Category Archives: Camping

Hot Springs National Park ~Hot Springs, AR

I was a little uncertain of this park when I realized how close to Hot Springs it was.

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It ended up having a really nice campground with nice trails though and you really could not tell that you were close to the city.

Backpacker.com recommends the Sunset Trail loop but it was too long for our one night stay.

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We started on the Dead Chief Trail and took a few others to make a loop.

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We got to listen to a nice waterfall all night from our campsite.

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It really is a beautiful setting for a campground.

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I would recommend staying here if you like to be close to town while camping or if you were just using it as a stop while traveling(like we did).

balance

I did not want to leave until the sunrise was done.

It was so beautiful!

Do you like to camp far away from everything or close to town?

The Great Smoky Mountain National Park

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We went to the Smoky Mountains after Christmas!

I thought I would share some of my favorite pics!

fog

waterfallLaural Falls

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Chimney Tops Trail

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mountains

snowonleafSnow!

stepsThere were a lot of steps on the Chimney Tops Trail!

barnReally cool homestead at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

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Beautiful hike on the Appalachian Trail from Newfoundland Gap.

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mountclouds

branches

catch

different

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cliff

We went up to Daniel’s Bunion.

It was 9+ miles total, out and back.

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abovetheclouds

Gorgeous Views!

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pathwaysnow

ontopThis hike was definitely my favorite!

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mountainpass

This part made me nervous but it was beautiful.

ice

millMingus Mill.

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Beautiful sunset on the Carolina side.

landscape

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holdOur last hike was on the Alum Cave Trail.

We just went up to the arch but it was still really neat to see.

I can’t imagine what this place is like during the summer since it was pretty crowded during the week in the winter!

So beautiful though!

Have you ever been?

What was your favorite spot?

Boardstand Trailhead, Ouachita National Forest ~Day 5

boardstand

We really like loops but since the Boardstand Trail & Old Military Trail loop is over 23 miles I knew that would not work.

We went ahead and went, thinking we would do an out and back.

When we got there we saw a road that kept going past the trailhead and decided to see where it went.

It ended up following the Old Military road trail with several intersections with the trail!

You can check out what we did on Endomondo.

trailmarks

Check out the trail map, here.

We just started on the trail at one of the intersections with the road, hiked on the trail for a while, and came back on the road.

Making our own loop.

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trail

road

The road was almost like a wide trail anyway.

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beauty berries

Beauty Berries everywhere!

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Starting back on the road.

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boys

We ended up with just over 5.5 miles and our very own loop!

trailhead

Here is the start at the actual trailhead.

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Smore’s!

eating

roasting

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smore

reeses

Smore’s are better with Reece’s Cups…

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Last night camping!

We started the trip back the next day!