The Quest for Lake Frances

In our last post I mentioned wanting to continue down Country Road 244, past the cattle ranch and silo where Kate took the picture of the sunset, in search of the lake I saw on the map.  It appeared to be only a mile or so across the state line and in some spots the lake may have even crossed back over into Arkansas,

So on Saturday, Kate and I geared up, loaded the cooler in my top box and headed West past Lake Wedington once again.  Just like the ride on Tuesday evening, the weather was excellent and the road just as much fun.

We continued down CR 244 until it dead-ended into Highway 59.  We turned North on 59 then made a left on CR 801.  Calling 801 a road was a little generous as it turned to loose dirt and gravel after about a hundred yards.

    
We stayed on CR 801 for a couple of miles dodging rain filled potholes, riding parallel to Ballard Creek, hoping to come upon the lake.  The dirt once again turned to pavement as we approached the town of Watts, Oklahoma.  CR 801 linked back up with Highway 59 on the Oklahoma side of the border and the plan was to head North on 59 then turn off on N4740 or go up a little farther to Twin Falls road to the Frances Dam.

The first obstacle we came across was a train crossing where 801 met 59.  A train was stopped on the tracks blocking the way.  Three or four cars and a guy on a Harley were idling waiting for the train to move.  As we were preparing to take our place in line the guy on the Harley turned around and pulled up next to us. 

He told us the train must have some type of mechanical issue because it had been there for almost an hour.  He recommended we turn around and head back the way we came.  We thanked him for the traffic report and he accelerated down the dirt road.

Kate and I discussed our options and decided to take Harley guy's advice so we turned around as well and headed back towards Arkansas.  We figured we'd head back up to Highway 59 on our side of the border then find another road that led down to the lake.  Sounds easy, right?  

Before heading back though we stopped so Kate could take a few pictures and I managed to snap a few myself.  I somehow have a feeling that most of the pictures I take will be of my bike in the various locations we explore.

After a few pictures and a chance to stretch our legs it was back up the dirt and gravel to Highway 59.  If I thought CR 801 was sketchy, it was nothing compared to what was ahead of us.

As you can see in the picture above I had my Garmin GPS with me on this trip and it showed a couple of roads that appeared to lead from 59 down to the lake.

The first option I took was West Spring Harbor road.  Like I said, on the GPS it looked like to road went all the way down to the water.  It didn't.  

We went down as far as we could go but the loose dirt and gravel dead-ended at someone's home.  Being this far out in the country, and with "No Trespassing" signs posted at the entrance to the drive, I turned around as fast as I could. I don't think it was unreasonable to be concerned about an owner not being very happy about uninvited guests chasing us off with a shotgun!!

So once again we turned around and headed back up the dirt road to Highway 59.  The next road that looked like it would work was only a few miles up the highway so we'd try this option.  Things seemed to be looking up when we saw this.  Lake Frances Gate road.

Don't you think it would be a reasonable expectation that this road would lead us to the lake?  Well, it didn't.  I was just happy we were here during the day because this gate would be really spooky at night.  We continued down towards the water until the road ran out so we turned around, again, and headed back up.  We tried making a left about half way up onto Old Hotel road but as was typical for this day, we had the same result.  Dead end.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon and Kate and I had tickets to see the new Captain America movie so we decided to call it quits for the day.  We took 59 up to Siloam Springs then went South on 16 back towards Lake Wedington.  Just to change things up we turned back North on Robinson road, through Savoy then back down to 16 and home to Fayetteville.

The weather was warm and the sun was shining.  Our BMW 1200 GS Adventure was a joy to ride, even though I'm still a little shaky on the dirt and gravel.  I'm still at the point where it's a relief to get back on the pavement.  Other than the frustration of not finding Lake Frances, it was a glorious day of riding.

As I look at the map while I'm writing this it looks like there was a third option that we must've missed.  That will be an adventure for another day because the search for Lake Frances has become a challenge and I will not be defeated.