Devil’s Eyebrow Natural Area
Devil’s Eyebrow Natural Area has a name as unique as its terrain.
This public land in Gateway is a rugged natural landmark located along the Indian creek arm of Beaver Lake.
As the story goes, there was once talk of building a railroad across this rugged area and an old timer said it would be like building a railroad on the Devil’s eyebrow. Today, it’s the 71st natural area in the System of Natural Areas managed by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. It offers conservation and recreation significance.
Devil’s Eyebrow is a site that represents some of the best, and last, remaining examples of Arkansas’s original natural landscape.
Recreation elements:
It’s a great outdoor space to explore on a hike with plenty of scenery and wildlife watching opportunities.
— It contains almost 2,000 acres of limestone glades, bluffs, woodlands and forests lands.
— No camping is allowed but it’s open to foot traffic.
— Trimble Mountain at 1,720 feet above mean sea level is the high point of the natural area.
— Nice glades are found on some of the high points.
— It has a nice deer and turkey population.
-- An 11.8 mile round trip nature trail mostly follows old logging roads that meander through steep topography. Visitors can enjoy a scenic spring that flows year round about 1.5 miles from the parking area.
-- Specific types of hunting are allowed on this natural area.
Conservation significance:
It offers high biodiversity of plant and animal species. Preserving this property also helps protect the water quality of Beaver Lake, which supplies water to all of Northwest Arkansas.
— Large and well known bald eagle winter roost
— The only site in Arkansas where the black maple is found.
— A large, viable population of glade onion, MacKenzie’s wild rye, Church’s wild rye, and Ozark corn salad; all of global conservation concern.
— The largest population of the ovate-leaf catchfly in Arkansas.
— More than 550 plant species documented, six of which are of state conservation concern, and at least five of which are considered to be of global concern.
Getting there:
The approximate address of this natural area is 20579 E. AR 62 in Gateway. From Garfield, travel east on U.S. 62 for four miles to the Gateway community. After AR 36 diverges, continue east on U.S. 62 for 0.4 miles to the gravel access road (sign along highway) on the right (south) side of the highway. Follow the gravel access road to the parking area.