Eureka Springs, AR

[Al_4_ISU 12,458]

Looking at taking a short trip in March or so.  Looking for a place that's an easy drive (leave home in the AM and be there by mid afternoon), has good mountain biking/hiking, and a cool vibe.  Also wanted to somewhat tie into a visit to my cousin in St. Louis.

This seems to ring all those bells.  We spent a day hiking in NWA this past spring and really enjoyed it, so I want to get back to that part of the world.

Eureka Springs seems like a good hot bed for good food/beverage, and having the kind of stores my wife likes, but that's just what I can glean off of the web.  Anyone have specific recs for the area?  Thanks.

[DallasHorn26 586]

4 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

Looking at taking a short trip in March or so.  Looking for a place that's an easy drive (leave home in the AM and be there by mid afternoon), has good mountain biking/hiking, and a cool vibe.  Also wanted to somewhat tie into a visit to my cousin in St. Louis.

This seems to ring all those bells.  We spent a day hiking in NWA this past spring and really enjoyed it, so I want to get back to that part of the world.

Eureka Springs seems like a good hot bed for good food/beverage, and having the kind of stores my wife likes, but that's just what I can glean off of the web.  Anyone have specific recs for the area?  Thanks.

I've stayed in a cabin there a few times. We usually just grocery shopped and cooked at the cabin, but did venture into town some. ES is great for nature, but the town itself is a little bit of a tourist trap area. Pretty much any restaurant on the main strip that I went to was decent, but nothing to ride home about. It's a nice little getaway area and is quiet, so I do recommend.  

[Al_4_ISU 12,458]

1 hour ago, DallasHorn26 said:

I've stayed in a cabin there a few times. We usually just grocery shopped and cooked at the cabin, but did venture into town some. ES is great for nature, but the town itself is a little bit of a tourist trap area. Pretty much any restaurant on the main strip that I went to was decent, but nothing to ride home about. It's a nice little getaway area and is quiet, so I do recommend.  

Thanks!  Yeah, I guess I didn't mean that I expected high end food, just that it actually had some options.  Which is a contrast to the areas we went through earlier this year.  Absolutely beautiful, but no sign of civilization whatsoever.

[4HE 156]

If you go, make sure to eat at the Rowdy Beaver. You’ll be disappointed in the food most likely, but how often do you get to eat a Rowdy Beaver? I mean at a Rowdy Beaver. 

[AustinMT 952]

4 hours ago, 4HE said:

If you go, make sure to eat at the Rowdy Beaver. You’ll be disappointed in the food most likely, but how often do you get to eat a Rowdy Beaver? I mean at a Rowdy Beaver. 

Was there last year.  Places I recommend for dining -- both very good:

Local Flavor

Grotto Wood-Fired Grill

We stayed at the Crescent.  Great view from the bar on the top floor, nice grounds, crappy rooms, and the common areas need updating.  Their breakfast is good.

[4HE 156]

1 hour ago, AustinMT said:

Was there last year.  Places I recommend for dining -- both very good:

Local Flavor

Grotto Wood-Fired Grill

We stayed at the Crescent.  Great view from the bar on the top floor, nice grounds, crappy rooms, and the common areas need updating.  Their breakfast is good.

Had drinks at the Crescent Bar when we were there. I agree that the views were outstanding. We did the “ghost tour” they had there. It was interesting and gave a good history of the hotel. 

[wd40 1,976]

we vrbo'd at Villas at Sweet Spring.  no views to speak of, but it's at the end of some trails that pass by at least a couple of the springs.  well located for walking the main drag.  reserved parking for guests, which really matters on Saturdays.  good bar (Brews) across the street with a side porch where the local dog mafia hangs out.  nice selection of local beers but shitty coffee (opens at 8am).  

villa had been recently renovated, was clean and the shower was huge, so I could easily get my bike in there for a rinse after hitting Leatherwood.  there's another mtb trail network nearby, but I didn't make it over there.  Passion Play, I think it's called.

+1 on Grotto

Chelea's Pizza

Ellen's Brownbag (the only decent coffee we could find, but they open at random hours, depending on whether she needs to make more macarons)

there's one place in downtown that opens at 7am, at the bottom of the magic staircase.  had a good avocado english muffin, but their coffee sucked.  apparently old hippies like coffee you can see through that tastes like old toothpicks fished from the gutter.

[Al_4_ISU 12,458]

Thanks all.

wd, how were the Leatherwood trails?  They were the ones that caught my eye.  I saw the Passion Play ones as well, but don't really need a giant serving of Jesus with my riding.

[wd40 1,976]

Leatherwood was great.  $20 to ride the shuttle all day, but I believe there is a XC loop that will take you around and up to the top.  

DH-5 was my favorite.  there's an end-to-end uncut video of it (my last run of the day, so I was beat) in the mtb thread.

the runs are ski-run rated for difficulty.   the numbers mean nothing.   maybe the order they were built.  DH-4 had more technical options than 5.  the one green run there is fun, but has a bit more pedaling the blues and blacks.  but even I could clear the table tops on the green.  all the jumps and features on all the trails have ride-arounds.  they have paper maps in the shuttle bus.  what they call a rock garden is really just a stretch armored up trail.  just float it at speed.

here's another video I made.  starts out at Coler (Bentonville) on my  day 1, coming off injury, muddy af, and me riding scared and stupid.  but there is a bit of a dude doing Drop the Hammer.   after that it's all Leatherwood bits of the blues and blacks.

 

[Al_4_ISU 12,458]

Good to hear that the jumps have ride arounds.  I don't give a shit about any of that stuff, because it's just pretty much guaranteed broken bones for my uncoordinated ass.

I'm more into the XC thing, I guess.  Start at the bottom, ride to the top.  Get climbs and shit.

Edited November 7, 2019 by Al_4_ISU