In no hurry to get to Beaver Lake

We weren't in any hurry to leave our Boondockers Welcome camp site in Bella Vista, Arkansas, because we were only traveling an hour to our next campground. So we made a stop at the Veterans Wall of Honor in Bentonville. As we walked through the granite entry, we didn't realize that we were walking into a history classroom. 

The wall outlined every war where American soldiers have fought, beginning with the American Revolution. It included a timeline that threaded America's history on the battlefield. We read each bronze plate that summarized the U.S. role in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American war, the Spanish-American War, World War I . . . It was a history lesson that curved around a circle of memorial stones representing local soldiers. We enjoyed being schooled this day.

Have we mentioned the winding roads of Northwest Arkansas? We found out that car insurance rates were high here because of all the one-vehicle accidents that come from driving off these curvy narrow roads. That was a good description of the roads we traveled this day to get to Horseshoe Bend Campground on Beaver Lake. It's a good thing we were in no hurry, with low speed limits and so many curves in our path.

We love Corp of Engineer campgrounds that are usually found around beautiful lakes. But we have a little rant about the policy that you must make an on-line reservation before arriving at the campground. There were plenty of sites open in the middle of the week in April, but we had to choose one based on the information available on-line. We chose site #131 because it was on the water,  had some shade, was a good length for our pickup and trailer, and looked level. Perfect, right? Wrong! It looked like it was on the water on the digital map, but was actually high on a hill that made getting to the water very difficult. 

It was a good thing we were in no hurry, because it took some time to get the trailer into the site we reserved. We never could get the trailer level even using all of our leveling blocks, and our pickup had to be parked at an angle and still stuck out into the street. Of all the empty sites all over this huge campground, we certainly would have never picked this site if we saw it in person. But it looked good on the computer. We might have been able to make a change, but no one was working at the gate during this off-season. So even experienced campers can get a not-so-great camping site.

We had planned to go kayaking on Beaver Lake tomorrow. But based on the weather forecast, we decided we better go paddling this evening instead. Suddenly we were in a hurry.

We have consistently found that Corp of Engineer parks are clean and well managed, with spacious sites. Since we turned 62 year old, we especially like their half-price rates for us old-timers. But we have found very few hiking trails in these parks. It looks like the corp is all about the lake and the dam, and doesn't spend much time on trails. But directly across this neck of Beaver Lake was Hobbs State Park, home to lots of trails. It would be a 16-mile drive to get to the state park from our campground, meandering around the fingers of the lake until we could find a bridge to cross the water. But we can kayak there in 1.6 miles. The rocky shoreline ahead of us was the edge of the state park property.

We're not sure if anyone else had ever tried to kayak between Horseshoe Bend Campground to Hobbs State Park, because there was no beach to easily paddle into. It was quite a job hoisting the kayak up over the stone cliff. Then it was time to change from boat shoes into hiking boots.

It was a rocky walk around the edge of the lake.

 

It was a good thing that we had the Bayshore Ridge Loop Trail downloaded in the Alltrails app so we could find the opening in the trees that would intersect the state park trail.

It was a 3.5 mile walk through heavy forest, and we wouldn't see the lake again until we completed the circle. In April, we found only a few spring wildflowers blooming in the forest.

To tell the truth, it was a pretty boring 3.5 miles. We took almost no pictures until we came to this very picturesque tree shaped like the number 4.

 

How many pictures can you take of a 4 tree? Look, Denisa has no legs!

Mark could only play this game so long, and then he started playing possum.

That hike took longer than expected, and the sun was already low in the sky when we got back to the water. It was the golden hour, with the sunshine lighting up the rocky shore line. We have wandered God's wonders again today!

The water was calm in the cove, so we took a selfie of our first lake paddle of 2026.

After a day that got started with no hurry, we were now hurrying across the lake to make it back to the trailer before it got dark. It was a good ending to a day at Horseshoe Bend Campground at Beaver Lake.

