View Article - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
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Turner Bend Store as it appears today. Photo by Jeff Williams.Pig Trail PerennialAn Ozarks Icon Binds Valley CommunityBy Jill M. RohrbachTurner Bend Store on the Mulberry River is 100 years old.That’s a lot of bologna sandwiches. Thousands of checked deer.And a bunch of wrecked canoes.You’ve driven by it and probably stopped if you’ve traveled thePig Trail in Franklin County. It’s where the Mulberry River slidesunder Arkansas Highway 23.Brad Wimberly has been the caretaker for 30 years, and hethrew a party in August to celebrate the store’s good times andstruggles. Wimberly offers a little of everything, from gas to canoepaddles. He’s a river outfitter – canoes, kayaks and rafts with allthe accessories are available, along with cabins and campsites.Three buildings have been called Turner Bend Store since 1911.The first store was built by William Eli Turner and his sonChamp. Other family members were involved in the beginning,but Champ and his wife Flora ended up running the place.“Turner Bend for 100 years has kept that valley going,” saidBeth Turner, granddaughter of Flora and Champ. “Grandmaand grandpa, they made that area a family.” Whether someoneneeded a bandage on a knee or help getting a car out of a ditch,Champ was the guy they turned to, she says. Turner produced adocumentary about Turner Bend, “Ties That Bind,” which is forsale at the store.“The first building was closer to the river next to the originalbridge across the Mulberry,” Wimberly said. “Most of the trafficin the early days was by horse or foot.”When a bridge was built in 1935, the Turners used the planksfrom the old bridge to build a store between a wooded hillside andthe curve where the highway crosses the river. It was a store andresidence for 50 years.“The Turners raised three sons in half of this building whileconducting business out of the other half,” Wimberly said. “Inthose days, the store was known as the home of Bubbles themynah bird. Apparently Bubbles had a large vocabulary, some ofit X-rated. Champ was something of a trader and had lots of oldguns hanging from the wall inside the store. The public restroomwas an outhouse sitting over a creek.”Politicians, including a young Bill Clinton, stopped by to shakehands and explain their positions to Champ, who passed informationto people in the valley.Canoeists discovered the river in the late 1960s, and more came18ARKANSAS WILDLIFE NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2011
The second Turner Bend Store. Photo courtesy of Brad Wimberly.when “The Mighty Mulberry” was published in1974. The 56-mile National Wild and Scenic Riveris known for its Class II/III water.Wimberly remembers conversations with Champduring the 1976 and ’77 spring floating seasons.“When we returned for a float trip in 1978 the storewas closed,” he said. “Champ was soon to pass on.”The Turner family leased the store for a couple ofyears and sold it.“Champ died of lung cancer,” Turner said. “Brad heard aboutit and came down here and met with my dad. Brad said, ‘I neverwant to change the name. It’s Turner Bend to me, too.’ ”“As the saying goes, ‘Fools rush in,’ ” Wimberly said. “Ipurchased the store in May 1981. Good thing I was only 26 sincethere were hardships and problems at every turn. I lived in theback of the old store like the Turners before me. The wiring wasfaulty, the water well was suspect, the roof was leaky and therewas no insulation.”Wimberly’s first major improvement was a rock landingthat became a landmark, built by Lloyd Schlicker in 1981.Wimberly moved into a 250-square-foot shack in the Turner Bendcampground in 1982 so he could expand the store. He lived there10 years, and married Vien on the landing.“University of Arkansas students flew down the trail on Fridaysand back up on Sundays,” Wimberly said. “Businessmen travelingto and from Little Rock would stop. Hog fans with their flagsflying stopped on their way to games. Canoeing on the Mulberrygrew in popularity.”Wimberly started building a store next to the old one in 1986.“Actually, we had to build part of the new building, tear partof the old one down, build some more, tear the rest of the oldbuilding down, then complete the construction. The wholeprocess took about a year and we never closed a day.”He improved the campground and built a home and rentalcabin on the property by the late ’90s. But the Pig Trail,Wimberly says, lost about two-thirds of its traffic when Interstate540 opened in 1999.