Bike Tour along Crowley's Ridge
Planned to Celebrate Louisiana Purchase


WYNNE (April 14, 2003) - A 73-mile bike tour over Crowley's Ridge in the Arkansas Delta is planned as part of the state's efforts to commemorate the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase. A shorter route is also planned for families and their children. Both rides are scheduled for May 10.

"Ride the Ridge" bike tour
The 73-mile "Ride the Ridge" bike tour will start from Village Creek State Park in Wynne at 8 a.m. The tour will travel south to Forrest City, west to Wheatley, north to Hunter, east to Colt then return to Village Creek State Park. The entire ride is expected to take about six hours. The complete description and tour packet are available at www.lapurchase.org.

Four rest stops, three with restroom facilities, will be set up along the route. Support vehicles, equipped with first-aid kits and radios or phones, will accompany riders. Police escorts will be used in cities and at major intersections. All riders must wear ASTM- or Snell- approved helmets.

The bike tour will ride, rain or shine, but could be cancelled in the event of lightning.

Participation in the bike tour is free, but riders are asked to pre-register. Riders can register online at www.lapurchase.org or by emailing lapurchase@sosmail.state.ar.us. Riders registering before April 25 are guaranteed a commemorative T-shirt and "goody" bag.

The Louisiana Bicentennial Purchase Committee, a project of the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office, is sponsoring the bike ride.

"Ride the Ridge" family ride
The 2.2-mile "Ride the Ridge" family ride will loop through Village Creek State Park beginning at 9 a.m. After the ride, several Louisiana Purchase-themed interpretive programs are scheduled.

An adult must accompany riders under 16, and everyone must wear a helmet. Registration is not required.

For more information on the family ride, contact the Village Creek State Park at (870) 238-9406 or email villagecreek@arkansas.com.

Village Creek State Park
Village Creek State Park is one of the largest and most scenic parks in Arkansas, boasting three lakes, several hiking trails and a section of the historic Trail of Tears route. Located atop Crowley's Ridge on State Highway 284, Village Creek State Park is about 13 miles north of Forrest City near Wynne.

The Louisiana Purchase and Arkansas's Role
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson finalized the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States. The acquisition included 830,000 square miles of unmapped wilderness.

A survey of the new land began in 1815 in East Arkansas. The initial point of the survey (where the baseline and meridian cross) is located in a swamp at the corner of Lee, Phillips and Monroe counties. It is from this point that all land in the Louisiana Purchase was mapped - every legal description of the land west of the Mississippi depended on measurements taken from this point. Prospect K. Robbins and Joseph C. Brown conducted those surveys.

This starting point for the surveyors who explored and mapped the frontier is now the Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park, where visitors can walk along a boardwalk through the swamp and experience the sites and sounds of the wilderness, much like the original surveyors did.