse, and visitors are encouraged to collect the crystal clear spring water in bottles and jugs and take it home. Bathing in the hot springs is only allowed in the bathhouses, but bathers do not have to go out empty handed. The bathhouses are now called the "bathhouse series" and offer a variety of activities and activities for children and adults.

Visit DeGray Lake to see the Ouachita National Forest, which covers 2.2 million square kilometers (2.4 million square miles) and is located mainly in the Ouachitas Mountains. The forest offers many nature-loving activities, and visitors can fish on the lake, hike and picnic on the beach and hike along the trails.

If visitors want to sunbathe on one of the many beaches, they will find that DeGray Lake has exactly what they are looking for, and will return to enjoy the natural beauty around it for many years to come. Visitors to the lake can also participate in the
community's waste management efforts and help ensure that they leave nothing behind after visiting De Gray Lake. The beauty of Lake Degray is continued by the efforts of those who keep it beautiful, who have established improvements and beautification of this community through waste control, waste reduction and recycling.