Skip to content

Top Navigation

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Home
  • Garden
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Videos
  • Sweeps and Contests

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Midwest Living

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 40 Favorite Comfort Food Recipes

      Macaroni and cheese, Amish apple dumplings and chicken pot pie are among our Midwest comfort food favorites. Read More Next
    • 50 Romantic Midwest Getaways

      Romance, of course, can be wherever the two of you are. But wonderful surroundings help. We found some of the most romantic places anywhere in the Midwest—in the city and country. All you have to do is get away together! Read More Next
    • 50 Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes

      Chocolate lovers, these are for you: 50 of our best rich-and-gooey chocolate dessert recipes, including pie, pudding, cake, cookies, fondue and brownies. Read More Next
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel

    50 Midwest Resorts We Love

    Our favorite Midwest resort destinations range from cozy lakeside lodges to indoor water park behemoths. Dive in to check out our top picks for a fabulous Midwest getaway.
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • South Dakota
    • Wisconsin
    • Around the Region
    • Free Travel Info
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food

    Midwest Living November/December 2020 Recipes

    • Comfort Foods
    • Desserts & Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Quick & Easy
    • Chicken
    • Soups & Stews
    • Midwest Favorites
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Grilling
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home

    50 Quick and Easy Holiday Decorating Ideas

    Give your home holiday style in a flash with these simple yet creative decorating projects.
    • Quick Decorating
    • Featured Homes
    • Organizing & Storage
    • Outdoor Living
    • Seasonal Decorating
    • Room Decorating
  • Garden

    Garden

    See All Garden

    14 Cheerful Winter Container Gardens

    Create bountiful outdoor winter arrangements with a little help from Mother Nature.
    • Container Gardens
    • Flowers
    • Featured Gardens
    • Midwest Gardening Calendar
    • Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See All Holidays & Entertaining

    40 Easy Christmas Crafts

    Decorate your home, make a gift or create an ornament with our 40 ideas for fun and easy Christmas crafts.
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • July 4th
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
  • Videos

    Videos

    See All Videos
    • How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust
    • How to Make Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
  • Sweeps and Contests

    Sweeps and Contests

    See All Sweeps and Contests

    Warm-Weather Getaways Sweepstakes

    • Winter Getaways Sweepstakes
    • Warm-Weather Getaways Sweepstakes

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Midwest Living
  2. Travel
  3. Around the Region
  4. Fall Getaway to Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Fall Getaway to Eureka Springs, Arkansas

By Writer Hannah Agran; Photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki/Redux
June 01, 2012
Skip gallery slides
Pin

Art, history and a splash of kitschy fun mingle in Eureka Springs, a Victorian town nestled in the wooded hills of Arkansas. Set aside an autumn weekend to savor its colorful charm.

Start Slideshow

1 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The spirit of a mountain town

Patricia Taylor's voice swells, filling the towering sanctuary of Thorncrown Chapel with the sweet melody of an old-time hymn. Commissioned by a retired local teacher in the 1970s, the glass-walled church sits in the woods a couple of miles west of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

As you walk to the door, you can see right through to the trees beyond. Soaring gray beams evoke a Gothic cathedral; it's a modern riff on the medieval notion of columns leading eyes up to God. The architecture seems to melt away, leaving you in a gold-dappled glade with the tingly sense that heaven and earth merge when a breeze flutters the foliage.

As Patricia's song ends, a van parks outside, and a guide in a corseted dress and jaunty hat hops out. She shepherds her camera-toting flock into the church and cajoles Patricia into singing another hymn. The sight of a Disneyfied guide in a sublime chapel perfectly captures the spirit of this arty-Victorian, classy-kitschy mountain town 50 miles southwest of Branson, Missouri.

1 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

History and tourism

Eureka Springs flourished in the 1800s when visitors flocked to drink from the town's mineral springs. Gingerbread-trimmed houses sprouted like wildflowers from the Ozark bluffs, and hotels opened to accommodate the crowds. Eureka Springs deteriorated with the advent of modern medicine but has emerged as an artists' colony and wedding destination -- and, when the summer heat mellows, a lovely end to a fall drive.

Beyond the budget motels and Pine Mountain Jamboree marquee on US-62, you'll find a maze of impossibly steep streets lined with quaint homes and inns. Spring Street packs galleries, gift shops and restaurants. Tiny parks protect natural springs, and spas echo the town's history as a haven for healing. Even the old-timey photo studio and saltwater taffy machine have an air of legitimacy here. This has always been a tourist town; maybe the Victorians took fudge home, too.

2 of 6

3 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Passionate pursuits

Like many of the artists who live in Eureka Springs, Edwige Denyszyn moved here after a visit. She and her husband planted a vineyard and opened Keels Creek Winery and Art Gallery. Pouring samples of an oaky red, Edwige says, "It's like a university town without the students. Everybody's very passionate about what they're doing, and most of us are not from here.

