Marla, Plain and Small: greers ferry lake

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Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Video: Little Red River at JFK Campground | Heber Springs, Arkansas

Last week we went with my parents for a day and a half to the Little Red River at the John F. Kennedy Campground in Heber Springs, Arkansas. This video shows just a snippet of the area. In addition to the campground and river, there’s a visitor center, dam, fish hatchery, and Collins Creek you can visit at this location. There's also a swimming area nearby on Greers Ferry Lake. On this trip we took my parents' small camper to have a place to relax, eat, and use the restroom. There are public restrooms and picnic areas available. We didn't sleep overnight as we wouldn't all fit in the camper. My parents have a house in Greers Ferry which is nearby so we drove back there for the night. My parents have a discount to all U.S. Corps of Engineers campgrounds, so they reserved a camping space so we could all really enjoy our two days at the river and relax. I'm six months pregnant, so it was nice to have air conditioning available in the camper when I started swelling and to have a place to sit and nap when we got a rainstorm on the second day. My parents brought our daughter camping here last month, and she absolutely loved it. Info on JFK Park (and why it's named after JFK): https://www.arkansas.com/heber-springs/sports-recreation/john-f-kennedy-recreation-area-campground JFK Campground: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232613?q=John%20F%20Kennedy Collins Creek: https://www.arkansas.com/heber-springs/sports-recreation/collins-creek

Friday, June 09, 2017

Video + Photos: Sugarloaf Mountain | Hike an Island!

My family and I have been hiking Sugar Loaf Mountain since I was a little girl. It's an island in Greers Ferry Lake positioned between Sugar Loaf Marina and Fairfield Bay Marina. We usually boat over from Devil's Fork in the town of Greers Ferry.

If you don't have a boat, you can call the marinas and ask if they offer boat rides over to the mountain. I don't know about Sugar Loaf Marina, but I know Fairfield Bay Marina has certain weekends they shuttle over to the mountain.

Note: There is a Sugarloaf Mountain in Heber Springs, Arkansas, and it is not an island. You can drive to it to hike. While you're there, you can dip your toes in the freezing cold Little Red River that's near it!

On Memorial Day, Colin and my parents and Harlow and I hiked up to the top of Sugar Loaf for the second time in Harlow's life. The first time we took her was two summers ago, and she was carried for that trip. She walked and hiked a good portion this time around.

When you hike to the top, you'll come to the first overlook. It's beautiful, but keep going! You'll walk across the flat top of the mountain to get to the next overlook. Then you'll turn around and go back the way you came.

When you get to the top, you may see bald eagles flying down below! We saw one while we were there! There is an eagle's nest on the mountain, and Greers Ferry Lake is a great place to see bald eagles flying around.

There is a trail that goes along the base of the mountain. The route we take goes to the top of the mountain and then turns around and goes back the same way.

These is another trail that has been closed. Over the last several years the trails have deteriorated. They do some upkeep, but they are not liked they used to be. First, they closed the most difficult trail. Then the bridge burned, and it wasn't rebuilt. If you haven't been hiking the mountain for over 20 years like we have, you won't notice the differences.

Despite all that, it's a mountain you have to hike. It has beautiful woods and caves and rocks. And look at the view!

If you're in to geocaching, there is a box hiding on Sugar Loaf where you can sign a notebook and leave a gift for the next hiker!

For those of you wondering about the difficulty, it would probably rate as strenuous based on the Arkansas trails. If you have ever hiked the Cedar Falls trail at Petit Jean, then you know that trail is marked as strenuous. Sugar Loaf is more difficult to hike than Cedar Falls, but it's a bit shorter of a hike.

Greers Ferry Lake and Sugar Loaf Mountain are maintained by the US Corp of Engineers.

Now, enjoy a few pictures from our latest venture up the mountain. There is a video at the bottom of the blogpost from our hike.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Summer in Arkansas

I know summer doesn't officially end until late in September, but I always feel like it unofficially ends when we say goodbye to August. Here's the last few outings we had before transitioning to fall in the South.

Arkansas Travelers Baseball Game, North Little Rock

Kenda Drive-In, Marshall

Greers Ferry Lake

Birth of Loren's baby-- our new nephew!

Here are more videos from this summer in Arkansas:

Vacation

Weekend at the Lake

Memorial Day

Friday, July 15, 2016

Video: Family Vacation in North Central Arkansas

Every year my family gets together on/around the 4th of July for a little vacation. We spend time at my parents' house, swimming, boating, exploring nearby towns. My birthday is July 5, so there's always cake :).

Here's a short video of our time relaxing.

Friday, June 24, 2016

Video: Weekend at Greers Ferry Lake + Surf the Bay Festival + One Minute Makeup

We spent last weekend in the hot, hot sun and the cool water. Colin, Harlow, and I went to Greers Ferry, Arkansas to spend time with my parents. Friday night we drove to Fairfield Bay, AR to eat at a new-to-us restaurant and go to Surf the Bay Water Sport Festival. On Saturday we headed out on the water in my parents' boat and checked out Surf the Bay again. Colin and I got to do a free demo of Standup Paddle Boarding, which was fun!

We love Greers Ferry Lake, and I thought I'd share a little video of our weekend getaway. :)

Makeup Mentioned: