>> WE ARE HEADED OUT TO DO A LITTLE WINTER TIME SMOKEELING -- JUST KIDDING.

WE'RE OUT ON DEGRAY LAKE TO EXPLORE THE ART OF FALCONREE AND THIS IS FIRST EVER HUNT IN ARKANSAS SO IT SHOULD BE INTERESTING.

>> LEADING OUR OUTING TO AN ISLAND ON DEGRAY LAKE AND FALCONER RUSTY SCARBOROUGH.

>> AS A GROUP THESE BIRDS HAVE USED TO USE US AS PART OF THE FAMILY UNIT.

THE TWO BIRDS WERE IN CAPTIVITY AND THIS WAS TRAPPED IN TUCSON ARIZONA BUT THEY ACCEPTED UP AS A FAMILY UNIT AS HUNT SUPPORT TEAMS SO WE AS A GROUP NEED TO STAY TOGETHER.

>> AFTER FINALLY GETTING ONTO THE ISLAND WE WERE INTRODUCED TO THREE HAWKS THAT WOULD BE CARRYING OUT THE EXERCISE.

>> I WORK FOR A NATURE PARK AND I HAVE A LITTLE RULE IN MY NATURE PARK THAT WE DON'T NAME THE ANIMALOS DISPLAY AND THEY'RE WILD ANIMALS AND THEY DON'T MAKE GOOD PETS.

IN THE FALCON COMMUNITY WE NAME THE BIRDS SO WE KNOW WHICH ONE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.

MY BIRD IS PATSON AND FROM SUSON ARIZONA AND BRENDA HAS SUE A BIRD FROM LOUISIANA AND RON HAS NAMU FROM A CAPTIVE BRED IN GEORGIA SO THEY USUALLY COOPERATIVE TOGETHER.

WHILE WE ARE RUNNING IF THE BIRDS LEAVE AND GO 200-YARDS AWAY THE THREE OF US ARE GOING TO TAKE OFF AT TOP SPEED AND TRY TO GET THERE, AND YOU DON'T NEED TO RUN WITH US, JUST MAKE YOUR WAY IN THAT DIRECTION.

IS IT WORKING OR DO YOU NEED HELP?

>> [INAUDIBLE] >> OH, OH -- >> [INAUDIBLE] >> WHERE?

>> [INAUDIBLE] >> HE'S GOT IT.

>> GOT TO GO TO THE WATER.

>> [INAUDIBLE] >> GOT TO BE IN THERE.

THERE IS WATER TO THE RIGHT.

>> OVER HERE.

WE GOT IT.

>> EXCUSE ME.

>> [INAUDIBLE] >> LET'S PUSH HIM BACK THAT WAY.

>> [INAUDIBLE] >> COME TO ME.

WE WILL PUSH HIM INTO THE WATER.

>> [INAUDIBLE] >> EVERYBODY ELSE JUST STAND RIGHT THERE.

>> [INAUDIBLE] >> I DIDN'T SEE HIM.

ONE BIRD WAS OUT THERE AND TWO BIRDS IN THE VINES SO I THOUGHT HE WAS UP HERE SOMEWHERE.

YEAH, SHE WAS OUT HERE ON THE MARGIN -- SUE WAS, AND THE OTHER TWO WERE IN THE TREE THERE.

IT WAS A BIG -- [INAUDIBLE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> HE WAS AS BIG AS THAT.

THIS DATES BACK TO A HUNTING MEANS THAT DATES ABOUT 3,000 YEARS AGO.

IT ORIGINATED FROM THE ASIAN PLANE.

WE WERE FIGHTING WARS FOR THE LAST YEARS AND AFGHANISTAN THERE ARE TAPESTRIES SHOWS MEN WORKING WITH FALCONS AND DEPENDING ON YOUR DEFINITION OF A FIREARM -- WE ONLY HAVE FIREARMS FOR 600 YEARS AND TRAINING IT TO OPERATE AND CATCH GAME IS A WAY TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE.

NOW WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE MORE SUFFICIENT AND SUCCESSFUL AT PUTTING FOODS ON THE TABLE BUT THOSE THAT PRACTICE THE SPORT IT'S OUT WITH THE PREDATOR AND SEE WHAT THEY DO.

