As the crow flies, it is exactly 5.5 miles from the hollow to the northern border of the McIlroy-Madison County Wildlife Management Area. This nearly 23 square miles of forested hills and hollows is managed by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and is home to an abundance of Ozark interior highland species – everything from rare salamanders to the always popular big game animals. I’ve heard that even elk are seen on occasion.

Arkansas started buying land here in 1957 under the leadership of Governor Faubus, and much of it was apparently owned by the wealthy McIlroy family. I have a 1972 USGS map that shows the name of this preserve to be the McIlroy State Game Management Area. Sometime later the name was changed to the Madison County Wildlife Management Area, and then in 2008 it again was renamed McIlroy. Interesting.