Devil Habitat



Entering the 'den' area
Devil's Den State Park, Arkansas

Perhaps you have never contemplated what might constitute ‘devil’ habitat and what the survival requirements of the horned one might be.  Well, spending a few days at Devil’s Den State Park has inspired me to give it some thought.  There would probably be no need for water, not sure what if any food would be necessary, high heat seems to come to mind whether the sun, geothermal features or both are the source is not known, rough rocks, dark crevices and caves for shelter would be needed and of course lots of space to enjoy it all.  But personally I would not have pictured the devil living in such beauty as we found at Devil’s Den State Park in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas.

Crack in the sandstone rocks leading into a crevice 'cave'

Leaving the diverse plant and animal life and the springs and creeks out of the picture, the geology of Devil’s Den State Park does fit the name.  Lee’s Creek cut this beautiful valley through sandstone formations in the Ozark Mountains between 10,000 – 70,000 years ago.  Over time the creek removed enough sandstone to cause corners of the mountainside to break off, crack and slide causing jumbles of rocks and eventually creating many interconnected crevices and caves.  The effect today is a series of dark depressions, sandstone crevice caves and tumbled rocks tucked into a luscious valley of creeks and waterfalls – nice that there is a little of the Garden of Eden here too.

 

One of the 'Twin Falls' on the Devil's Den Trail



View of the Twin Falls

We had two days to explore the park and yes, we had to contend with what seems to be the 'norm' this spring – rain, poison ivy and ticks.  But fortunately none of them were bad enough to keep us from venturing out on the trails.  The park’s namesake trail, the Devil’s Den Trail, was by far the most spectacular.  The woods were dark and wet from the rain and overcast sky.  The trail and many rock formations were very slick.  Carefully we made our way over the slippery rocks in and out of formations called the Devil’s Theater, Devil’s Ice Box, Devil’s Den, the Crevices and the Bowls. 

One of the entrances down into the 'Devil's Den

 

Entering the 'Bowl' area

 

Once the trail reaches the ‘den’ area there are many places that these crevices can be entered and explored.  Because the caves are actually cracks in the rocks it is hard to get lost in them.  Many places in the caves are not in complete darkness due to the cracks that let in light from above.  Also these caves have walk in entrances and are mostly level so once inside there is no need for ropes.  For these reasons, Devil’s Den has been one of the few places that visitors can actually explore caves freely. 

  

Another of the unique formations in the park

 

Recently this policy has changed and the caves are now temporarily closed to entry.  Devil’s Den State Park is home to six species of bats, two of them being endangered species, the Ozark big-eared bat and the Indiana bat.  White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a very deadly disease to bats, has been rapidly making its way south from the northeast.  WNS is a fungus that is often observed on the nose of hibernating bats.  It is thought that the fungus kills the bats by disturbing them enough to awaken during hibernation thus using valuable fat reserves and weakening the bats so much that they cannot survive the winter.  Often 95 to 100 percent of the bats in a cave die.  Since it is not for certain how the fungus is spread and it is possible that humans could help the disease spread, caves are closed in this park and most of Arkansas for the protection of the bats. 

 

Plaque honoring the CCC's building efforts at Devil's Den

 

Hopefully more research will answer questions about WNS and bat populations will not be decimated.  We need bats – just one bat eats two refrigerators full of insects in a month.  Many of these insects damage or destroy crops such as corn and cotton.  So, however you feel about bats personally, you have to appreciate what this world would be like without bats eating all those insects.  If only bats ate ticks, but then ticks don’t fly (that really would be devil habitat…).

 

 

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked  1

Rain Days    1    
Total Miles Hiked    2.31
Total Elevation Gain    463