Exploring Little River National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, then on to Arkansas

The casino wasn't the best place to park because people came and went pretty late into the night, and they tended to talk loudly around their cars. I slept pretty well, though -- it didn't feel as hot or humid in the car last night.

I had seen a sign for the Little River National Wildlife Refuge yesterday when I passed through town, and looked it up on the Internet last night, so I wanted to do some exploring and hike one or tow of the trails before leaving town this morning.

Some of the online reviews said the roads and trails weren't well marked, and one reviewer said he drove several miles on dirt roads only to find that the gate was locked. I found a website that had directions to each of the trailheads, so I chose one and Google maps knew the way!

I followed the map for several miles on paved and then dirt roads. I didn't see another  car an any of the dirt roads, and things seemed great until I got within a mile and a half of the trailhead and saw this spread across the road:

I tried an alternate route and ran into this:

So I drove back to the fallen tree sign and decided to park the car and walk the rest of the way to the trailhead.

It was a great walk, but there wasn't only one fallen tree -- I had to work my way across about 6 fallen trees on my way to the trailhead.

When I finally got there, the trail itself was blocked by several fallen trees, so I turned around and headed back to the car, climbing back over the fallen tree obstacles as I went.

I'm glad I got out and walked, though, bdecause it was very scenic. The road followed the edge of a swamp much of the way, and crossed the river a few times.

I read that this Wildlife Refuge is the only place in Oklahoma where wild alligators can be found, but I didn’t see any. I tried another set of roads but ended up with more locked gates. At least the scenery was nice.

I decided it was time to move on and head to Arkansas. I drove to Crater of Diamonds State Park but it is hot and I don't feel like digging today so I'll find something else to do and come back here tomorrow morning.