Little Rock and Hot Springs, Arkansas

​Following our new family tradition of traveling and camping for Thanksgiving, a tradition that started in 2015 with our first big camping trip to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, we headed to Arkansas for a late fall adventure. Since starting our Thanksgiving travels, we’ve since been to Williams AZ, Stone Mountain GA, Cherokee NC, Asheville NC, New Orleans LA, Myrtle Beach SC, Bentonville AR, and Detroit MI. This year we returned to Arkansas to explore Little Rock and a return visit to Hot Springs. ​

Our week started on Monday when we checked into the Downtown Riverside RV Park. We’d heard good things about this campground and it didn’t disappoint. Situated on the Arkansas River in North Little Rock, this campground is a half mile walk across the pedestrian bridge, the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge, to the William J Clinton Library and Museum. It’s also less than a mile from downtown restaurants, coffee shops, the children’s museum, and the Arkansas River Trail that runs along the river from the campground past downtown attractions toward the Big Dam Bridge and on to Pinnacle Mountain State Park, 18 miles away. The sites are laid out buddy style, so you share a power and water pedestal with your neighbor and your doors face each other. The park did a good job getting motor homes the pull in sites and the trailers into back in sites so we all had the best views of the river and downtown. ​

We started the day with a very good lunch at Big Orange and then we went to check out the Arkansas State Capitol. Visiting state capitols is something we’ve started more recently on our travels and Arkansas was a nice addition. It looks like the US Capitol and has stood in for it in movies. We fueled up for the afternoon on caffeine with coffee at Fidel and Co. Kind of on a whim, we decided to check out the William J Clinton Library and Museum. This was a great stop. The Bill Clinton story was laid out in an enjoyable and educational way. We considered eating or having cocktails at 42 Table and Bar in the museum, but it never seemed to be open when we wanted to visit. We headed back to the campground to walk the dogs over the bridge walk and back towards the Presidential Library grounds. Finally, after a travel day and busy first day, we feasted at The Pantry Restaurant, which offers Czech and German classic dishes in a trendy space. We loved the bacon wrapped dates and massive mains such as roasted pork with cabbage and potatoes and bratwurst with sauerkraut and potatoes. ​

Not to be outdone by Monday, we had a really busy day on Tuesday. We started early at the Old Mill, a recreation of a water powered grist mill that was featured in “Gone with the Wind”. The grounds, mill, and bridges looked like fallen trees and felt like a land in a fairytale. We certainly feel like it is worth a visit. The Big Dam Walk, our next stop, is a bridge over the Murray Lock and Dam that extends 4226 feet and serves as the longest pedestrian and cycling bridge in North America. We’d noticed Dempsey Bakery on local menus as a source of gluten free bakery products, and en route to our next stop, we happened to pass the bakery and stocked up on all sorts of guilty pleasures: cookies, bread, brownies, and a pumpkin pie; all of which was delicious! No visit to Little Rock should be complete without a visit to Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site to experience the bravery of the Little Rock Nine. Seeing the school and reading the accounts of those days brings to life the incredible story of these nine children and their lasting impact. The NPS app has an audio tour if you have the time. Also, if you want to tour the school, you must make reservations in advance. After what was already a busy morning, Nexus Coffee and Creative provided great coffee to fuel the next leg of our day. We headed to the Hillcrest Historic District, a neighborhood with shopping and dining options. We loved shopping in Domestic Domestic, a store that featured American made or designed products and carried many of our favorite brands like Vuori, Lems, and Goodr. Eggshells Kitchen Co. had great kitchenwear and Ozark Outdoor Supply had good outdoor gear where I finally found the perfect rain coat.

We were quite hungry and the name of this highly recommended place was what we needed: Heights Taco and Tamale Co. We devoured a trio of salsas, seared ahi tuna tacos, and pulled pork tamales, all of which was amazing. More coffee? Mug Coffee Co. is in the Argenta Arts District and near the campground in North Little Rock. This was recommended to us for breakfast, but we opted for afternoon coffee instead. We picked up the dogs to walk the bridge onto the Arkansas River Trail to Presidential Park Wetlands, Riverfront Park, past The ‘Little Rock’, Tunnels Playground, and Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden. We could have happily continued exploring but we still had a couple more stops! After seeing the building in a local magazine, we decided we would have to experience the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art. The 133,000 square foot building was stunning and the exhibits filled with classic and contemporary pieces. We bought tickets to see the holiday lights at the Little Rock Zoo, GloWild. The lighted displays were silk lanterns exhibits throughout the zoo. Finally, we ended the day with dinner at Root Cafe. We had burgers and brats again with Dempsey’s bread, deviled eggs, and fried tofu. ​

After seeing a lot in a short visit, Wednesday was our travel day. We made it leisurely, but again walked across the bridge to enjoy coffee at Fidel and Co., then we walked the dogs across the bridge again to wear them out for the drive. On our way out of town, we stopped at Whole Foods to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey. Our next stop was Gulpa Gorge Campground at Hot Springs National Park. ​

