If you take a closer look when hiking around Arkansas, you might notice mysterious steps carved into the rocks.
Where did these steps come from?
It all started back in 1933 when the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) was born.
About the CCC in Arkansas
The goal of the CCC was to create jobs for young men during the Great Depression
The Great Depression began in the United States as an ordinary recession in the summer of 1929. The downturn became markedly worse, however, in late 1929 and continued until early 1933.
source
During that time, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt devised a plan to employ men who desperately needed work and to check off the long to-do list of things that needed to be done for the “protection, improvement, and development of the country’s natural resources.” -source
The men lived in “camps” of around 200 men each.
One of those camps was on Petit Jean Mountain.
That is where you will find these steps!
CCC at Petit Jean State Park
One of the projects that the CCC undertook while on Petit Jean Mountain was creating all the hiking trails.
These particular steps are part of the Boy Scout Trail that connects Mather Lodge to Bear Cave Trail.
I cannot imagine how the CCC carved these steps in this hard rock or how they made them so uniformly shaped but seeing them always makes me pause and remember the men and women who suffered through such hard times.
[Petit Jean State Park] boasts Mather Lodge, one of the most significant CCC structures in the state. In addition, the CCC built a bathhouse and bathing beach, boat dock, parking lot, water and sewage systems, water treatment plants, park roads, and hiking and horseback-riding trails.
source
If you would like to stay at Petit Jean State Park, check this out:
Everything You Need to Know About Renting a YURT at Petit Jean State Park
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