LITTLE ROCK — Hikers seeking the cooler climes of higher altitudes will need to look beyond Queen Wilhelmina State Park for a couple of weeks.

The park’s 2.5 miles of heavily wooded trails atop Rich Mountain are temporarily closed “due to increased wildlife activity.”

Translation: bears.

Specifically, a black bear sow and her cubs, says Joe Jacobs, marketing and revenue manager for Arkansas State Parks.

“This is berry season,” Jacobs said, “and we thought we’d close the trails for a couple of weeks to be on the safe side.”

Jacobs notes that many of the state’s parks are home to bears, especially Mount Magazine, but that in most cases bears don’t want to have anything to do with humans. Bears go out of their way to avoid contact.

In this case, closing the trails during berry season lessens the possibility that a hiker would inadvertently find himself stuck between Mama and her cubs.

That’s never a good place to find oneself.

For more information on hiking at Queen Wilhelmina and other state parks, go to arkansasstateparks.com or the parks Facebook page.

ActiveStyle, Pages 25 on 07/12/2010