Midway Bluffs Friends mission
is "to secure and manage non-boater access to cliff jumping on Greers Ferry Lake, Hwy 225, Arkansas"
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MISS SEEING THIS MAJESTIC SIGHT, ENJOY!
Local kids have been going to the bluffs for generations, parking alongside the public road and walking on the prescriptive easement paths to the bluffs where they honed their cliff jumping skills through daily practice beginning on the lower cliffs and working their way up to the highest point. According to Cleburne county sheriff's records there have been no injuries or deaths from jumping off these bluffs in recent reports. Ever since the bluffs have been illegally closed off, the sight of expert jumpers has been missing. Rest assured we will continue the legal battle until our rights as non-boaters are restored.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation does not have jurisdiction over Old Sunny Slope Road yet they put up a barrier in violation of state law.
Why is there a barrier to prevent pedestrian access to public property here and not on any other Arkansas bridges?
Here is a picture of a family sitting under a tent on the "beach" on the south side of the lake by the old bridge. It is proof of the public prescriptive easement that existed from 1963 until unlawfully blocked in December 2021. The judge dismissed our case because she said that we were asking for a prescriptive element to Corps property (we weren't). Today we filed an appeal of her ruling to the Arkansas Court of Appeals. You can read it here and keep up with progress searching for CV-25-418 under "look up a case" on the Pulaski clerk website. Scroll all the way to the bottom for the newest entries..
12CV-11-190 Dead End Case
12CV-11-190 is a case against the Arkansas State Highway Commission that began in 2011 when the state took private land for the new AR 225 bridge. It continued with additional litigation to determine the status of the dead end of Old Sunny Slope Road and whether ASHC can sell this valuable public property to a private party to extinguish public access.
To follow the entire case with pleadings from both sides go to pulaskicourt.com and search court records with the case number (use Chrome Browser).
The most recent pleading is a Court Order joining a new party to the case.
12CV-24-86 Road and Trails case
Motions for Summary Judgement filed
To follow the entire case with pleadings from both sides go to pulaskicourt.com and search court records with the case number (use Chrome Browser) and scroll to the bottom for the most recent pleadings.
When the judge rules that Cleburne County has jurisdiction over Old Sunny Slope Road, then the issue of opening the dead end and making a vehicle turn-around will have to be decided by the County Judge. An unfavorable ruling or a decision to vacate the road would have to be appealed to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
