Let’s Explore Arkansas!
Arkansas was a place we visited on a family trip because it was a place with a nice lake and was in basically in the middle of a venn diagram for all of the families when driving. It turned out to be a great place if you’re looking for a lake trip. There is a lot more to see in Arkansas, but we enjoyed the 3 places we visited! Check out what we got up to below!
This trip was taken July 2021.
During our time in Arkansas, we got to visit 3 main places:
Little Rock, Arkansas
In Little Rock, we only had a short amount of time, but it made a lasting impact. We drove by the state capital building before heading to the Little Rock Central High School. You were able to see the high school, as well as a small, free museum. The museum was really well done, and the people working there were helpful and kind. I’m so glad my kids were able to see this museum, showcasing the bravery of these students, and the hate that was shown by the white people of the town. Being able to see how recent in our history this was was important for my kids to see.
Lake Hamilton
Lake Hamilton was where our group of families spent the week. We rented a great house right on the lake. The lake itself was really nice and not crowded at all. We had lots of space to rent a boat and go tubing, or kayak. You could also take the boat to some local restaurants, or down the river that led into the lake. It makes for a great trip if looking for a lake vacation.
Some other things in the area worth seeing:
- Garvan Woodland Gardens
- Lake Catherine State Park – hike to waterfall
Hot Springs National Park
This is certainly the strangest National Park we’ve visited. Does it rise to the level of amazingness as other National Parks – most certainly not. Is it worth visiting……….. maybe if you’re in the area?
The National Park has 3 main features…
1) hiking in the surrounding area (most of the hikes on all trails rated 3/5 stars – nothing exciting)
2) the historic bath houses
3) the actual hot springs
We didn’t hike at the National Park, because we actually found that Lake Catherine State Park had better hiking.
The bath houses were kind of cool. They were all in a row down a street in the main part of town. We didn’t get a chance to actually go to a bath within the bath house, but it might have been fun, especially not in the summer. We did visit a brewery that was in a historic bath house and the food/drinks were great.
The hot springs themselves… these were literally hot springs (like a pond essentially) in the middle of a small, touristy town. They were kind of interesting. If you’re looking for something incredible, this isn’t it. But, it was OK. 🙂
Overall – this area is great for a chill lake trip. I wouldn’t specifically put this on my top places to visit list, but … it allowed us to check out a bit of what Arkansas has to offer!
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