Why Rent On Blue Mountain Lake

Blue Mountain Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Petit Jean River in Logan County, west-central Arkansas, with approximately 50 miles of shoreline positioned between Mount Magazine to the north and the Ouachita Mountains to the south. The Blue Mountain Dam, an earthen structure built in 1947 to a height of 115 feet over 2,800 linear feet, created a 4.5-square-mile surface that has become a central element in one of Arkansas’s most visually dramatic scenic corridors. The lake is the focal point of the view from the lodge atop Mount Magazine, home of Arkansas’s newest state park and the site of the highest point in Arkansas at 2,753 feet.

A Petit Jean Valley Rental Between Two Mountain Systems

Havana, Paris, and the surrounding Logan County communities offer vacation rentals that give families a home base in one of Arkansas’s most spectacular geographic settings. A cabin or vacation home with a full kitchen, multiple bedrooms, and outdoor deck access in the Petit Jean Valley puts you between Mount Magazine State Park and the Ouachita National Forest, with Blue Mountain Lake accessible via Arkansas 309 south of Havana. The surrounding landscape of the Petit Jean Valley is beautiful in all four seasons, and the fall color period in the mixed hardwood forest between the two mountain systems is among the finest in Arkansas.

Fishing, Boating, Swimming, and Waveland Park

Waveland Park is the primary access point to Blue Mountain Lake, with Lick Creek and Ashley Creek providing limited secondary access points. The lake’s 50-mile shoreline includes numerous coves and points well suited to bass fishing, and the Petit Jean River’s water quality, filtered through the forested watersheds of both mountain systems, supports healthy populations of largemouth bass, catfish, and crappie. Swimming and camping at Waveland Park give families the organized recreational infrastructure for a complete lake day, and the boating access to the lake’s full 4.5-square-mile surface rewards families who want to explore beyond the main launch area.

Mount Magazine State Park: Arkansas’s Highest Point

Mount Magazine State Park, at 2,753 feet the highest point in Arkansas, rises directly above Blue Mountain Lake to the north and provides the panoramic context for the lake’s position in the valley below. The park’s lodge, perched on the mountain’s summit with views of the Petit Jean Valley, Blue Mountain Lake, and the Ouachita Mountains beyond, is one of the most dramatically situated state park lodges in the country, and its restaurant and hiking trail network make it a natural addition to any Blue Mountain Lake itinerary. The magazine Mountain wilderness hiking trails include the Signal Hill Trail to the true summit and the Lodge Loop through the summit’s cedar-pine forest.

Cove Lake and the Ouachita-Ozark Connection

Blue Mountain Lake’s geographic position between the Ouachita National Forest and the Ozark National Forest places it at the nexus of two great national forest systems, and families who use it as a base for multi-day exploration of both forest systems find that the Petit Jean Valley’s central position gives them extraordinary access to the Arkansas landscape’s full range. Cove Lake, in the Ozark National Forest just north of Paris, is accessible within a short drive of the Petit Jean Valley corridor and provides an additional lake destination for families who want to extend their mountain lake circuit beyond Blue Mountain’s immediate watershed.