Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas. All photography is ours.
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Arkansas with Kids
If you have one weekend for Arkansas with kids, spend it in Hot Springs. We visited over a fall break and it’s about the easiest national park you can manage. You walk into the park from a downtown sidewalk, hike up to the watchtower for incredible views of the Ouachita National Forest, then reward yourself with a gourmet cupcake when you get back to town. Perfect! Of course, there are some really interesting bath houses to explore as well.
If you like adventuring around outside, the Buffalo River is a must. Whether you’re hiking or floating, the views are amazing. The natural beauty in Arkansas is second to none, and hardly anyone outside the region knows it.
Destination guide · Updated November 2026 · Last visited May 2022
Best months
April–May, Sept–Oct
National parks
1 + 6 NPS sites
Fly into
LIT · XNA · FSM
How long
3 days, a week with the river
Book ahead
Buffalo River campsites · Petit Jean cabins · Blanchard Springs tours
We’ve experienced Arkansas from a few angles now and all were great. The first was a fall break weekend in Hot Springs with the whole family. We walked Bathhouse Row, hiked up to the Mountain Tower, and wound down with some mini golf in town. For the second trip, Carrick and Andrew went backpacking on the Buffalo River. The hiking was challenging, but the river was always there to keep things cool. The third was an overnight backpacking loop at Devil’s Den State Park that wandered through the Ozark National Forest. Fayetteville is right there when you’re done and has a great college town vibe.
None of it needed a reservation six months out and none of it cost much which is great for traveling families.
Your Arkansas guide
Enjoy exploring Arkansas with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three road trips, and where to stay.
Essential Arkansas
Why we love Arkansas
And why you will too.
Looking for a national park without the crowds or the long drive? Arkansas has it. Hot Springs, the Buffalo River, and Devil’s Den are the three we’ve done ourselves, but Bentonville and Petit Jean are the two we keep hearing about and haven’t gotten to yet.
Hot Springs National Park Guide
Walk in from Central Avenue. Tour the Fordyce. Climb up to the tower. We did all of it in one fall day.
Buffalo National River AftT Visit
Carrick and Andrew backpacked it in May 2022. The hiking was hot, but nothing a dip in the river can’t fix. Looking for more national park sites? See our guide to Arkansas national parks.
Devil’s Den State Park AftT Visit
An overnight backpacking loop through the park and into the Ozark National Forest. There are crevice caves and a swimming hole and CCC cabins if you’d rather not carry a tent.
Hot Springs Mountain Tower Guide
We hiked up from Bathhouse Row on the North Mountain trails and rode the elevator to the top. It’s a big view of the park and the Ouachita forest and the hike takes about an hour with kids.
And the rest we’d cross the state for
Bentonville
Crystal Bridges is free and made for wandering. Bentonville has an incredible amount of bike trails to explore while you’re there.
Fayetteville AftT Visit
Twenty minutes from Devil’s Den and a great college town. Go to Dickson Street for dinner and ride the Razorback Greenway the next morning. The Saturday farmers market on the square is worth timing your trip around.
Petit Jean State Park
The original Arkansas state park. Cedar Falls is the hike and Mather Lodge sits right on the bluff. Everyone we know who’s been says go.
Blanchard Springs Caverns
A living cave in the Ozark National Forest. The guided Dripstone Trail works for young kids. Book tours ahead in summer.
Little Rock
The Museum of Discovery for the kids and the Clinton Presidential Library for you. Central High School is one of the most important civil rights sites in the country and it’s free.
Eureka Springs
A Victorian town stacked up a hillside near the Missouri line. Turpentine Creek is a big cat refuge just outside town that’s fun for kids.
Crater of Diamonds State Park
The only diamond mine in the world where you keep what you find. Bring a bucket and a screen and low expectations.
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Find your next adventure in Arkansas
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Soak up the fun in Hot Springs National Park
While the popularity of Hot Springs, Arkansas gurgled up from the ground over centuries, it wasn’t until in the 1800’s,…
Routes
Three Arkansas road trip itineraries
One state and three very different trips. Two we’ve done and one we’d do next. See all the best stops on a map.
Home base
Hot Springs
Hot Springs National Park wraps around downtown. We walked Bathhouse Row and toured the Fordyce Bath house and then hiked up to the Mountain Tower from behind the bathhouses. Sunset from Mountain Drive is worth staying up for.
Then head to
The rest of town
Pirate’s Cove is our favorite place to play mini golf. The cupcakes at Fat Bottomed Girls are the reward for the hike. Magic Springs is there if the kids need a roller coaster.
Add on
Lake Ouachita
Forty minutes west. It’s one of the cleanest lakes in the country and the state park has rentals and a swimming beach. It’s the easy add if you have another day.
