Arkansas is the on far southern end of the sugar maple distribution map. A stripe of sugar maples exists in Newton County isn the Boston Mountains. There are many types of maples in NW Arkansas. The Hard maples are: Sugar Maple and Black Maple (rare); the Red and Silver and Big Leaf Maple are part of the Soft Maple sub-group as is the Box Elder (common). All are found in Boston Mountain locations but the Soft Maple are more common along the creeks and streams.
Black Maple in color change
Sugar Maple in an Oak-Hickory Grove
Under most circumstances, it’s usually possible to determine with a fair degree of certainty whether any given piece of wood is Hard or Soft Maple using the two previous tips; yet it can be nearly impossible to determine the exact species of Soft Maple just by looking at the wood, or even weighing it.
To achieve such refinement in identification, one of the best things to do is look at the leaves of the maple tree in question. (This option is obviously only available if you still have access to the living tree, and you are contemplating having it milled into lumber.) Below is a chart showing illustrations (and some scans) of maple leaves of various species, along with descriptions of their size and characteristics. While there are literally thousands of species of maple in the world, with numerous hybrids and cultivars, the list below should help to identify the most common ones.
Life and Wildlife along the Little Buffalo River 
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