The self-guided float trip on Lake Ouachita is an excellent field trip for rock clubs and other groups interested in geology.

Students and Beginners

Let's Go Rocking!
Rock Crafts for Fun
Crystal Growing
Make Your Own Fossils
Build an Erupting Volcano
Cub Scout Achievements
Webelos
BSA Geology Merit Badge
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AR Rock Clubs and Shows

Listings

What Geologists Do

Careers in Geology

Places To Go

Crater of Diamonds
Tourist Sites to See
Fee Pay Crystal Mines
Locations by County
Field Trips
Lake Ouachita Geofloat
Buffalo River

Famous and Historical Mineral Locations

Magnet Cove
Granite Mountain
Jeffrey Quarry
Rush

 

guidebookSelf Guided Float Trip of Lake Ouachita

Get the free guidebook from the Arkansas Geological Survey, the Spillway or Brady Landing on Lake Ouachita, and you will be set to follow the marker buoys around interesting and scenic Lake Ouachita.

Boat rental can be arranged with Spillway Resort at 501-767-2997.

Brady Mountain Dock

The first of its kind, this float trip was a project of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Arkansas Geological Survey, and the US Geological Survey. Lake Ouachita is located 13 miles northwest of Hot Springs, in the heart of the Ouachita Mountains. The lake and adjacent land areas are managed by the Corps. The guidebook begins with this introduction:

Welcome to a region where, 250 to 300 million years ago, the earth's surface was bent, twisted, and deformed in ways that still baffle professional geologists. The self-guided Ouachita Geo-Float Trail takes you, in your own boat, across the water of Lake Ouachita to some of the most unique geologic features in the world.

As the seasons change, so do the natural features of Lake Ouachita. During the fall and winter months it is easier to view the geologic features because the water level is low, but remember, low water levels can make boating hazardous because rocks, stumps, and other obstructions are closer to the surface and the bottom of your boat! Also watch the weather, the time of day, and the gas gauge. Safe boating will make your day more enjoyable

The Ouachita Geo-Float trail includes many unique geologic features on the lake, but by no means points out all the interesting natural features you will see. The trail is a 16 mile (25.7 km) trip from the Spillway Recreation Area to Brady Mountain Recreation Area, and will take about 1-1/2 hours to complete. The time will vary depending on your boat's speed and the time you spend at each stop. Follow the map to the bright yellow buoys which mark specific stops along the route. For better understanding of the features, we suggest that you begin at Stop A and continue in alphabetical order.

The GO trip on Lake OuachitaTHE SHORELINES of Lake Ouachita show the complex structures of the geological formations of the Ouachita Mountains. This area has been studied intensively by geologists, and also in a more relaxed manner by sightseers from boats taking the Geo Float trip. The photos here are from Project GO (Geology Orientation), a summer field camp of outstanding students, as they toured the lake.

Geologist Charlie Stone explains some of the contacts and bedding features that are found at the different buoy markers along the Geo Float.

folded layers of rock left, Mazarn unit; right Blakeley

 

 

 

 

Left, folds in the Mazarn unit. Right, the contact of the Mazarn and the Blakely formations.
whirlpool rock students see the bedding of the rocks

 

 

 

 

Left, Whirlpool rock, where a whirlpool churned in the current of the Ouachita river before it was dammed to form Lake Ouachita; right, our geologist guide points out the beauty of the structure, and to quote, he says, "Any dern fool can see the bedding".

graded bedding folds
Left, graded beds near the submarine slide; right, folds showing how plastic the rock was.

quartz veins zebra rock

 

 

 

 


Zebra rock. White quartz veins in the rock show up dramatically. Although crystals can be found on the shoreline of the lake, digging, or destruction of property, will result in a citation from the ranger.

checkerboard pointCheckerboard Point. The cracks in the sandstone formed much in the same way as if you bent metal near its breaking point. When this area was being pushed up into mountains, the harder rock layers were fractured. While these hard sandstone layers were cracking under compression, the other softer layers nearby flowed with the pressure and eventually folded.

looking for fossilsfossil graptolite

 

 

 

 

Looking for fossil graptolites, and some examples of what they found.

fossilfossil

 

 

 

 

 

More information is available online from the Arkansas Geological Survey.