Northwest Arkansas--Bella Vista vs. Bentonville

We had beautiful weather, and we took advantage of it to explore the northwest corner of Arkansas. Two little cities run into each other in this corner of the Ozark mountains, and we couldn't help but compare them as we spent time in both. We started in Bella Vista, because that's where we were staying with a very friendly Boondockers Welcome couple. Bella Vista was a picturesque town threaded together with curving roads that wind around seven man-made lakes and five golf courses. We would have loved to put our kayak on one of those lakes, but it looked like we weren't welcome. They were all "private property," and out-of-town wanderers weren't allowed.

Hired rangers patrolled to make sure that anyone on these lakes had the appropriate membership ID card. It seems important to keep the riff-raff out. We found the same sign on the recreation complex just behind our host's home. We knew that this community made good use of their private outdoor pickleball courts because we could hear them late at night and early in the morning. We could not, however, play with them.

Our host explained that everything is owned by the POA (Property Owners Assocation) and is carefully monitored. Their opinion is that the POA is a PIA (you'll have to figure out what those letters stand for on your own). We would get used to those "no trespassing" signs, as we saw them over and over. But we did find a public trail that didn't have that dreaded POA sign on it. The Tanyard Perimeter trail was just what we needed. 

We did the Tanyard Perimeter Loop and got 2.6 miles of trails that wind across creeks and beside stone ledges.

We met Randy, who was the leader of a crew of volunteers that clean and work on the trails every Tuesday. He was pulling up poison ivy and securing loose rocks across creek crossings.  You can see him on down the trail behind Mark in the picture below.

We talked to him about life in Bella Vista and our frustrations with not being invited to their party. He gave us permission to climb to the top of the dam behind the trail to get a view of one of the private lakes. So now we can say that we have finally seen Windsor Lake--

even though a sign at the top of the dam kept us from getting any closer.

We spent the most time at the waterfall on the Tanyard Trail.

It took longer at the waterfall because we had to wait for ten minutes while one girl tried thirty different poses from that rock to be sure she got the perfect pic for instagram. Is it better with my arms up in the air, or with my fingers lifting my hair, or backwards while peeking over a shoulder, or??? Denisa's attempt at an artsy pose was quickly deleted because it was blurry because we were laughing too hard.

Instead of going back to the trail, we chose to walk along the babbling brook.  You can see Mark on the left side of the picture below, and from that side of the water . . .

he could take a picture of the entire waterfall's cascade. If you squint just right, you can see that Denisa was in the picture below too.

The brook quieted to a reflecting pool by the time we crossed the bridge again at the end of the hike.

We would have continued the hike further, but once again, we weren't invited.

After that nice 2.6-hike, we headed south towards Bentonville. In the middle of these two cities is an Arkansas Welcome Center. A great place to stop, we got more information for our trip. Bentonville is famous for its public mountain bike trails--where everyone (even outsiders) were welcomed. Our first stop was the "dancing barn" that was right on a bike trail. 

The barn was lit up, and music was playing. The trail literally goes through the barn, and bikers were invited to get off their bikes to dance for a while.

After driving into the town of Bentonville, we found a free parking place and started the 1.2-mile Rockledge Trail. It's a wonderfully shaded path with larger-than-life art pieces dispersed along it. Mark was in the middle of an ocean water maze sculpture.

Large equipment lined part of the Ravine Trail as it was being transformed into a family-friendly water and play area called Ozark Discovery Canopy that will open later in 2026.

The Rockledge trail took us right beside this deer statue. From a distance, it looked like a baby fawn walking timidly through the woods.

So we put Denisa under that little deer statue to give it some scale. That little deer was quite big!

Bentonville has a wonderful collection of outdoor sculptures that were open and free to the public. It was a pleasure to stumble upon them when hiking.

We had planned to again visit the Crystal Bridge Art Museum. But we discovered that the only day it was closed was Tuesday. As luck would have it, we were visiting on a Tuesday. They were taking advantage of the closure to do more construction in the front of the Crystal Bridge. We could see the giant silver tree out front, but most of the other sculptures were behind orange tape. 