IT'S A COMBINATION OF MY FAVORITE THINGS AND BIRD WATCHING AND HIKING AND PHOTOGRAPHY AND IT'S A GOOD PASS TIME AND FORTUNATELY I GOT THIS BUG WHEN I WAS 17 YEARS OLD AND HAVE BEEN DOING IT EVER SINCE.

>> NOW TEACHING A WILD BIRD TO DO THIS -- TO ME IT'S PHENOMENAL.

>> ACTUALLY WE'RE ONLY TEACHING THE BIRD TO COME TO US IF THEY DON'T CATCH GAME.

THEY INSTINCTIVELY KNOW HOW TO HUNT AND CATCH GAME BUT WE'RE TEACHING THEM IF THEY DON'T CATCH GAME OR NEED TO COME TO US THEY COME FOR A TID BID OF MEAT IN OUR POUCHES SO WE'RE TEACHING THEM JUST TO ASSOCIATE WITH THE HUNTER.

>> OF COURSE SEEING THE ART FALCON REE FOR THE FIRST TIME LEAVES AN IMPRESSION ON EVERYBODY.

>> CALL THEM BACK.

TELL THEM WHEN THEY SEE SOMETHING THEY CAN HUNT.

>> DID YOU EVER THINK THAT A HAWK COULD BE TAUGHT ALL THAT?

>> NO.

>> PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, HUH?

>> YEAH.

>> THE OTHER WINTER TIME ACTIVITY YOU CAN DO AT DEGRAY LAKE IS GOING OUT TO VIEW OUR NATION'S SIM DOLL.

THIS IS A AVERAGE SIZE REPLICA OF A EAGLES NEST AND OTHERS ARE NINE HALF FEET IN DIAMETER, 20 FEET DEEP AND WEIGHING AS MUCH AS 2 TONS.

THE EAGLES ET CETERA EVENT AT DEGRAY LAKE IS USUALLY THE LAST FULL WEEKEND IN JANUARY.

TOURS ON BOATS GO OUT TWICE A DAY IN THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON IN SEARCH OF THE GREAT AMERICAN BALD EAGLE.

CHANCES ARE PRETTY GOOD AT SPOTTING AT LEAST ONE ON THE OUTINGS BUT IF YOU DON'T THERE IS A LIVE ONE ON DISPLAY IN THE LODGE FOR YOUR PHOTO OP ENJOYMENT.

>> SITUATED ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN HARRISON AND JASPER AND 3 MILES NORTH OF THE BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER IS MARBLE FALLS.

A PULL OFF OVER LOOK ALONG SEEN PROVIDES A GREAT VIEW OF THIS WATERFALL ESPECIALLY DURING THE TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN THERE ANY FOLIAGE BLOCKING THE VIEW AND YOU COULD FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES CALL THIS A DRIVE BY WATERFALL.

IF THE NAME MARBLE FALLS SOUNDS FAMILIAR TO YOU WELL THERE'S GOOD REASON.

>> MARBLE FALLS ITSELF IS ACTUALLY ON THE PROPERTY OF THE OLD DOG PATCH THEME PARK AND IF YOU WANT TO GET CLOSER FOR PICTURE TAKING YOU FIRST MUST SIGN A WAIVER WITH THE OWNER.

>> BECAUSE MARBLE FALLS IS SPRING FED IT HAS A YEAR ROUND FLOW.

AT ONE TIME IT POWERED A FLOUR MILL, COTTON BEGIN AND SAW MILL AND WAS BUILT AROUND 1840.

THERE'S ALSO THE TOWN OF MARBLE FALLS OR WHAT'S LEFT OF IT, A COUPLE OF CHURCHES, AND A POST OFFICE.

THERE IS ALSO THIS, THE REASON FOR THE MAR BELL IN THE NAME MARBLE FALLS.

ACROSS THE HIGH FROM THE OVER LOOK IS THIS HISTORIC MARKING ACKNOWLEDGING THE USE OF ARKANSAS MARBLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

IT WAS QUARRIED IN 1836.

>> IT JETSES OUT LIKE A HUGE MAN-MADE RUIN 90 FEET ABOVE BOARDCAMP CREEK OFF 375 NEAR DALLAS IN POLK COUNTY.

BEHIND ME IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE GO OUT AND EXPLORE ARKANSAS.

