Queen Wilhelmina State Park

Arkansas State Park On Rich Mountain, The Second Highest Point In Arkansas At 2,681 Feet, On The Talimena National Scenic Byway. The Lodge Succeeds An 1898 Railway Hotel Named For The Young Queen Of The Netherlands. · Mena, Arkansas

In 1898 a railway company built a hotel on top of Rich Mountain to give its passengers somewhere to stop, named it for the teenage queen of the Netherlands in the hope of Dutch investment, and watched it fail within a few years. Two more versions followed; the present lodge dates from a 1970s rebuild and a 2015 reconstruction after fire and closure, and it is still known locally as the Castle in the Sky. It sits at 2,681 feet, the second-highest point in Arkansas, directly on the Talimena National Scenic Byway, with the Ouachita National Recreation Trail running past the door. The views are west into Oklahoma, and the mountain makes its own weather.

3877 Highway 88 West, Mena, Arkansas, 71953, United States

The park is open year-round and Arkansas state parks charge no entrance fee. The lodge, its restaurant and the campground operate year-round with reduced winter service; the miniature train and some facilities are seasonal. Lodge rooms and campsites are booked through Arkansas State Parks. Highway 88 along the mountain crest is the Talimena byway and closes in ice and snow, which happens more here than anywhere else in Arkansas.

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