Clay County: Nature, Water and Local History

Clay County brings together a wide range of natural and cultural attractions: wooded landscapes, rivers and lakes sit alongside museums and memorial sites. When searching for a hotel, it can help to decide what you want to focus on first. Natural areas and fishing offer a different experience from local collections and exhibitions.

Nature Among Ridges, Forests and Water

Stateline Sand Ponds Natural Area is located in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is a wooded area in a landscape that has been almost entirely cleared for agriculture. Ancient complexes of sand dunes and ponds, floodplains, and terraces shape the terrain. The interplay of these landforms gives the area its distinctive character.

This natural area also contains one of the last remaining habitats in this part of the state for Pondberry, a plant listed as federally endangered. Chalk Bluff Natural Area lies at the northern end of the Arkansas section of Crowley’s Ridge. There, the St. Francis River cuts through the ridge. The nature trail forms a loop: it starts at the parking lot and ends back there.

Rivers, Lakes and Fishing

Corning Lake is the largest in a series of naturally formed lakes east of Corning. It can be reached via a boat ramp on County Road 128, south of the railroad overpass. Fishing is possible on the Black River and Little River in the Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area. The Black River forms a significant part of the remaining hardwood bottomland habitat in eastern Arkansas.

Brookings Public Access is a boat-ramp access point on the Black River within the Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area. The information about Corning Lake and Brookings Public Access describes two separate ways to reach a body of water by boat ramp. Fishing at Hubble Lake is restricted to rod and line. Check the applicable regulations before your trip.

Museums and Memorial Sites

At Veterans Memorial Park of Rector, the Heritage Walkway features granite memorial pavers. The names of local heroes are engraved in the stones. Rector Community Museum preserves historical artifacts from the Rector area and makes them accessible to visitors from nearby and farther afield. A school exhibit displays uniforms from the schools of Rector and Greenway.

Matilda Pfeiffer collected more than 1,400 mineral specimens from around the world, as well as a library of more than 1,600 books. Matilda and Karl Pfeiffer Museum is housed in a Tudor-style building dating from the early 1930s. The grounds include natural gardens spread across 11 acres. Scenes from the film “A Face in the Crowd” were filmed at the museum; still photographs from the film are also on display there. The collection figures and the film connection offer different points of interest, from minerals and books to film history.

Getting Around and Planning Your Trip

Arkansas Welcome Center at Corning provides free information materials. Since visitor services may change, check in advance whether they are currently available if you need them. One route description concerns St. Francis: Crowley’s Ridge Parkway runs from the Missouri-Arkansas border on the St. Francis River, along US 62 through St. Francis, to Piggott.

When looking for a hotel in Clay County, you can shape your itinerary around your interests: natural areas, fishing, and museums offer different ways to spend your time in the area.

Discover more destinations: St. Francis, Franklin County, Poinsett County, Saline County, Ashley County, Boone County, Jefferson County, Mississippi County.

For the main travel overview: Arkansas.