IT'S KNOWN SIMPLY AS STANDING ROCK KNOW HERE FOREVER AND IN THE OUACHITA FOREST.

WE THOUGHT IT WAS WELL WORTH OUR WHILE TO COME HERE AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IT.

>> IN 1859 AND 1860 A REPORT ABOUT STANDING ROCK WAS PUBLISHED IN THE GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF ARKANSAS ALONG WITH AN ILLUSTRATION.

>> THESE ARE IN THE ARKANSAS NOVACULITE AND THEY'RE NEAR VERTICAL, AND WE'VE GOT THIS ONE BED BEHIND US THAT IS MAKING THIS STRUCTURE.

THE NOVACULITES, SAME FORMATION.

THIS IS THE SAME ROCK THAT WE FIND IN HOT SPRINGS.

>> JUST A FEW YARDS AWAY FROM STANDING ROCK ARE TWO OTHER SIMILAR ROCK OUT CROPPINGS ONLY A LOT MORE DETERIORATED.

>> THESE -- LOOKING AT THESE ROCKS THEY EXTENDED ACROSS THE CREEK HERE DUE TO EROSION THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED AT THE PRESENT TIME.

NOW HOW THESE ROCKS GOT TO THIS PRESENT SHAPE?

IT WAS DUE TO PLATE TECTONICS IN THE FORMATION OF THE OUACHITA AND WHEN THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATE COLLIDE THEY WRINKLE THE ROCKS INTO WHAT WE SEE TODAY.

IN THIS PART OF THE STATE WE HAVE THESE RIDGES THAT RUN IN A EAST-WEST FASHION, VERY TIGHTLY FOLDED, AND WE'RE IN SOME OF THE TIGHT FOLDS TODAY.

>> SO APPROXIMATELY HOW MANY YEARS AGO ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

>> THIS FORMATION IS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 360 PLUS MILLION YEARS OLD.

THE ROCKS WERE FOLDED UP AND WE SAY THAT WAS ABOUT 300-290 MILLION YEARS AGO.

>> IN YOUR FIELD SEEING SOMETHING LIKE THIS MAKES FOR THE DAY?

>> YES IT DOES.

SPECTACULAR OUT CROP, THINGS THAT WE LIKE TO SEE.

GETTING INTO THE OUT DOORS AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO DIFFERENT THINGS.

>> I'M A ARKANSAS HISTORY TEACHER IN SCHOOL AND I HAVE BEEN INTERESTED ABOUT THIS SINCE AUGUST AND IN RESEARCHING THIS IT WAS THE STARTING POINT FROM THE EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTY TO DALLAS WHAT USED TO BE THE COUNTY SEAT AND THEY WOULD STOP AND USE THE WATERS FOR PICNICKING AND SWIMMING AND SOMEONE GOT THE IDEA IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO BUILD SOMETHING SO THEY HAD A SMALL HOTEL OVER HERE AND BUILD OTHER THINGS AND A POST OFFICE BEHIND US BUT WHEN THE DEPRESSION CAME EVERYTHING WENT DOWN.

THERE WAS NO MORE RESOURCES AND EVENTUALLY THEY MOVED DALLAS -- THE COUNTY STATE OF [INAUDIBLE] AND THE RAILROAD WENT THROUGH MENA AND THAT'S THE RESULT AND THAT IS LOST IN HISTORY SO A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE COME FORWARD THROUGH THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLAINING WHEN THEY WERE YEAR YOUNGER AND ALL KIND OF STORIES CROPPING UP SINCE THEN.

>> SO WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS SINCE SEEING THE FORMATION?

>> IT'S AMAZING.

I HAVE BEEN IN THE THE OUACHITAS MY WHOLE LIFE AND I HAVEN'T SEEN IT.

IT'S GOING COUNTERINTUITIVE TO THE WAY THE MOUNTAIN IS FORMED AND IT'S AMAZING AND LOOKS LIKE THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND HAS A CURVATURE TO IT LIKE EASTERN ARKANSAS TO IT.

>> STANDING ROCK PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST INSTRUCTIVE EXAMPLES OF TILTED AND ALTERED STRATA OR PLATE TECTONICS TO BE FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES.

>> BY TAKING THE SELF GUIDED MISSY IRVIN LEVY TOUR AT LAKE CHICOT STATE PARK YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THE WILDLIFE AND CULTURE OF THE AREA AND YOU WILL BE DRIVING ALONG THE LONGEST CONTINUOUS LEVY.

