What is the light?
Halloween is probably my favorite time of the year. We all get to be a little wacky and a little scary. In honor of the ghoulish holiday, I'm going to feature a scary story a day all this week.
Today's story is the Gurdon light. It's one of my favorite Arkansas ghost stories, because anyone can go see it. That's right. You can go tonight and probably see the haunting light.
The legend goes that the bobbing light is the lantern of a decapitated railway worker searching for his head. Some say it's just a car light reflecting off the highway. Some say it's quartz. I say, who cares what it is? It's fun and a little bit freaky.
Read the legend and find out how to visit it yourself.
Comments
You can also approach the Gurdon Light from another direction, a bit closer.
Exit I-30 to Highway 53 toward Gurdon. As you are entering the city on 53, you will see a set of railroad tracks. There is a dirt road on the right (to the west) before the tracks. Turn right on the dirt road and follow it until you see a little circle where you can leave your car. The tracks are right in front of you. Follow the tracks to the right (west). You will need to go over four trestles (the wooden bridges that hold up the track). WARNING: The first trestle is starting to get rotted out, so bring a flashlight and watch your step! The first two trestles are pretty close to each other, but there is a large gap between the second and third. I would say it took us about 25 minutes to get past the fourth trestles.
A couple of notes: bring strong flashlights, as it is really dark out there and the trestles could definitely be dangerous. Wear bug spray. And plan to camp out for a while if you really want to see the light.
its funny how everyone talks about the legend. Ive not yet heard of any one talk about plasma balls which would be on account of the large amount of quartz in the area combined with lots of geological pressure. of course that is not nearly as fun as ghosts. sorry.
You haven’t heard anyone talk about that? I mentioned it right in this blog! Hehe.
The quartz deposits are one theory, but there are a few other logical ones. Yes, ghosts are more fun.