Tag Archives: camping

Camping, Hiking

Hot Springs National Park ~Hot Springs, AR

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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).

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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?

Camping, Hiking, National Forest

Boardstand Trailhead, Ouachita National Forest ~Day 5

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

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Here is the start at the actual trailhead.

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Smore’s!

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reeses

Smore’s are better with Reece’s Cups…

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Last night camping!

We started the trip back the next day!

 

Camping, Hiking

Earthquake Ridge, Ouachita National Forest ~Day 4

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landscape

I got winter weather for my 31st birthday!

There was frost everywhere and snow/sleet coming down.

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You could barely tell it was snowing and it was the kind of snow that feels like it is trying to kill you but that did not stop me from dancing a jig.

And squealing…

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The boys did not exactly share my enthusiasm.

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It was so moody and beautiful.

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tower

It was freezing and very windy but the boys were still hoping to climb the tower.

I was not that disappointed to find out that it is only open on the weekends.

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graveyard

They have an old graveyard that you can see right off the Talimena Drive.

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The Earthquake Ridge Complex Trail system is located right outside of Mena.

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They have a lot of different trails.

The Orchard Trail is nice and easy and less then a mile.

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We went into Mena to get lunch and then did another short hike.

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markers

They seem to be a little worried that you might lose the trail…

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bridge

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building

The boys decided to build a bridge.

Because obviously they needed a bridge to cross the creek.

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pie

Pumpkin pie on my birthday!

I bought myself cupcakes but I could not wait until my birthday and ate them.

I thought about buying myself more cupcakes but thought it might be a bit much.