Just a short drive southeast of Little Rock lies one of Arkansas’s most fascinating, but often overlooked state parks: Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park.
This is a place where history, culture, and nature come together to tell the story of the people who lived on these lands more than a thousand years ago.
Plum Bayou Mounds State Park
 If you have lived in Arkansas for a while you might know this state park as the Toltec Mounds State Park. This was the original name of the park when it opened to the public in 1980 until just a couple of years ago.
However, Plum Bayou State Park is now officially known as Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park.
Why Was the Name Changed to the Plum Bayou State Park?
These mounds have been known to Europeans since the early 1800’s and archeologists originally believed that they were built by the Toltec people from Mexico.
However, as more research has been done, it was discovered that the mounds were actually built and used by ancestors of the Southeastern American Indians.
The group who designed, constructed, and used these mounds are the people of the Plum Bayou Culture.
The name of the park was officially changed in 2022 for the sake of accuracy.
Visiting the Plum Bayou State Park
Location: 490 Toltec Mounds Road, Scott, AR 72142.
Hours: Visitor center and park hours are Wednesdays through Saturday 8 – 5 and Sunday 1 – 5. However always check the Arkansas State Parks website to be sure!
Visitor Center and Interpretive Programs
The park has a nice visitor center which offers educational exhibits, a short orientation film, and displays of artifacts that have been uncovered on the site.
Rangers and archaeologists sometimes lead interpretive programs to help visitors understand the tools, pottery, and culture of the Plum Bayou people.
You can call or check with the visitor center to see when some of these might be offered.
What Is the Significance of the Plum Bayou State Park?
This site was believed to be the ceremonial and social center for the prehistoric people of the Plum Bayou culture.
They were an indigenous group that thrived in this area between approximately A.D. 650 and 1050.
They farmed and hunted in dispersed small villages and farmsteads. Then they gathered in larger centers like the one at the Plum Bayou State Park for public gatherings, ceremonies, meetings, and other activities.Â
Although the culture flourished here for about 400 years, this site was abandoned (for unknown reasons) around 1050.
At its height, this was a large complex of mounds, plazas, and an earthen embankment.
If you are interested in archeology you might also want to visit the Hampson Archeological Museum which contains many ancient artifacts and is located in the charming small town of Wilson, Arkansas.
What is at the Site Today?
In the visitor center you can view some of the artifacts that have come from the site as well as learn about the Plum Bayou culture.
After that you will want to go outside and walk around the site.
I’ll be honest…you are definitely going to need to use a lot of imagination to envision what this place must have looked like over one thousand years ago!
You can see the remains of a three earthen mounds and an earthen embankment, but this is all that is easily identifiable within the park.
However, archeologists have used old sketches, soil sampling, and other methods to discover the locations of 15 additional mounds. These other mounds were mostly destroyed by farming before settlers understood the significance of this site.
As you walk around the park you will notice large red and white letter markers which identify the location of some of the other mounds.
The site was once bordered on three sides by an earthen embankment wall which was accompanied by a ditch. The wall is thought to have been about 10 feet tall.
You can only see a small part of the remains of the wall and the ditch was filled in long ago.
The fourth side of the site was, and still is, bordered by an old oxbow lake left by the Arkansas River called, unsurprisingly, Mound Lake.
To see some prehistoric cave drawings you can check out Rock House Cave. This cave is located in Petit Jean Mountain State Park.
Trails at the State Park
There are two trails that you can take to view this archeological site.
Both trails start behind the visitor center and are flat easy walks.
- Plum Bayou Trail: This is a 1.6 mile trail around the entire park. You will be walking partially on a grassy/dirt trail.
- Knapp Trail: This is a much shorter loop, just under a mile long that is paved and accessible.
Be sure and pick up the EXCELLENT brochures at the visitor center before you walk around. Honestly, take my advice, these brochures are a must!
Each trail is marked with numbered markers and in the brochure you will get all kinds of information about each of these stops.
These brochures were great to help you get an idea of what this place would have looked like so long ago. I think that I wouldn’t have had a clue without them.
The brochures do still mention that there is a boardwalk that leads into the Mound Lake behind the larger mounds. However, this boardwalk was damaged and has not been replaced at the time I am writing this post so you will want to ask about that!
What was the Original Purpose of the Site?
Archeologists currently believe that the religious and civic leaders of the Plum Bayou people were the only ones who lived here year round. The rest of the people lived in scattered villages and farmsteads in the area.
It is thought that several times a year the population would gather to this site for ceremonies, games, trading, and basically just to get together.
The mounds were deliberately built to align with significant solar events like the solstices and equinoxes so the celebrations may have occurred at the spring and fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices.
There were once two plazas on the site surrounded by the mounds. It is believed that the larger of the two was once used for games, feasts, celebrations, and larger gatherings.
Of the three remaining mounds two have flat tops probably once had structures built atop them.
However, the third mound has a rounded top. Mounds with rounded tops were typically burial sites. Partial excavation of this mound in the 1960’s indicate that this was the case for this mound as well.
However, today it is illegal to disturb or excavate human burials so no further excavations have been done on this particular mound.
Since there is a burial site here you might not be surprised to hear that there are some ghost stories associated with this state park! You can read about it in this blog post, as well as other supernatural tails in the Natural State.
Why You Should Visit Plum Bayou State Park
Whether you’re an archaeology buff, a family out for an educational day trip, or just someone who loves learning, Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park is a great place to visit.
It offers a unique window into the ancient human story of Arkansas.
