Let’s Explore Arkansas!
Arkansas honestly wasn’t on our radar at first. It ended up being the middle point for a few families driving in from different places — basically the center of a venn diagram that worked for everyone. We came for convenience, but it turned out to be a really solid spot for a laid-back lake trip.
There’s definitely more to see across the state, but the three places we visited gave us a good feel for it.
This trip was taken July 2021.
During our time in Arkansas, we got to visit 3 main places:
Little Rock, Arkansas
We didn’t have long here, but it stuck with us.
We drove past the Arkansas State Capitol before heading to Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.
You can walk the grounds and visit a small, free museum. It’s really well done — simple, but powerful. The staff there were thoughtful and helpful, and the exhibits do a good job of showing both the courage of the students and the reality of what they faced.
Seeing how recent this history is hit hard. It felt important for our kids to experience it in a place like this, not just read about it somewhere else.
Lake Hamilton
This is where we spent most of the trip, and it’s the kind of place that works really well for a group.
We rented a house right on the lake, which made everything easy. The lake itself was surprisingly uncrowded, with plenty of space to spread out. Most days were some mix of boating, tubing, kayaking, and just hanging out.
One of the better parts was being able to boat straight to restaurants or cruise into the connecting waterways. It’s not flashy, but it’s exactly what you want if you’re looking for an easy, low-stress 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 was easily the most unusual National Park we’ve been to.
If you’re expecting something on the level of Yosemite or Yellowstone, it’s not that. It feels more like a small town built around a National Park designation than the other way around. Whether it’s “worth it” probably depends on how close you already are.
There are three main things here:
- Hiking in the surrounding hills
- The historic bathhouses
- The hot springs themselves
We skipped hiking in the park and went instead to Lake Catherine State Park, which had better trails for what we were looking for.
The bathhouses are probably the highlight. They line the main street and have been preserved in a really interesting way. We didn’t actually do a bath (which might be more appealing outside of peak, sweaty summer), but we did stop into Superior Bathhouse Brewery — a brewery set inside one of the old bathhouses — and that was a fun way to experience the space.
As for the springs themselves… they’re exactly what they sound like. Small, contained hot water pools right in town. Interesting to see, but not something that blows you away.
This area works really well for a relaxed lake trip with a group. I wouldn’t put it at the top of a must-see list, but it gave us a chance to experience a different side of the U.S. — and for what we needed on that trip, it delivered.
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