“I had naively thought that a lot of the regularswould continue to travel the Pig Trail since it isso much shorter than the interstate route, butI was wrong,” Wimberly said. “Students nowattend the University of Arkansas and don’t evenknow what the Pig Trail is.”A couple of good canoeing years bolstered thebusiness and a growing motorcycle crowd foundthe Pig Trail. Wakarusa, an annual music eventat Mulberry Mountain a few miles north, drawsthousands of people.“Turner Bend has this whole new life of peoplethat know it for a new reason,” Turner said.Tight curves and a tree canopy make the PigTrail a favorite with motorcyclists. The Bikes,Blues and BBQ event in Fayetteville each falldraws motorcyclists to the store, where theybuy patches, pins, goggles and T-shirts. Boaters find NorthwestRiver Supplies gear – river shoes, gloves, life jackets and more.Turnerbend.com is a primary source for daily river levels.Along with groceries and camping supplies, the store offers OzarkHighlands Trail maps and a custom-designed Mulberry River map.Wimberly also stocks a documentary of the river from Wolf Pen toMill Creek. The store’s known for homemade sandwiches, whichboaters take for lunch on the river.Turner Bend runs shuttles for Ozark Highlands Trail hikers,and Wimberly hosts an annual river cleanup, which he’s done for 20years. Four years ago he purchased some riverfront property witha rental cabin just downstream from Turner Bend, and he’s addinga few primitive campsites. The new property is called ’Round theBend.Turner says Wimberly serves the community and preserves theriver much like Champ did. “We just feel like the Wimberlys areTurners,” she said. AWJill Rohrbach is a travel writer for the Arkansas Department of Parksand Tourism.Champ and Flora Turner inside the store, circa 1974. Note the licenses sign.The shelves offered soap, lighter fluid, fishing lures, SPAM and, yes, theTurners had Prince Albert in a can. Photo courtesy of Dena Turner.NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2011ARKANSAS WILDLIFE19
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Turner Bend Store as it appears today. Photo by Jeff Williams.Pig Trail PerennialAn Ozarks Icon Binds Valley CommunityBy Jill M. RohrbachTurner Bend Store on the Mulberry River is 100 years old.That’s a lot of bologna s<strong>and</strong>wiches. Thous<strong>and</strong>s of checked deer.And a bunch of wrecked canoes.You’ve driven by it <strong>and</strong> probably stopped if you’ve traveled thePig Trail in Franklin County. It’s where the Mulberry River slidesunder <strong>Arkansas</strong> Highway 23.Brad Wimberly has been the caretaker for 30 years, <strong>and</strong> hethrew a party in August to celebrate the store’s good times <strong>and</strong>struggles. Wimberly offers a little of everything, from gas to canoepaddles. He’s a river outfitter – canoes, kayaks <strong>and</strong> rafts with allthe accessories are available, along with cabins <strong>and</strong> campsites.Three buildings have been called Turner Bend Store since 1911.The first store was built by William Eli Turner <strong>and</strong> his sonChamp. Other family members were involved in the beginning,but Champ <strong>and</strong> his wife Flora ended up running the place.“Turner Bend for 100 years has kept that valley going,” saidBeth Turner, gr<strong>and</strong>daughter of Flora <strong>and</strong> Champ. “Gr<strong>and</strong>ma<strong>and</strong> gr<strong>and</strong>pa, they made that area a family.” Whether someoneneeded a b<strong>and</strong>age on a knee or help getting a car out of a ditch,Champ was the guy they turned to, she says. Turner produced adocumentary about Turner Bend, “Ties That Bind,” which is forsale at the store.“The first building was closer to the river next to the originalbridge across the Mulberry,” Wimberly said. “Most of the trafficin the early days was by horse or foot.”When a bridge was built in 1935, the Turners used the planksfrom the old bridge to build a store between a wooded hillside <strong>and</strong>the curve where the highway crosses the river. It was a store <strong>and</strong>residence for 50 years.“The Turners raised three sons in half of this building whileconducting business out of the other half,” Wimberly said. “Inthose days, the store was known as the home of Bubbles themynah bird. Apparently Bubbles had a large vocabulary, some ofit X-rated. Champ was something of a trader <strong>and</strong> had lots of oldguns hanging from the wall inside the store. The public restroomwas an outhouse sitting over a creek.”Politicians, including a young Bill Clinton, stopped by to shakeh<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> explain their positions to Champ, who passed informationto people in the valley.Canoeists discovered the river in the late 1960s, <strong>and</strong> more came18ARKANSAS WILDLIFE NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2011
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