View of Arkansas River from Belle Point

Fort Smith is located at the confluence of the Poteau and Arkansas Rivers. When the first fort was established in 1817, it was the highest navigable point on the Arkansas River. Even so, it was not always navigable.

Today the rivers look quite different. In 1970 the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas Navigation System was completed. It provides a navigable waterway from the Mississippi River to eastern Oklahoma.

At times the Arkansas River floods and on rare occasions part of the park's river trail is inaccessible.