Before the week was out, several more groups of students would walk the park's trails and gawk at the stuffed black bear and the live snakes inside the nature center. Clark Park is a popular destination for school groups who want to see what Fayetteville might have looked like in the days before there was a mall or a Market House. Visitors to the park's 76 acres can look at a natural 50-foot waterfall, see mountain laurel or watch a raccoon scurry through the thick brush . But outside of the tour groups, many city residents have never been to the unique park. A lot of people don't even know where it is.
People are surprised when they come down to find what they find.
J. Bayard Clark Park, as it exists today, is relatively new. Before that, Clark Park was a more conventional park, featuring a baseball field, outdoor grills and swing sets. A natural 50-foot waterfall is one of the scenic sites that are found in Clark Park. The land is part of the Myrtle Hill Plantation owned by Robert Strange in the 1880s. Much of the land was given to the U.S. government in 1938 for a veteran's hospital.