Category Archives: Arkansas

Arkansas Travelers: Deep into the Ozarks for Two Nights

So far at this point in our trip we have visited Little Rock and Hot Springs. When planning the trip I studied the map of Arkansas and tried to decide what would be fun. I knew I wanted us to visit the Fayetteville/Bentonville area last, so I thought, hmm, how about heading into the mountains for a bit? I searched on airbnb for various rural places, and finally found a wonderful cabin near the town of Pettigrew.

The host had warned me ahead of time about a few things: 1) that you probably wanted an SUV or something along those lines for the 5 miles of gravel roads plus their driveway 2) there was no phone service or reliable internet and 3) they had dogs that would be visiting. Oh, and 4) that you needed to bring all your supplies because the nearest grocery story was 4 miles away.

There was also a stern warning about 5) not taking a certain route that google might suggest you take because the road would be impassable at a point and you might get stuck and damage your car.

So, with all of those warnings in mind, it sounded great. 5 miles from a paved road, awesome! Beautiful pictures on airbnb! No phone service for two days so nobody could bug me about violin lessons! Remote location! Hiking! Dogs and chickens and a river! And, since this is important on airbnb as well, a thoughtful and communicative host!

It was about a 3 hour drive from Hot Springs to the cabin. Along the way we stopped at a Walmart to get groceries and stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Russellville for lunch. We carefully watched the roads as we got close and initially missed our first turn off onto the gravel roads, but it was easy to backtrack.

We’d been driving on various winding highways up until this point, but it is difficult to describe in words how interesting and unlike what we were used to it was like driving on these dirt/gravel roads in the Ozarks. We were surrounded by trees at times, with a creek even going across the road here and there. We would see a farmhouse here and there, some in ruins, some that looked like people still or recently lived there. I’d say about half of the houses we saw looked abandoned and the other half looked lived in. We saw cows and ponds. We kept crossing over the Little Mulberry Creek, which was fairly wide at points (for this there were various types of bridges.)

I took this picture from the car as we went over a bridge.
This was the side view for one of the creeks that went over the road.
This was what the road looked like for much of the jounrney.

As we drove along our directions had given us various landmarks so we knew we were on the right route. We eventually turned onto a smaller, less well-maintained road, and then headed up a very steep, rocky driveway to get to the cabin.

The host normally lived in a house right by the cabin but she wasn’t there while we were there, which was a little scary at times (so desolate! so thinking of serial murderers!) but also very lovely for privacy. She had mentioned that someone would be by feeding the animals, but I didn’t realize that meant her dogs…

We found the cabin easily and parked in front of it, and then a dog came up. I was nervous at first, but it turned out that her two dogs were the most friendly and welcoming dogs you’d ever meet! The information in the cabin told us their names were Lola and Neena and they pretty much hung out with us the entire time we were there!

As we were getting the car unloaded and getting settled, we kept hearing a strange noise. I thought maybe it was just the screen door being weird (I don’t know!) but it turned out it was a couple of free range chickens. The dogs and the chickens didn’t seem to bother one another!

Anyway, we got settled, and then decided to take a walk. The dogs led the way down the driveway and then we all went to the creek, which was right near the driveway-the road we turned off of to get to the driveway continued a short distance and then dead-ended at the creek, though google maps showed it continuing across. Perhaps there was another road across the creek, or perhaps in very low water one could drive a certain kind of vehicle across, but there was no obvious way to do so, so that would be another piece of bad advice from google.

The chickens
The creek

The dogs led us to the creek where they did a little swimming. We poked around a bit and then decided to just walk up the road a bit. We passed some other houses and saw a few people out with their dogs, which was a bit awkward: we assumed since these dogs were completely free range that the closest neighbors knew them and that the dogs got along, but it seemed that neither of those was true. We didn’t have leashes or anything, but the neighbors seemed to be very wary with their dogs. As I said to one person, I was sorry, but these dogs weren’t even our dogs!

After walking a bit we headed back to make a fire and have dinner. The cabin had modern amenities and a small kitchenette (a two burner stove, coffeemaker, microwave, and small fridge), with lots of pots and pans, flatware, dishes and such to choose from, but there was also a firepit outside and some firewood to use. We thought a fire would be lovely since it was getting cooler! Louie worked on that while I made a shrimp with couscous dinner inside, and then we hung out a bit.

After eating we moved to sit by the fire. It was enjoyable, but the one dog kept getting up and barking into the night, which became a little scary….was there somethign out there? was she hearing things we weren’t? Being so remote, more remote than most of our camping experiences, and having this dog barking like there was danger, was a bit frightening! We decided after awhile to just go to bed, and it was nice and cool and wonderful to snuggle up under the covers.

In the morning we made oatmeal, and then headed out to hike. We decided to do a hike called the Redding -Spy Rock Loop, which was advertised as 8.3 miles and looked to be a good way to spend the day. It was about a 45 minute drive away, which sounds like a lot until you realize that 30 minutes of that is the 5 miles on gravel roads!

