Day 28 – Little Rock to Eureka Springs

Eureka Springs is a very quaint and arty/hippy little town and very touristy. Or rather, it was touristy when we drove through it in the afternoon but around dinner time it was eerily quiet! We took a drive out of town and realised the reason the town centre is so quiet in the evening is because there are LOADS of hotels, motels and camping in the wider area which offer a lot more options than what the town centre/downtown has to offer.
One of the biggest (literally) things Eureka Springs is known for is The Christ of the Ozarks and naturally that had to be our first stop. It is a very impressive, though rather strange sight – as is the miniature Holy Land!

Eureka Springs is very hilly/mountainous and we wound our way along to Razorback Tower where I climbed the steep wooden stairs for a great view of the surrounding mountains. From there it is a short drive to Inspiration Point, though we made a quick detour to the Blue Spring Heritage Center, where we didn’t bother to pay $10/pp to walk around a spring for a bit. Inspiration Point offered more great (and green!) views. Beaver Dam State Park is a huge dam with a swimming area and lots of picnic spots, that were mostly flooded, despite all the sluices being open. From Beaver Dam we made a quick stop at Lake Leatherwood before heading back to the hotel for a cold beer on the Basin Park balcony.

Our evening routine never really varies, and as usual we went out around 6 and looked for somewhere to eat – though the pickings were slim! The Rowdy Beaver that looked ok on Google was absolutely awful and I definitely wouldn’t eat anything that comes out of their kitchen… Eventually after walking around a bit we found ourselves at the Pied Piper Pub & Inn and The Cat House Lounge where the food was reasonable. The Cathouse Lounge is the biker part of the establishment and it certainly looked the part.

Eureka Springs is certainly in a very scenic part of the country and the town itself is very pretty to look at – though very touristy. We enjoyed the scenic drives and our stay there, though again not a place I would spend more time in unless you are into camping.