We did get a picture of the giant white sphere. One of the workers was standing in the shadows to the left of the sphere, and he helped to give it some scale. It seems like the sculptors around here think that bigger is better.

While the Crystal Bridge Art Museum was closed on Tuesday, the newest Walton art museum was open. Both of these fine museums are open to the public, and always free. We drove a mile to get to the Momentary Museum. Opened in 2020, its focus was contemporary art and live music. We were glad to see that the current exhibit was famous National Geographic photographs. We walked through the display of amazing animal photographs--like a pod of horned narwhals coming to the surface of the water. (When we googled to see what a group of narwhals was called, we found that a group of these "unicorns of the sea" can also be called a "blessing.") We like that we were blessed with a blessing of narwhals.

We also liked the picture of a herd of elephants taking a mud bath. Google told us that a group of elephants can also be called a "memory." We like it that we will remember this memory of elephants!  Denisa must really like animal group names!

We especially enjoyed the displays that included a video (on the right) that described how the photographer got that special shot (on the left). The video showed the man laying on the ice as the penguins flew out of the water. . .

and explained how patient the woman had to be to get the perfect picture of the elusive cheetah hiding in the grass.

After a lunch of a savory chicken parmesan crepe at Paulette's Crepery, our next free stop was to the Compton Gardens and Arboretum. The museum was in the home where Dr. Compton and his family lived, and we learned this OB/GYN was a conservationist for northern Arkansas. The yard that he planted and cared for was now a public garden. Our favorite sculpture here was "Heartland." Created by a South African artist, the open heart is overflowing with plant life--just like Dr. Compton.

By using just the right camera angle, we got a photo that makes it look like Denisa was helping to hold that heart in her hands.

The next FREE stop in Bentonville was at Coler Mountain Bike Preserve. It was too light outside to see why this was called "the lightning bug habitat". But we thoroughly enjoyed walking across the "Singing Bridge." We're not sure how it happened, but the wind makes a humming/buzzing/whispering sound as the bridge sings. It was hard to describe the sound, but their web site called it "an ethereal sound." 

We also enjoyed watching a mountain bike class, as the adults taught a group of children the proper way to bike through water.  In a town famous for its bike trails, it's important to train the next generation how to properly use them. We watched until the group headed over the singing bridge when their lesson was over.

It was after 5:00 when we headed back towards our trailer in Bella Vista. Our last stop of the day was the Mildred D. Cooper Chapel. It reminded us of the Thorn Chapel near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. That's because the two have the same architect. We would have enjoyed seeing the chapel from the inside, but a private event had it closed to the public. 

Isn't that the way we have felt about everything in Bella Vista--we weren't invited to the private events going on in this city. We managed to get a zoomed-in picture of the church, but again we felt very un-invited in Bella Vista.

We had a pleasant two-night stay with a Boondockers Welcome family that we now consider as friends. We hope to come back some day so that Denisa and Marcy can sew together, and Denisa can see all of Marcy's wonderful crafting tools in motion! In the meantime, we always try to leave a Boondockers Welcome site better than we found it. Mark offered to mow their grass, but their mower was not working properly. So instead, Mark buried a pvc pipe that carried the electrical cord that had worked its way out of the ground.

Our summary of the differences between these two adjoining cities was how welcome we felt in each. We certainly didn't feel very welcome in Bella Vista. It might be a great place to live, but we wouldn't recommend it as a good place to visit. On the other hand, Bentonville welcomed tourists with open arms. Blessed with the money that the Walton family has plowed back into their community, they have some great places to explore--and most of them are FREE! Bentonville is a great place to visit! We will only return to Bella Vista if it was for Denisa to sew with our new Boondockers Welcome friend. But we are already anxious to return to Bentonville again to see the completed work on the new projects we saw in progress.