This past weekend, Kyle and I had an amazing socially distant vacation in the forests of Arkansas. The goal was to go see fall leaves and get out of Houston for a short getaway. The weekend was delightful in so many ways! Here’s a recap of our weekend in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the fall.
Getting to Hot Springs
The drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas was really quite pleasant. After doing a 23+ hour drive from Houston to Utah earlier in the year, it was honestly nothing! We left around 3pm on Friday and arrived at our cabin around 10pm. We spent 3 nights in the area and drove back to Houston after lunch on Monday. The long weekend was the perfect amount of time to commune with nature in the woods and get my fix of fall leaves. Ahead of the trip, I signed up for the Arkansas Fall Color Report and knew that the autumn leaves peak at the end of October and into mid-November.
Click here for my roadtripping tips.
Where we stayed
I booked us three nights in an adorable A-Frame Cabin in Royal, Arkansas in the Ouachita National Forest. It was built earlier this year, so I have the impression that we were some of the first people to spend the weekend there. The host was incredible and set up the place with all sorts of sweet fall touches like pumpkins, Halloween candy and even a fall-scented candle lit in a pumpkin waiting for our arrival.
The inside of the cabin was super cozy with wood walls, mountain décor, and warm throw blankets. The first floor consisted of a small living room with couch (and Netflix on the TV!), a kitchen, and a spacious bathroom. Upstairs on the loft was a bed overflowing with pillows and one of the softest blankets of my life.
Outside we had a spacious deck with a hot tub and several sets of chairs. Every morning we drank our coffee (tea for me!!) outside under a flannel blanket on the deck. Every evening we watched the sunset from the hot tub with a glass of wine!
Since we were trying to stay socially distant, we were very excited to book a cabin with a full kitchen including a stove, oven and dishwasher. In Houston, we packed ingredients for burgers, pasta, breakfast, and snacks for for hiking. Each night we made something different, and only ate out in town once. Shout out to our Yeti Cooler for keeping everything cool on the 7 hour drive to town.
If you decide to book this Cozy A-Frame Cabin (which you should 110% do!!), be sure to tell the Airbnb host that you heard about it from me! Also, if you’ve never used Airbnb before, use this link to get $65 in credit for your trip!
What to do in Hot Springs
The town of Hot Springs, Arkansas has a pretty cute strip when you get into Hot Springs National Park. Some of the things worth a visit include:
- Rooftop bar at the Waters Hotel
- Beer at Superior Bathhouse Brewery
- Stroll down Bathhouse Row
- Peak into the historic Arlington Hotel
The Bathhouses on Bathhouse Row are stunningly, gorgeous. Most were built in the early 1900’s in the “golden age of bathing”. Now, only two bathhouses are still functioning, while the others have been turned into hotels, shops and restaurants. For lunch, we popped into the Superior Bathhouse Brewery. The food was decent, but our cabin was much more fun (and safer) to dine at!
Here’s an overview of the Bathhouse Row today.
My favorite place that we visited in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the fall was Garvan Woodland Gardens. It was a delightful place to explore the beautiful Anthony Chapel and incredible Bob & Sunny Evans Treehouse. Inside the gardens are miles of trails with water overlooks, fountains, wildflowers, and waterfalls. During autumn, the weather was wonderful to walk around and many of the leaves on the trees were turning yellow and orange.
The gardens hold a particularly special place in my heart because it’s the location where Kyle proposed! Click here to read the full story of our proposal.
Where we hiked
The cell service was weak when we went hiking out in the mountains, so it was the perfect opportunity to disconnect, relish in our new engagement, and immerse ourselves in all things nature. There was no shortage of trails to hike at around Hot Springs, Arkansas. AllTrails is a great app to check out nearby hiking and trail conditions.
We did the following hikes:
- Caddo Bend Trail in Lake Ouachita State Park (4 miles)
- Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (8 miles)
- Falls Branch Trail in Lake Catherine State Park (2 miles)
The fall colors were stunning as the trails were covered in red, yellow, and orange leaves. The weather was brisk in the mornings, but warmed up as the day went on. I usually wore leggings, my new (!!) hiking boots, a long sleeve jacket and puffy vest. We had fabulous hiking weather for the autumn and loved every minute of being outside.
Caddo Bend Trail 
Lake Catherine State Park 
Ouachita Vista Trail
Shop the Post
During our hikes, Kyle and I always grab a few cards from this Intimacy Card Deck and go through the different questions when we walk. It’s a super fun way to get to know each other better and pass the time while out in nature.
COVID Considerations
Hot Springs, Arkansas is kind of in the middle of no-where America. In comparison to some of the other places that we’ve driven, the mask usage and social distancing was a bit lax. It also might be important to note that there were lots of Trump 2020 signs and Confederate flags hanging around…. Other than a short jaunt down Bathhouse Row, we did our best to avoid people and just hang out at our cabin. We did wear our masks for much of the time at Garvan Woodlands Gardens. We didn’t end up going into a Bathhouse because it seemed like most people weren’t wearing masks inside and there were lots of communal areas around the spring water. Perhaps for another trip, but in the meantime our cabin hot tub did juuuust fine 🙂