When we were planning our trip, we thought we might camp at Catherine’s Landing, which has been our go to Hot Springs campground. But then we noticed an available site at Gulpa Gorge Campground, Hot Springs National Park's campground, so we booked it! All 44 sites are full hookups with two bathhouses, but there are no showers available. The park is on the Gulpa Creek with the Ouachita (Wash-ah-taw) Mountains surrounding the campground. No frills, but it gets no better than booking a National Park campground. We made lunch, settled in, walked around, and then had a fire with our new campground gadget, an Ignik FireCan. We’ve had several campfire gadgets such as a Biolite and a Little Red Campfire that are all nice. We really love the ammo box size and design for easy portability and storage in the camper and we can’t beat a propane fire that starts and stops when we are ready. After relaxing at the campground, we made our way to Garvan Woodlands Gardens Wednesday evening for the holiday lights display. Reservations are needed and this was a far bigger and more expansive display than the prior night. We arrived while it was still light out, so we walked the gardens twice: once in the setting sunlight to see the woodlands and again when it was dark to appreciate the holiday lights display. Two different people in Little Rock asked if we had tickets to see the garden, so it is a well known spot! We would like to go back and see these gardens in another season as it was beautiful! We wrapped up the day with our favorite Hot Springs eats: SQZBX, which has the most genius appetizer of any pizza place - baked pepperoni chips with pizza sauce for dipping!

Thanksgiving day on the road is tricky. Counting on anyplace being open is unpredictable and we’ve learned that eating out for Thanksgiving is expensive and not all that great. This year, we decided to make a semi-traditional Thanksgiving meal at the campground, but first we had to earn it. We got up early to cheer Lillian on as she ran a Turkey Trot 5k in downtown Hot Springs when we got back the rest of us hike from the campground up to Goat Rock Summit. All of the hikes from the campground go up quickly, and it was more than we expected, but we trekked on to the summit. Next, we met our family in town to walk the greenway and explore Majestic Park and Hollywood Park. We reheated our Whole Foods turkey in a Dutch Oven over the fire and used the Instant Pot to make cranberry sauce and then mashed potatoes. Our family bought the rest over and we had a great lunch surrounded by the setting of the national park. We spent the evening playing games at their VRBO. This was a great way to spend the holiday! ​

We normally celebrate Black Friday by opting outside. But first, we needed to experience the real reason to visit Hot Springs: we’d booked a private aromatic soak at Quapaw Baths and Spa. We were given mineral water to drink while we soaked and cucumber water with a sage peppermint cold towel at the end. Our pro tip is to book a private soak to avoid the stress of trying to get in for a public soak. Also, consider not booking the first soak of the day to avoid the opening lines of those waiting for a public soak. After we were rejuvenated, it was time to try our luck at diamond mining. We drove to Crater of Diamonds State Park, the eighth largest diamond field in the world and one of the only places where the public can mine for diamonds. You can bring or rent mining equipment and whatever you find is yours. Crater of Diamonds has yielded 35,000 diamonds to visitors since 1972 including a 40 carat diamond, the largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States. Although we didn’t unearth a record breaking diamond, we enjoyed digging around the 37-acre site for the afternoon. After a quick fire around the Ignik, we went to Taco Mama for dinner. We found more good food, including portobello mushroom fajitas, sopes, and tamales. ​

Although we don’t do the traditional Thanksgiving, nor the Black Friday shopping frenzy, we do love Small Business Saturday. We started the morning with a walk on the trails at the campground, this time walking up the Sunset Trail a bit. Then we headed downtown to walk the shops and explore the NPS site. We started with the Hot Springs National Park Visitor’s Center, Bathhouse Row, and walked along the Grand Promenade. We found great finds at Trail Mix Outdoor & More and Buffalo Clothing Co. we had delicious sandwiches, coffee, and tea at Kollective Coffee and Tea. We dug for treasures in the Golden Feather Downtown Records & CDs and Black Ribbon Books in the lower level of The Arlington Hotel before going upstairs to enjoy an old fashioned in the great lobby of this historic gem. The boys decided to hike from downtown to the observation tower on the Peak Trail. This trail is .75 miles and 380 in elevation gain, it’s a tough little walk but very rewarding. After filling our water bottles with from the springs in the National Park, the girls met us at the top with the car. We met back at The Arlington Hotel in the evening for a cocktail before dinner and decided to end our Hot Springs visit the way we started it, with pizza from SQZBX. We got carry out this time and played games again at the VRBO with the family. ​

From outdoor recreation to art and culture to history and good food and drink, Arkansas is a great destination that impresses us every time we visit. We left dreaming about our next return visit as well as starting an important discussion: where will we go for Thanksgiving 2024?