Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

       After three days straight of rain and thunderstorms, with an average of six inches around most of northwest Arkansas, I think the drought is over.  March turned out to be drier than usual, it appears April is determined to make up for it, that’s fine we need the rain.  The three days of rain ended Saturday, Sunday waterfall photos started showing up all over the internet featuring a lot of dirty brown water, hopefully everything has cleared up today. @ Sweden Creek Natural Area      I pick Sweden Creek of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, after considering a few ‘waterfall’ destinations.   We visited Sweden Creek once over eleven years ago (long before ‘Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks’) in the middle of winter, on that day the icicles where the main attraction.    A lot has changed in the years since, as I found out even before reaching Sweden Creek Natural Area, a return visit has been long overdue. two li...

       This morning on our way to Rogers we had light rain off and on the whole time, for us it’s about a two-hour trip to Rogers.  I thought about stopping on the way back at Hobbs State Park and hiking the short Sinking Creek Trail.  But with all the rain today we decide to check out Atalanta Lake Park just east of historic downtown Rogers instead. creek that feeds Atalanta Lake     Walnut Street east out of downtown less than a mile brings us right to Atalanta Lake Park.  We park at Clark Pavilion on the right soon after entering the park.  Clark Pavilion is a sheltered group picnic area with restrooms and a huge fireplace.  Most of the park’s over ten miles of trails are accessible from trailheads here at Clark Pavilion. bridge across lake      Lake Atalanta owned by the city of Rogers is nothing like I expected, we are pleasantly surprised.  Pretty much all the facilities in the park today are the ...

     This afternoon on our way back from Rogers we take a ‘shortcut’ through Hobbs State Park and Conservation Area.  Hobbs, the largest of the state parks in Arkansas consists of wooded rolling hills along the banks of Beaver Lake and includes over fifty miles of well-maintained hiking, biking and horseback riding trails.      Although still in the grips of one of the hottest and driest summers on record, it has ‘cooled’ off in early August.  Today’s high is ‘only’ predicted to reach 89°, even so that is still too hot for any serious hiking, we’re going to check out the very short and easy trail through the Van Winkle Historic District.  Parking at the trailhead on Scenic Highway 12 is pretty impressive, with its paved parking lot, sidewalks, restrooms and a picnic area. at Highway 12 tunnel     We park at the west end of the lot right next to the trailhead sign, The Van Winkle Trail is ADA compliant (handicap accessible) and begi...

     Leatherwood Lake  the Eureka Springs City Park  is a couple miles north of Eureka Springs off Highway 62 .   Here we find just about everything you'd expect at a ‘city park’ like a soccer field, baseball diamond and picnic area.   But Leatherwood Lake has much more to offer the outdoor enthusiast including a campground, rental cabins, rental canoes, kayaks and peddle boats for use on the ‘no wake’ lake. Lake Leatherwood      And the best thing here I think , is the miles and miles of hiking and mountain bike trails (horses also welcome). Today we’ll explore the park a little and check out a couple trails while we’re at it.   After parking just up the bank about 50 yards from the little marina, at the lowest of three or four parking areas we head north on lakeside Fuller Trail. small creek along Fuller Trail     Fuller Trail is well maintained and easy to follow in and out of small drainages staying pretty close to the...