Autumn in Eureka Springs

Aaahhh, the cooler, beautiful days of autumn are here. This is by far my favorite season, especially in Eureka. The leaves are absolutely stunning, there is a wonderful smell in the crisp mountain air, and the best part is that the fall lasts a really long time here. This is the perfect time for walking and hiking because the insects are dying off, as well as the humidity. My family tries to walk or bicycle as much as we can, and not just for hobby, but to run errands as well.

The trouble with our town is that there are no sidewalks, except for downtown. The sidewalks downtown are somewhat difficult to manage because they are 100+ year old limestone, which is slick and uneven. When we moved here, our son was a year old so we walked with him in a stroller. After a couple of tries taking a regular stroller on the downtown sidewalks, we went online to get something more appropriate. We picked a lightweight jogging stroller with inflatable bicycle-style wheels and have determined that jogging strollers are the only way to travel with a baby or toddler in Eureka Springs.

My son has since outgrown the stroller, and we sold it for a good price at our latest garage sale. I am impressed at what troopers our children are when we walk, even on steep terrain. They don't complain unless we walk more than 2 miles, and if we stop for a drink and a snack, they are good to go another mile or so. Another fun and earth-friendly game is to bring garbage bags along and see who can find the most trash and recyclables along the way. This teaches kids a good lesson on the trouble with littering and how important it is to do our part for the community.

Anxious to get outdoors

We checked out some books on hiking in the Ozarks from the library. There are so many hiking trails in this area, and many of them are family-friendly. Since we have a toddler, either the trail must accommodate a stroller, or be short enough that he can walk it without getting tired. In a few years, we will be able to tackle many more trails and that will be nice for family outings. Both our kids are nature lovers and get a kick out of hiking adventures.

In "Buffalo River Hiking Trails" by Tim Ernst, they review the Ozark Highlands Trail, which is actually 165 miles long! It starts near Mountainburg and runs across the Ozark National Forest to the Buffalo River near Woolum. A survey of "Backpacker" magazine readers rated the OHT as the number one hiking trail in the United States. Since it is so long, it is necessary to camp along the way, so we will probably have to wait at least eight years before our kids would be up to the whole thing. We could at least do part of it and build up to the rest over the years...