"She's right. All around Eureka Springs, visitors will encounter "settlers" making a go of it doing what they absolutely love, often to the benefit of the 800,000 visitors who traipse through this town of 2,000 each year.

Potters Gary Eagan and Steven Beacham show elegant white vases and cozy pinecone coffee mugs at Zarks Gallery, the showroom above their studio. Two couples have spectacularly rehabbed a 19th-century building as The Stone House, a chic yet cozy wine bar. And at Cottage Inn Restaurant, guests savor slabs of caramel-soaked coconut cake. Pictured: The Stone House pairs wine with beautiful cheese plates.

3 of 6

Advertisement

4 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Fall favorites

At Heartstone Inn Bed and Breakfast, sisters Pat Henderson and Jane Vanderstraaten ply innkeeper Cheri Rojek for the ingredients in her garlicky hominy grits. They meet here three times a year, and when asked about their plans for the day, the sisters don't hesitate: shopping.

"Spring is gorgeous. Summer you tolerate. But fall is our favorite time," Pat says. Petunias still bloom on the porch, but the leaves have begun to turn. Fall is familiar. As kids, their father brought them here for apple and sorghum harvests. They've come to Eureka Springs at every stage of their lives. Maybe, more than shopping, what brings them and so many back is the sense that in this funny little town in the mountains, you can stop the clock for a few days and just be.

4 of 6

5 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Two-day Eureka Springs getaway: Day one

Eureka Springs unfolds along Spring Street. Ride the trolley to the top of the hill and shop your way down, (479) 253-7333; eurekasprings.org.

The mother-daughter team at Wilson and Wilson Folk Art Company paints colorful collectibles, (479) 253-5105; wilsonandwilsonfolkart.com.

You'll find more local art at Zarks Gallery, (877) 540-9805; zarksgallery.com.

For lunch, try the Oasis, an "Ark-Mex" fusion cafe, (479) 253-0886. Later, relax on a tram tour, (479) 253-9572; eurekatrolley.org.

Jovial guides dish local lore, and you'll get a great view of the Christ of the Ozarks statue rising above the trees, (800) 882-7529; www.greatpassionplay.com.

Enjoy a glass of wine on the patio at The Stone House,Ā (479) 363-6411; The Stone House on Facebook,Ā or sample a few varieties at Keels Creek Winery and Art Gallery, (479) 253-9463; keelscreek.com.

Italian food at Ermilio's is a must-do, (479) 253-8806; ermilios.com. Or try sesame-crusted goat cheese salad at Local Flavor, (479) 253-9522; localflavorcafe.net.

Time to rest your weary feet. If you planned way ahead, you snagged a cabin on stilts at Treehouse Cottages (pictured).Ā (479) 253-8667; treehousecottages.com

Heartstone Inn Bed and Breakfast is also a gem. Buy the cookbook to make the recipes at home. (800) 494-4921; heartstoneinn.com

5 of 6

6 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Two-day Eureka Springs getaway: Day two

Mornings are peaceful at Thorncrown Chapel, (479) 253-7401; thorncrown.com.

Soak in Eureka Springs' history (literally!) at the Palace Hotel Bath House, (866) 946-0572; palacehotelbathhouse.com.

The restored spa isn't chic, but visitors love The Works, a sort of living history spa treatment including a soak in a claw-foot bath.Have an alfresco lunch at the Garden Bistro, (479) 253-1281.

Then hit the road. A pretty 28-mile drive from town, the War Eagle Mill sells stone-ground baking mixes in cute calico bags. (479) 789-5343; wareaglemill.com

In neighboring Hobbs State Park, the paved Van Winkle Trail loops past an old sawmill, (479) 789-5000; arkansasstateparks.com. On the way back to town, stop in at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, a sanctuary for rescued big cats, (479) 253-5841; turpentinecreek.org. (Bring a hat and water; the 45-minute guided tour has almost no shade.)

For dinner, the Cottage Inn Restaurant serves Mediterranean-inspired dishes such as a roast duck bathed in thyme-perfumed cranberry chutney. It'll leave you craving one more day in Eureka. (479) 253-5282; www.cottageinneurekaspgs.com

6 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Writer Hannah Agran; Photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki/Redux

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 6 The spirit of a mountain town
2 of 6 History and tourism
3 of 6 Passionate pursuits
4 of 6 Fall favorites
5 of 6 Two-day Eureka Springs getaway: Day one
6 of 6 Two-day Eureka Springs getaway: Day two

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Login

Midwest Living

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Contact Us
  • Help
  • Free Newsletters this link opens in a new tab
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
  • Renew this link opens in a new tab
  • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Affiliate Program
  • Free Travel Info this link opens in a new tab
  • Special Promotions this link opens in a new tab
  • Sweepstakes this link opens in a new tab
  • Video
  • Home Advisor this link opens in a new tab

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Midwest Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.midwestliving.com

View image

Fall Getaway to Eureka Springs, Arkansas
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.