Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park — Attraction in Lonoke

If you like to learn about Native American history in Arkansas this has some interesting things to see. There are only a few remaining mounds as previous farmers flattening the others for agriculture. It's a bit disappointing that there is so little known about the inhabitants or what tribe called this place home. The state has done a nice job trying to figure out who they were through excavation and historical maps. It has a nice paved walking trail that is 0.8 miles and a rustic trail that is just short of 2 miles. The trails have numbered markers and a booklet with information to read as you go. The trails pass around the plazas and there is a nice boardwalk to the oxbow lake with many Bald Cypress trees that border the site. It's free to tour the museum and self guided tour. They offer guided tours a few days a week for a fee. The staff was friendly and helpful, the facilities were clean and maintained. I'm surprised I didn't visit the site before and I plan on returning soon. Nothing flashy or digital but it's nice to take in nature and try to imagine the life...

My sister wanted my children and I to come out to see the Toltec Mounds at the Plum Bayou state park since we’ve never been. We were excited to see them since we’d never heard of these being that we grew up in Arkansas. When we arrive here the person behind the counter looked at us like we didn’t belong here. She stared at us as soon as we walked in and didn’t say anything to us for the first 2 minutes of our visit. I looked back at my sister and was hesitant because of the look that she was giving us. She finally spoke, but you could tell that she really didn’t want to. We proceeded to visit. As we were getting ready to leave, another set of people were entering the lobby, C Holmes or C Hulmes (spelling of her name could be wrong) instantly perked up and greeted them. She even stood while acknowledging them. My sister and I both looked at each other and noted how her interaction with us wasn’t this friendly. We’re in 2025 and we as black Americans shouldn’t have to still go through this. It is disgraceful, disgusting, and downright outrageous. This shouldn’t...

Very cool experience with my 11/13/14 year olds. The longer unpaved trail was a great walk and it gave us more time to discover and chat about the people who settled there. My kids were genuinely interested in the archeology and social aspects of the story. My favorite moment of levity was when we were all seriously speculating why the people abandoned their lives there after 250 years of building the mounds and my son chimed in "No, no, none of that is right. I think they found out a neighboring tribe invented McDonald's!" Left me wondering if he really understood this was 9th century history. 😂 The learning area of the visitors center was really well done but was a bit dated. The 10 minute movie was also dated but was very informative. Overall, we had a wonderful time and it was a great way to fill up a...