I’ve been out driving around in Central Texas this last week and have seen some glimpses of color along the road. Not really solid color, just spots of yellow and red here and there. But, this just isn’t the best place for color anyway. It’s simple, this area lacks deciduous trees, trees that loose leaves in winter. Not based on anything scientific, but maybe half the trees in this area of Texas are evergreens.

Last year I talked about Palo Pinto County as a good place for fall drives. The area features plenty of Cross Timbers woodland and hills. A good combination for producing fall foliage splendor.

This year I want to give a nod to East Texas. I lived in Kilgore Texas for awhile, and I can tell you for sure, they have a lot of trees there. The Tyler area is nice. The Tyler Convention & Visitors Bureau web site has a map of East Texas fall foliage trails. The Rose Garden and the neighborhoods surrounding it are also nice this time of year.

The thing I like about East Texas for fall foliage is that you can pick a destination, Tyler, Palestine, Nacogdoches, Rusk, Winnsboro, and any of them are worth visiting independent of the foliage. More bang for the buck I guess. Drive through East Texas, have a great time, and also see fall foliage.

For an East Texas road trip consider Texas Highway 180, which was previously U.S. Highway 80, East from Terrell to Marshall. Plenty of small towns and antique shops along the way.

Texas State Parks offer good opportunities for leaf peeping. Dangerfield State Park is a good one for fall foliage. And talking of state parks, a new web site from Texas Parks and Wildlife Showcases CCC’s Architectural Legacy in Texas state parks. Some of the biggest attractions in state parks are the depression-era architectural works.

This year is shaping up to be a good year for fall foliage in Arkansas. I talked about some of my favorite spots in the Ozarks in last year’s foliage post. To that list you might add the Telimena Scenic Byway in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Gary and Mary Cooley have published fall foliage reports for the South Central Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri for many years. If your seriously considering a trip to the Ozarks, you should take a look at their report.

Probably too late to be good planning material for this year, but still a great read, the Goziac blog published a post about the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in early October. You might bookmark this one for future reference.

The time is ripe to plan a fall foliage drive from DFW. Enjoy your trip and post your best experiences with fall foliage here.

Thing is, I live in North Texas, and North Texas is not the best place for fall foliage.  Fall foliage viewing around here is basically a micro experience.  You drive until you find an area that presents a montage of understory colors and adjacent trees displaying their own rich colors.  When you find this, your there.  Take the picture.

I thought I would put together my list of great places to see fall foliage starting from the Dallas Fort Worth area. Not an exhaustive nor authoritative list by any means, but just recommendations based on my own experiences.

Palo Pinto County, Farm Road 4, Highway 16, and Mineral Well State Park. This is a short drive from the Metroplex. The Palo Pinto Mountains are stunning to see, for us flat-landers anyway. There’s plenty of mature forest available for potential fall foliage photo ops. Mineral Well State Park is great for camping and hiking and relaxing. Possum Kingdom State Park is also near by. For an entirely different perspective you can canoe down the Brazos River.

Tyler Texas and Tyler State Park are not that far from Dallas and Fort Worth.  A plus for travel convenience.   Tyler is a great East Texas town with plenty to see and do.  Plenty of tree-lined streets plus the Tyler Rose Garden is nice most times of the year.  Work Gladewater into your return trip if you want to do some antiqueing.

Arkansas Scenic Highway 7 starting at Arkadelphia or Hot Springs. Scenic 7 manders throught the Ouachita Mountains then the River Valley Region and onto the soaring Ozarks.  Hot Springs is quite a destination itself.  DeGray Lake Resort State Park is another great option for a comfortable stopping off point during your drive.  Heading further north, the view gets better.  beyond Russelleville the mountains and the views get big.  There are several stand out primitive camp grounds in the are of Pelsor Arkansas, Haw Creek Falls Campground, and the Richland Creek Campgrounds and Wilderness Area.  Consider this if your into primitive camping and challenging hikes.  A link for general information and locations at Arkansas.com

Petit Jean State Park is Arkansas’s first state park, featuring stunning views, enchanting woodlands laced with streams and wildflowers, and a spectacular waterfall—Cedar Falls.  The Park has several fine trails, but the Ceder Falls Trail in particular is great for foliage viewing.  A moderately tough trail leading into a picturesque valley graced by the Cedar Falls.  From personal experience I can say that this is a great fall hike.  There are hundreds of campsites, and Mather Lodge for those seeking more comfortable accommodations.

Magazine Mountain State Park is an outstanding state park on the highest peak in Arkansas. Limited camping and R.V. spaces.  Book well in advance.  Can get very cold in November and with very little warning.  Outstanding views.  Bears and large cats also live on the mountain.

I will update this article with pictures if I have time.  Constructive comments encouraged.  Where did you see great fall foliage in or near Texas?

Arkansas fall foliage report

Copyright © 2008 by Sam Fenstermacher
All rights reserved

In a previous post I talked about several old town squares in the heart of Northwest Arkansas, and I concluded with the Rogers Historic District and Scenic Highway 12. That’s where I begin this post.

Scenic Highway 12 in Northwest Arkansas passes through Rogers Arkansas and then through some truly beautiful Ozark countryside. Just the scenery makes this road a good choice for those heading east to destinations like Eureka Springs and the Buffalo River. As you drive out of Rogers you pass through the beautiful country surrounding Beaver Lake. The views of the lake are at time dramatic. Beaver Lake is huge and if your a water sports person or have a boat or personal water craft, this is a lake worth researching.

As you push on a little further the road starts winding as it climbs through the Ozark Mountains. Again, the views are beautiful. For a while your passing through the Hobbs State Park Conservation Area. The area is so inviting that I stopped to walk the Historic Van Winkle Trail. Not much of a hike but plenty of fun and a great way to spend a little more time in the area.

