Allsopp Park — Attraction in Little Rock

Little Rock is fortunate to have a number of beautiful parks in different neighborhoods. Allsopp Park is a (mostly) heavily wooded park of 75 acres in the historic Hillcrest neighborhood. Hillcrest sits in a part of Little Rock in which the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains begin. The wooded slopes of Allsopp Park, with streams running through them, reflect its setting in the foothills of the mountains.

The slopes on which the park sits run down to the Arkansas River. At various points in the park, there are overlooks allowing visitors to look down along the sloping hillsides to the river.

The park is laced with walking trails, some of them overlooking creeks down below, and it has an old roadway going through part of it, which is now closed off to traffic and used as a walkway. In the northeast end of the park are a tennis court, children's playground, and picnic tables. Pylons from an old suspended bridge that years ago allowed park-goers to walk over the park are still to be found in part of the park.

Photos below are from the area of the park adjacent to Kavanaugh Boulevard on the south side of the park. A new walkway running parallel to Kavanaugh from the southeast entrance of the park to Kavanaugh is included in the photos below. Along Kavanaugh as it runs past Allsopp Park is a promenade also featured in these photos.

The park is generally safe to walk in, though anyone walking dogs should be aware that some people using the trails and old roadway to ride mountain bikes through the park can be careless and sometimes downright rude, particularly if they think the dogs are impeding their...

This park is a poster child for invasive species! Yes, there are many native trees, but the understory consists almost entirely of invasive exotics like nandina (whose berries can kill birds), Chinese privet, and Japanese privet, while many of the trees are engulfed in English ivy and non-native wisteria. I saw only a handful of native plants at the ground level (a few ferns and sedges) on a recent hike there while visiting from out of state. Since most municipal parks and recreation departments are understaffed, addressing this problem will require volunteer groups like master gardeners and the local Audubon chapter to start habitat restoration projects in the park. I've been doing this kind of work in NC for the past two years. Volunteers can make a huge difference if you...

Allsopp Park is a Little Rock treasure. Great walking trails in a wooded area laced with streams, reminding walkers that as one moves away from the Arkansas River to the north and west in Little Rock, one begins to encounter the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains chain. The Hillcrest Neighborhood Association generously helps to maintain the park and keep it clean. There are paved paths for biking, and in the flat area leading to the Arkansas River, tennis courts and picnic areas. One caveat: the hiking trails tend to be rocky, and it can be easy to fall if one doesn't watch her/his step. Also, bikers often disobey regulations to stay only on the paved areas of the park, and can be reckless, aggressive, and rude, spoiling one's enjoyment of this park, which attracts many walkers at at...