Lake Sylvia
Lake Sylvia is an eighteen-acre lake in Arkansas' Ouachita National Forest. The lake is in Perry County at the end of Arkansas Highway 324, approximately twelve miles from Perryville. The lake is in the Jessieville/Winona Ranger District. The lake is on the short Sylvia Spur of the Ouachita National Recreation Trail.
The lake has a swimming area, a playground, and a campground. The lake is stocked with channel catfish. There are several unpaved trails on both sides of the lake, as well as a paved Trees of the Forest Trail on the south edge of the campground. The area is prime wild turkey habitat.
The Lake Sylvia dam was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1936.
Camp Ouachita Historic Site
On the north side of the lake is the Camp Ouachita National Historic Site. The camp was built for the Girl Scouts with labor from the CCC in 1937. Camp Ouachita has on its grounds several cabins and a large main hall. The camp, the only extant CCC Girl Scout camp in the nation, is currently being renovated by the Central Arkansas Resource Conservation & Development Council with a $2.5 million grant from the United States Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
References
- Bryan Hendricks, "Commission Renames Wildlife Management Area," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 25, 2008.