THIS MISSISSIPPI RIVER LEVY TOUR BEGINS AND ENDS AT LAKE CHICOT STATE PARK.

YOU CAN PICK UP A BROCHURE AT THE VISITOR CENTER WHICH WILL ACT AS THE GUIDE ON THE 30-MILE ROUTE MADE UP OF GRAVEL AND PAVED ROADS.

THE LEVY TOUR BROCHURE IS SET UP TO USE YOUR TRIP METER TO COINCIDE WITH THE VARIOUS POINTS OF INTEREST DESCRIBED AT EACH OF THE MILE MARKER LOCATIONS.

IT WAS THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1927 THAT FORCED CONSTRUCTION OF WHAT IS TODAY INDEED THE LONGEST CONTINUOUS LEVY IN THE WORLD FOLLOWING ALONG THE SOUTH BANK OF THE ARKANSAS RIVER AND THE WEST BANK OF THE MISSY MISSISSIPPI AND IT'S POSSIBLE TO WALK ALL THE WAY FROM PINE BLUFF TO THE GULF OF MEXICO.

ALL OF THIS IS PART OF A LEVY SYSTEM THAT STARTS NEAR CAIRO ILLINOIS AND A SECTION OF THE LEVY GREATER THAN THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA EXISTS ALONG THE EAST AND WEST BANKS OF THE RIVER.

THE LEVY EMBANKMENTS AVERAGE 25 FEET IN HEIGHT AND ARE AS MUCH AS 40 FEET HIGH IN SOME LOCATIONS.

ALONG THIS LEVY ROUTE YOU WILL FIND MANY SO-CALLED BORROW PITS NOW FILLED WITH WATER.

MATERIAL REMOVED FROM THEM WAS USED TO BUILD THE LEVY AND NOW ARE GREAT FISHING HOLES AND GREAT LOCATIONS FOR OBSERVING DUCKS AND EGRETS AND OTHER BIRDS AND BEAVER LODGES CAN BE ALSO SEEN IN SOME PITS.

DEER, TURKEY, HAWKS, OLES, SONG BIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE CAN BE SEEN FROM THE HIGH VANTAGE POINT OF THE LEVY EVEN A HOG OR TWO ALONG THE WAY.

THE BEST OBSERVATION TIMES ARE EARLY MORNING OR JUST BEFORE SUNSET.

OTHER THAN WILDLIFE THERE ARE MANY POINTS OF INTEREST ALONG THE TOUR SUCH AS HYNER CEMETERY ESTABLISHED IN 1898.

MALARIA CLAIMED THE LIVES OF MANY ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS THAT SETTLED HERE AND WORKED ON THE SUNNYSIDE PLANTATION AND THROUGHOUT THE DELTA.

THERE'S ALSO WHISKEY CHUTE.

IN THE EARLY 1800'S THIS CONNECTED LAKE CHICOT WITH THE MISIPY RIVER AND NAMED THAT WHEN A BOAT WITH WHISKEY SANK HERE AND THE LAND IN BETWEEN IS CALLED STUART ISLAND AND DURING THE EARLY 1800'S IT SERVED AS A CAMP FOR A BAND OF RIVER PIRATES .

SO FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR VEHICLE YOU CAN EXPLORE THE LEVY THAT PROTECTS LAKE CHICOT, ARKANSAS' LARGEST NATURAL LAKE AND THE LARGEST [INAUDIBLE] LAKE IN AMERICA BY BEING RECLAIMED BY THE RIVER THAT CREATED IT AND IF YOU MAKE THE DRIVE BEFORE SUNSET A SUNSET IS WHAT YOU CAN ENJOY AT THE END OF YOUR TOUR.

>> SO TAKE A DRIVE FOR YOURSELF ALONG THE LEVY ALONG LAKE CHICOT STATE PARK, THE LONGEST CONTINUOUS LEVY IN THE WORLD AND FOR MORE ON THIS DESTINATION PLUS MANY OF OUR OTHERS AND VISIT OUR WEBSITE AND DON'T FORGET TO LIKE US ON OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE AND WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME FOR ANOTHER EXCITING ADVENTURE OF "EXPLORING ARKANSAS".