Want to wet a paddle in one of the state’s best smallmouth bass streams? How about enjoying wildlife watching on trails along Crooked Creek?

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will dedicate a 22-mile water trail and almost 5 miles of hiking trails at Fred Berry Conservation Education Center on Crooked Creek beginning at 10 a.m., March 30, at the center’s pavilion.

Canoes and kayaks will be available at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to float about 1.5 miles of the creek around the education center property. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Paddlers will put in with an AGFC guide and take out at Kelley’s Slab. To join the float, register at 870-449-3484.

A guided birding hike with Sharon Boatright, an experienced Audubon birder, is scheduled for the center’s Woodland Edge Trail. Bring binoculars and a field guide.

Free hot dogs will be served at the center’s pavilion beginning at noon. To learn more about the area, go to:www.agfc.com/resources/wildlifeviewing/crookedcreek-watertrailmap.pdf.

To reach the center, travel 0.7 miles west on U.S. Highway 62 from the county courthouse in Yellville. Turn on Marion County Road 4002 and continue a mile to the bridge that crosses Crooked Creek. The pavilion and the center are across the bridge.

Image courtesy Arkansas Game and Fish