As part of a Fall Break trip with family, we visited the Ozarks region of Northern Arkansas. At Buffalo National River, we hiked the Collier Homestead Trail in the Tyler Bend unit of the park. The overlooks of the river were impressive, and other than Elizabeth seeing a snake, it was a very nice hike through the woods (we even saw a walking stick).
After lunch, we drove to the Blanchard Springs area in Ozark National Forest. We explored the impressive Blanchard Springs Caverns on the Dripstone Trail Cave Tour where everyone enjoyed seeing the many cave formations as well as a bat and a salamander.
We also visited Mammoth Spring State Park where we walked the loop trail and saw the remains of a small mill and hydroelectric plant, an 1886 Frisco train depot, lake, and one of the largest springs in the country with about nine million gallons of water flowing hourly. The park was very peaceful and was a nice ending to our time in Arkansas.
We visited northwestern Arkansas over the Columbus Day weekend. While there, we toured Pea Ridge National Military Park near Rogers and visited Fort Smith National Historic Site on the banks of the Arkansas River. Both parks are also sites on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
On our first trip to Arkansas, we visited the Little Rock and Hot Springs areas. In Little Rock, we toured the William Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, and the Arkansas State Capitol. We also toured Arkansas Post National Memorial near Pine Bluff.
In Hot Springs we visited Hot Springs National Park where we toured some of the historic buildings on Bathhouse Row and hiked along the Grand Promenade. We also had a fun meal at the Ohio Club, took in the views from the top of Hot Springs Mountain Tower, and toured President Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site in Hope.