NWAAS home The map at left shows the new nature area located on state highway 12 just west of Gentry, Arkansas. From US 412 east of Siloam Springs, go seven miles north on highway 59 to highway 12. Follow highway 12 two miles west to the parking area. Follow a short trail to a pavilion built by Southwest Electric Power Company (SWEPCO). SEE PAVILION WITH DEER The site was chosen because each year American Bald Eagles winter in the area and are often easily seen in the trees on the bluff on the left, as the observer faces the lake. The eagles are usually there between mid-November and mid-March. They fish in the reservoir and loaf in these trees. Their daytime foraging often takes them over 100 miles from the night-time roosting sites. Swepco lake never freezes and so provides water for wildlife at times when other sources are frozen.