It is worth mentioning at this point that the two dogs slept outside our cabin all night, one of them possibly slept underneath it. They were happy to see us in the morning, but a bit harumph-py that we were leaving again.

Another view of the cabin
The creek looked so blue in the sun. It had a cloudy look to it, maybe a sort of mineral.
I mentioned cows.

We had a teeny bit of trouble finding where to park, and ended up finding a place that in retrospect we didn’t like as well as our first place, but it was all okay. We loaded up, added copious amounts of bug spray, and headed out.

The hike was perfectly nice. It was a bit swampy at first, so we were glad to gain some elevation. This isn’t a great time of year to hike in Arkansas due to bugs and humidity, though we were quite lucky with the weather not being too hot. The other thing that isn’t as nice is there are very few views as the trees all have their leaves, so you are just doing a lot of walking around in the woods! We had a few trees in the way, including two really big ones and had a couple of tricky diversions due to that. Louie joked he wished he had brought his saw along on the hike to help out more.

The trail was pretty easy to follow however. We were a little disappointed to find there was also a road up to Spy Rock (gravel, yes, but we saw a few vehicles go by) but nonetheless it was a lovely hike.

We took the West Loop first

Eventually we got to Spy Rock where we enjoyed a lovely view and ate our lunch. There was a nearby backcountry camping area for those who like to camp.

There is a waterfall in this picture if you squint.

After lunch, we got on our way again continuing along the east loop of the trail. The description in a book said there would be a variety of waterfalls, so we looked forward to that. It was a nice hike down, and the waterfalls were small but still a bit of fun along the way. I was a little worried about a tricky water crossing but nothing was too tough. The last mile or so of the trail was pretty rocky under foot and got to be pretty annoying, but before too long we found ourselves back at the car!

Louie ended up with a bunch of ticks on one of his socks, but I seemed okay. He tends to attract more ticks for whatever reason and I tend to attract more mosquitoes.

I don’t think we saw anybody on the hike, unless I am forgetting something.

After the hike, we decided to take the long route back to the cabin: there was another route in from the north side, so we drove around a bit to see the area more. There are some great windy roads, some tiny towns, and then about 7 miles of dirt roads (we drove through Pettigrew and then into the county road territory.) It was better from the other way but nice to see more of the land. One dog came out to visit in the road (actually this was a common thing, it happened at least twice) and we had to proceed cautiously while he said hello to the car and smelled it. Louie did an impression of the dog saying “Hi folks, we don’t get many visitors out this way!”

We finally found our way back to the cabin and I was beat! I showered and then spent the rest of the afternoon reading. Louie headed back down to the creek with the dogs and had a nice time taking pictures of them in the water.

Just some random pictures of the view from the porch, the chickens, and then Louie petting the two dogs. They were sweet dogs!

We made (bean) burgers on the fire that night and hung out outside for a bit, but were tired early and so didn’t stay up too long. The next morning we were headed to Fort Smith and then to Fayetteville to our next airbnb.

The one dog (Lola) was again barking at nothing or everything, and we thought maybe she was being proactive and warning any potential intruders of her presence. Occasionally the second dog (Neena) would join her and they would run off into the woods together…who knows if they found something, or if it was just the chicken, or who knows. Honestly after a point the dogs were a bit annoying which led to our decision to pack it in early, but we were pretty tired anyway!

It was a wonderful place to stay, and there was much more to do in the area as far as hiking and such if we stayed another few nights, so I highly recommend this cabin!

In the morning we packed up, said our goodbyes to the dogs (Louie was particularly sad, and did end up walking down to the creek with them one last time) and then headed out on the dirt roads again. We had just under a 2 hour drive to our next stop and wanted to get a good start on the day.

Arkansas Travelers: Two Nights in Little Rock

A few years ago we spent a long weekend in Eureka Springs and had a great time, so when I started thinking about post-COVID vaccine trips, I thought of Arkansas. I wanted to go somewhere not too far away, and somewhere that wouldn’t be overwhelmingly busy with tourists, as I knew the more famous places would be slammed with people eager to travel.

I decided to put together an 8 night road trip for Louie and I that hit the best of Arkansas, or at least, 4 different areas for two nights each.

So, we started with two nights in Little Rock, the state capital. I booked an airbnb in downtown for these leg of the trip. We left on a Saturday morning and headed south.

It’s about a 5 1/2 hour drive to Little Rock, and most of it is on state highways. It was interesting to see the little towns along the way and watch the landscape go by.

We stopped at a McDonalds in Arkansas for a late lunch, and were surprised that we couldn’t eat inside the restaurant. (We actually failed to notice that they were closed inside and were about to sit down and eat and they had to tell us that we couldn’t, which was mildly embarrassing). Missouri has been so “open” this whole time with few restrictions and it was odd to think that a neighboring state had some. That being said, few people were wearing masks, including people going into that same McDonalds, so it’s not like Arkansas was doing things better, just different.

