The Big Dam Bridge which opened in 2006 is the longest bicycle and pedestrian bridge in the world designed and built for that purpose. It is 4,226 feet long, 14 feet wide and stands 90 feet above the river at its highest part. The Chain of Rocks Bridge outside St. Louis, Missouri is longer at 5353 feet but it was originally built as a vehicle bridge in 1929. It was replaced by a newer structure over Interstate 270 in 1966 and was closed for good in February of 1970. After being abandoned for years it was reopened as a bicycle and pedestrian bridge in 1998.
The Big Dam Bridge makes up part of the Arkansas River Trail System an 88 mile loop that encompasses part of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle and Conway. A shorter section that goes from the Clinton Library via the Clinton Presidential Bridge, through North Little Rock across the Big Dam Bridge and back along the Little Rock side of the Arkansas River ending up back in the Downtown River Market area is 15.6 miles and a very popular route for local as well as out of town bicycle enthusiasts.
In the early 50s prior to the westward expansion of Little Rock this whole area was actually not even in the city limits. I remember my Dad bringing us down here on the 4th of July to shoot fireworks as shooting fireworks inside the city limits was against the law. Most of the land in the area originally belonged to John and Anna Jackson who came to the area in 1880 and had a farm here. In 1913 they sold a small parcel for a cemetery which was located just a little west of the cache site. There are 37 known grave sites there but no headstones or grave markers. Prior to Urban Renewal there was a thriving Afro American community along Cantrell road close to where it intersects with Cedar Hill road. A lot of the people who lived there either farmed in the area or worked as domestic help for the people who lived up in Pulaski Heights. A lot of those people were buried in this cemetery.
Murray Lock and Dam was completed in the late 60s and prior to 9/11 you could drive all the way down to the lock and climb up and watch barges go through the lock. There was a restroom there as well as a little signage explaining how the lock and dam worked. If you look up the hillside you can see several houses built overlooking the area. As the Corps of Engineers were building the lock and dam they were also building a structure that would overlook the dam in an area that would be known as Overlook Park. This structure was originally situated where you now see those houses. It was a beautiful structure made of rock and wood which had restrooms in the bottom and an area in the top that was all enclosed in glass, affording a spectacular view of the lock and dam and the river around it. It was built to house an actual scale model of the lock and dam in which a little barge pushed by a small tug boat actually went through a scale model lock. When I first went to work for the City of Little Rock in 1973 maintenance of that building was part of my “other duties as assigned”. Unfortunately the building was constantly being vandalized. The large glass windows were an easy target for local kids with their BB guns. The building was broken into numerous times despite the presence of an alarm system. Eventually the Corps removed all of their property from the building and placed it at another more secure location. All of the glass was eventually removed from the building and it was made it an open air observation deck. Unfortunately even after that, vandalism continued to be a problem and eventually the structure was torn down and the property sold for development.
You are looking for a small cleverly disguised plastic container. It contains a log and a pen and will hold several small trade items. This is a very high muggle area but I have tried to place the container in a spot where you can find it, sign the log and return it to its spot without drawing too much attention. Please use stealth when finding and returning it to its proper hiding place.