Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources ParkCache Traditional Cache

Welcome to Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources , one of 52 beautiful, historic state parks, each with their own special mission. The other thing they each have is a geocache. This adventure is based around visiting all 52 state parks. Each park cache has a clue that you will need to find the final, 53rd cache located somewhere in the state. Just download the clue sheet and start your adventure. We encourage you to upload photos on the geocaching.com page when you find one and also to tell us about your visit to the park on the state park blog. As an extra incentive, For a limited time you can pick up an Arkansas State Park geocoin at the final location and send it on it's way to visit parks throughout the world!


In the 1920s, nationwide attention focused on south Arkansas when the Smackover field was ranked first among the nation's oil fields. For five months in 1925, the 40-square-mile Smackover field was the focal point of one of the wildest mineral booms in North America. Today, south Arkansas's oil fields produce petroleum throughout a 10-county area. Columbia and Union counties also stretch over one of the largest brine reserves in the world. Bromine is derived from brine, or saltwater, and local companies play an international role in the commercialization of bromine and its many applications The Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, featuring state-of-the-art indoor exhibits as well as working equipment on display outside in its adjacent Oil Field Park and shares the fascinating stories of this region’s natural resources, with emphasis on petroleum and brine recovered for bromine extraction.

The museum features a 25,000-square-foot main exhibition/research building that includes a 10,500-square-feet exhibit hall, Orientation Theater, exhibit work area, research center and museum store/gift shop.

Explore the museum and walk the streets of a 1920s Arkansas boom town or travel back 200 million years ago to discover the origins of oil. Take a chance drilling and see if you will become an oil tycoon or go flat broke. Learn how 95 percent of the products we use daily are made of or with two of Arkansas's natural resources.

Tour the Oil Field Park adjacent to the main building. Walk along its paved trail past full-sized operating examples of vintage derricks and equipment used from the 1920s to the modern era. See a re-creation of a 1920s standard rig and a 112-foot wooden derrick.

The museum staff offers a wide variety of year-round educational and interpretive programs. Choose from guided tours of the museum and the Oil Field Park, films, lectures, field trips, special demonstrations, and programs.

The museum's research center includes a special collection of library, archival, and photographic materials that emphasize the history of this region. Computerized data of Arkansas’s petroleum and brine development are available to researchers and members of the oil and brine industries.

Custom-fit educational programs are also available for students of all ages. The museum's education center is located behind the main building. The museum's two shaded picnic areas are within walking distance.

Admission to the museum is free.

Please check the park Web site for hours of operation. Park Permit Number AMNR-3

Plan some time for each of the parks and enjoy your visit. Learn about natural, cultural and state history. Take in a hike, a swim, a boat ride. Go fishing, cycling or just relax. For more information on geocaching in an Arkansas State Park visit our geocaching page. For information on geocaching throughout the Natural State visit Arkansas Geocaching. Have a great time and we’ll see you in a park!