Anyway, we got to our airbnb at 3 to check in but due to a mix up had to wait a little longer. We walked over to a nearby coffee shop in the SOMA area called Community Bakery and sat outside to enjoy some coffee and cookies.

The SOMA area was a 5 minute walk from our airbnb, and SOMA just means South Main Street. It was a few blocks with a bunch of restaurants and a few other things to do, and was really cute. We walked around a bit after our coffee and then went to check into our place.

We were staying in a little apartment in a house with a shared kitchen and other shared spaces, but with private areas. It worked out really well and the hostess actually wasn’t even around for the rest of our stay, so we had the place to ourselves at a cheaper rate!

We walked down to the river next, and took an hour or more just looking around, taking pictures, and getting a sense of Little Rock.

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There is a park called Riverfront Park right down by the River which has art and playgrounds and other cool stuff to do and look at. You can also bike or walk along the Arkansas River Trail which is a much longer trail.

We had dinner reservations for a place called Brave New Restaurant, so after awhile we cleaned up and headed there. This wasn’t our first dinner out after getting vaccinated, but it was our first fancy dinner, and I was really looking forward to it! Though it was a bit chilly we sat outside on the patio overlooking the Arkansas River. It was absolutely beautiful as the sun went down!

The food was excellent too: oysters, salad, trout…it was all delicious and well prepared. The chef, Peter Brave, kept coming around to check on all of the diners and make sure we were enjoying our food. We loved the meal and would eat there again!

The next morning we decided to grab coffee and breakfast at the Community Bakery and then go to hike up Pinnacle Mountain at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.

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We had a little trouble finding the right parking lot at first due to Google not being as helpful as we needed, but we eventually found the West Summit Trail Trailhead with plenty of time to beat the crowds.

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It was a lovely trail, for awhile, until it just turned into some rock scrambling!

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The rock scrambling part (unpictured) was terrifying to a point, and I had to sit down for awhile. I didn’t think I could finish and Louie went ahead without me, but after collecting myself and resting I decided to forge ahead and made it to the top!

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After hiking, we went back to the SOMA area for lunch and went to a wonderful place called the Root Cafe. We just beat a large crowd, but were told it would be 40 to 50 minutes on our food anyway! This ended up being wrong, and we were eating within 20 minutes. I had a delicious banh mi tofu sandwich and Louie had a mushroom burger.

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After lunch we decided to visit the Historic Arkansas Museum (called the HAM). It was okay, and sort of interesting, with old houses outside and some indoor displays, but I was hoping for a bit more on the actual history of Arkansas for general knowledge about the state and the area, and it was piecemeal. It was partly our fault for not doing the call in cell phone tour, but I’m not that interested in going to a museum and using my cell phone… I want to be in the moment at the museum, experiencing and reading stuff, and honestly, I use my phone for taking pictures and it can be tricky going back and forth. In any case, one of the more interesting things to me was that the old houses were actually there from the start of the museum in the 1930’s and the museum itself kept them from being torn down!

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We walked over the Bill Clinton Presidential Library after that. We knew it was closed due to COVID but wanted to see the grounds and the building anyway, and there was plenty to do outside, some gardens, wetlands(so many turtles!!), and artwork area. It was a really cool building and I’m sorry we didn’t get to see inside!

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The Heifer International Headquarters are there too, but there didn’t seem to be anything we could do there at this time either.

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We walked across that bridge and considered looking at the other side as the map indicated a trail, but it didn’t look very welcoming so we turned back.

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Our next stop was a brewery near our airbnb called Stone’s Throw Brewery. We got a nice sampler and sat outside enjoying the gorgeous weather: it was in the 70s!

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We went back to the SOMA area for dinner to Mockingbird Bar and Tacos. It was tasty and we enjoyed sitting outside relaxing.

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The next morning we left our airbnb and had one more stop in Little Rock before heading to Hot Springs, the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

The Visitor’s Center was only allowing a certain number of people in at once, so we got a time to come back, and went to see the outside stuff first. There’s the high school where the Little Rock 9 attended school and some other places around, a gas station where the media used the payphone (it’s so funny to remember that we didn’t all used to have phones all the time!) and a bench where one of the 9 sat waiting for everybody and some other stuff. It’s a very moving and emotional place to visit, and it really makes you think about Civil Rights, how much things have changed yet how much things stay the same.

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The museum was great (though the COVID protocols of limited people and giving times to come back meant that we were all clumped together going one way in the museum, when otherwise we might have naturally spread out more to avoid being clumped together!) and definitely worth a visit.

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After the NPS site we got lunch at Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling. Louie wanted to stop by the Clinton Library again to look at a little island we had skipped the day before, but I didn’t want to walk in the sand so we split up.

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The grounds were beautiful and there was a display of various globes which seemed to have something to do with Charlotte, NC initially rather than Little Rock so I assume it was a visiting exhibit in some way.

Anyway, Louie said the island was pretty much flooded out (I think from two years ago, likely?) and so then we hit the road for Hot Springs! If you have Little Rock questions, be sure to let me know!