The War Eagle Mill is just a bit out of the park on War Eagle Road. This is an interesting place, and well worth a stop to see. It’s a working water powered grist mill, the forth mill built at this location, on the War Eagle River.

The first mill was built in the 1830′s by Sylvanus Blackburn, but washed away in 1848. The second mill was burned by order of a Confederate general to prevent the Union Army’s capture and use of the mill. James A.C. Blackburn, son of Sylvanus, reconstructed a third mill in 1873. The current mill was built in 1973 by Jewell A. and Leta Medlin and Zoe Medlin Caywood on the original site and foundation and is intended to be an authentic reproduction of the 1873 mill.

Reproduction or not this is a very realistic example of an old grist mill. The power for the stone buhr grinders inside the War Eagle mill comes from an 18-foot undershot waterwheel driven by the waters of the War Eagle River. I’d been through mills like this before, but never had I seen one work before. When the belts are turning and the grinder is grinding and the flower is flowing into the bag, the experience comes alive. Forget your imagination, this place really works.

They sell flowers and meals ground on site along with other crafts and souvenirs. On the top floor of the mill there’s the Bean Palace Restaurant where they serve foods authentic to the region and time of the earlier mills.

The War Eagle Mill and its surroundings are interesting. The area is beautiful. There’s an old metal bridge across the War Eagle River in front of the mill. You can walk along the banks of the river for an alternative perspective and a better view of the undershot water wheel.

War Eagle is a ghost town and you may find other items of interest. I hope you enjoy the War Eagle Mill.

After seeing all the mill has to offer it’s back on Scenic Highway 12 heading east, and you needing to choose between several great destinations. Head north on Highway 23 and end up in Eureka Springs. Or, head off south on Highway 23, travel the back roads for more beautiful cruising time and end up in Lost Valley. Here you find yourself at the furthest western reaches of the Buffalo National River (U.S. Nation Park Service). As the name implies, the river is the attraction, but the rugged natural beauty of the area is equally spectacular. Anyway you go, it’s a great ride.

War Eagle Arkansas

County: Benton

Copyright © 2008 by Sam Fenstermacher
All rights reserved

Fayetteville Arkansas Town Square

The square in Fayetteville features some very nice old buildings housing quaint shops and restaurants, and a very nice new convention center available for business and social events. The convention center, called the Fayetteville Town Center, is located on the Southeast corner of the square near the intersection of East Mountain Street and South East Avenue.

The square is so beautifully landscaped, it’s almost like a garden setting. The convention center is nice even if your just visiting. There’s plenty of open spaces and glass with great views of the surrounding hills. There are views because Fayetteville is nestled in the Ozark Mountains. There are plenty of shops and restaurants. West Mountain Brewing Co., a microbrewery, is on the square, and there’s a pizza place next door. If your the beer and pizza sort of person, check it out.

If your looking for more excitement, there are plenty of bars and restaurants and coffee houses a few blocks off the square on West Dickson St.

Really the Town Square in Fayetteville is just a nice place to get out and roam for a while.

Bentonville Arkansas Town Square

The square in Bentonville is fairly modest. The Bentonville town square features a Civil War statue and fountain. Benches and a garden like setting with trees and shade make for a good place to park yourself for a spell on a warm day. The center square is surrounded by quaint shops, and probably most interesting of all, the Wal-Mart Visitors Center. This is Sam Walton’s original variety store. The visitor center tells the story of Wal-Mart from it’s beginning as “Walton’s 5-10″ up to the present.

Rogers Arkansas Historic Downtown

Rogers Arkansas has a fine historic district along West Walnut Street between about First and Forth Streets.

From the Main Street Rogers Web site:

In 1988, a large portion of downtown was dedicated as the Walnut Street National Historic District. This area was expanded in 1993. In addition, 23 structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This commitment to our history ties us permanently to our past and plots a course for the future…

Many facade renovations have been completed as well as three fine examples of interior restoration: the J.E. Applegate Building, a 1905 apothecary which is now Poor Richard’s Gifts & Confectionery; the W.B. Felker Building, originally opened as Bank of Rogers in 1905, and now home to the Daisy Airgun Museum; and The Victory Theater, 1927, which after many years of neglect was purchased and renovated by the Rogers Little Theater and reopened as that organization’s home stage.

Like so many other small towns, the railroad played an instrumental role in the early development of Rogers. The tracks, still active, pass right by the historic district at West Walnut and First Street. There’s a little park along the tracks with walking paths, shelters, the Frisco Caboose, and a historic sign.

The sign is about Betty Blake, wife of Will Rogers, who was from Rogers Arkansas. The Will Rogers quote on the sign reads: “My wife came from Rogers, Arkansas, where they raise the prettiest girls and the best apples in the world.”

The day I was there musicians had gathered in the park. The instruments were mostly banjos and guitars, and the entertainment was free.

I hung out for a while listening to the music and the stories, then visited a coffee shop across the street from the park. Maybe it’s still there—or not. I bet you can find something you like in these few blocks along the tracks and in the Rogers Historic District.

Another great thing about being here in the Rogers Historic District is that your blocks away from Scenic Highway 12, A.K.A. East Locust Street. Highway 12 East heading out of Rogers is a really pretty ride, and the further you go, the better it gets. If your heading to Eureka Springs, Lost Valley, or the Buffalo National River, this is the road you want.

So do you see that this story is going places? This is just the beginning of a drive across the Northwest region of the state of Arkansas. Stay tuned.

Copyright © 2008 by Sam Fenstermacher
All rights reserved