Here are some prime spots for experiencing an Ozarkian autumn spectacle in and around Eureka Springs:
-- Canoe down the Buffalo. Only the eastern lower sections of the 150-mile river - the first official national river - can be paddled year-round, and 2007 has been a drought year. But the views are unbeatable and often totally private.
The river flows through canyons and past caves, waterfalls and elk, and in autumn the smooth rocky bluffs highlight the overhanging foliage.
-- Visit Mountain View, a leafy old town that is home to the Ozark Folk Center, a state park that is Arkansas' version of Massachusetts' Old Sturbridge Village. Visitors watch continuous demonstrations as local experts play dulcimers and autoharps, make brooms and dolls, do blacksmithing and stitch up intricate quilts.
On the last weekend of this October, the town will stage its 25th Annual Arkansas Bean Fest and Championship Outhouse Races. Organizers cook up 1,500 pounds of pinto beans in 40 cast iron kettles and serve them atop contest entries in the cornbread cook-off.
-- Sit a spell inside Thorncrown Chapel outside Eureka Springs, which the American Institute of Architects placed fourth on its list of top buildings of the 20th century. Tucked into the woods just west of Eureka Springs, it features 6,000 square feet of glass atop more than 100 tons of native stone.
The chapel was the whimsy of a California school teacher named Jim Reed, who had a vacation home on the acreage. "I said 'You're crazy,' the people of Eureka Springs said he was crazy, and the bank said 'nobody but a lunatic builds a big glass church in his backyard,' " said Jim Reed's widow, Dell.
Undaunted, Reed approached renowned Arkansas architect E. Fay Jones, who initially said no because he thought Reed, being from California, intended to build a cult. Only when Reed informed him that he was raised in Jones' hometown of Pine Bluff, and that they both had the same first-grade teacher, did Jones consent.
"My husband lived five years to see the hand of God fulfill his dream, and since then we've had 5 million visitors from all over the world," Dell Reed says in a hushed voice so as not to disturb the guests meditating inside Thorncrown. "Especially in the fall, I love to sit back here and watch people lose their breath from the beauty of this place."
-- Hike any segment of Ozark Highlands Trail, which stretches 165 miles south from Mountainburg, trekking across creek beds and along cliffs, viewing the hardwood foliage among the pines.
Or for a shorter stint, sample either the 2.2-mile jaunt to Pedestal Rocks - a precarious rock formation ensconced in woods - or the 1.7-mile Kings Bluff Trail, both of which start 6 miles east of Pelsor on State 16. Both offer easy hiking but border high cliffs with vast views.
-- Drive Scenic Byway 7 through the heart of the Ozarks' Boston Mountains, then cut across to Eureka Springs on Highway 62, then catch Highways 16 to 23, which forms the winding Pig Trail Scenic Byway.
October promises the best foliage, with an average high temperature of 71 degrees and low of 47. Call (800) 628-8725 for peak foliage updates.
Information courtesy of Kansas City Star