Home base
The Buffalo River
Carrick and Andrew backpacked and camped on the river in May 2022. May is warm enough that the hiking gets hot, but the river always feels good. Outfitters at Ponca and Tyler Bend rent canoes if you’d rather float than walk. This is a very popular float trip in the summer.
Then head to
Devil’s Den & Fayetteville
Two hours west. We backpacked an overnight loop through Devil’s Den and the Ozark National Forest on a separate trip. Fayetteville is twenty minutes north and it’s a great college town to land in afterward.
Add on
Bentonville
Thirty minutes north of Fayetteville. Crystal Bridges and the Amazeum and the bike trails. Still on our list.
Start
Little Rock
Fly into LIT. Do the Museum of Discovery for the kids and Central High and the Clinton Library for the grown-ups. The River Market is the easy dinner.
Then head to
Petit Jean State Park
An hour northwest. Hike to Cedar Falls in the morning and spend the night in a CCC cabin at Mather Lodge.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
We’ve been in the fall and in May and both worked. Spring brings high water on the Buffalo and good hiking weather. May was already hot on the trail but the river was there to cool off in. Fall is cooler and quieter and the Ozarks turn orange. Summer is for the lakes and the caves. Hot Springs works any month.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
April – May
The best window for the Buffalo River. The upper stretches near Ponca have enough water to float. We backpacked in May and it was already hot in the afternoons. Plan your miles for the morning and your swim for after lunch.
June – August
Hot and humid. Plan around water. Lake Ouachita and the lower Buffalo and Blanchard Springs all work. Mornings are for hiking.
September – October
Our favorite. We did Hot Springs over fall break and it was still warm enough for the tower hike and mini golf. Fall color peaks in the Ozarks in late October.
November – March
Quiet and cheap. Hot Springs is arguably at its best when it’s cold outside and the caves stay 58 degrees all year.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Arkansas adventure
Arkansas is small enough to see from two or three bases. Here’s where we’ve stayed and where we’d stay next.
Spa town trips
Hot Springs
We stayed at the Embassy Suites. It’s close to the park and downtown and the rooms are big. The included breakfast and happy hour are why we recommend it for families. The Arlington across from Bathhouse Row is the historic splurge.
- Our Hot Springs National Park guide
- Embassy Suites for families (where we stayed)
- The Arlington for the history and the location
Backpacking trips
The Buffalo River & Devil’s Den
We carried tents on both trips. The Buffalo’s campgrounds are on recreation.gov and the popular ones go early for spring weekends. Devil’s Den has CCC cabins and a campground if the kids aren’t ready for a pack.
- Buffalo River campgrounds on recreation.gov
- Devil’s Den CCC cabins near Fayetteville
- Fayetteville hotels on points for the night after
State park trips
Park lodges and cabins
Arkansas’s state park lodges are a bargain and some of the cabins were built by the CCC in the 1930s. They fill up on fall weekends. Mather Lodge at Petit Jean is the one on our list.
- Mather Lodge at Petit Jean
- Mount Magazine Lodge for the view
- Lake Ouachita State Park cabins on the water
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Arkansas
No. A reader taught us this after our trip. The two working bathhouses on Bathhouse Row are concessions with age limits. Quapaw’s thermal pools are 14 and up and Buckstaff’s traditional baths are 10 and up. There’s no family soaking spot in the park. What kids can do is fill a bottle at the free jug fountains around town. The water comes out at 143 degrees. They can tour the Fordyce bathhouse and hike the trails behind Bathhouse Row. We spent our day on the trails and the tower instead. If a soak is the reason you’re going, wait until the kids are older.
Yes!. Tubing, kayaking, and swimming are all available and very popular. Carrick and Andrew backpacked and camped it in May 2022. This is a pretty strenuous option, though. Younger kids can do the same river as a car camping weekend at one of the developed campgrounds or a half day float from Tyler Bend with an outfitter. The upper river at Ponca needs spring rain to float. Call an outfitter before you commit to a section.
Hot Springs. It’s a national park with a main street. You park downtown and walk Bathhouse Row and tour a restored bathhouse. Then you hike to the Mountain Tower from behind the visitor center. We did it over a fall break weekend with the whole family. Add Pirate’s Cove mini golf, some shopping downtown, and a cupcake from Fat Bottomed Girls and you have a great day. There’s no entrance fee.
LIT for Little Rock and Hot Springs. XNA for Bentonville and Fayetteville and Devil’s Den and the Buffalo River. Both are small easy airports. From Oklahoma City or Tulsa or Dallas we drive. It’s faster than flying once you count the airport time.
It was for us. We backpacked a loop through the park and into the Ozark National Forest next door. It’s a good overnight for a kid who is old enough to carry a pack. If you’re not carrying a tent the CCC cabins and the swimming hole make a good weekend on their own. Fayetteville is twenty minutes away for dinner.
Yes. The river and the state parks and Hot Springs are spread across the state and there’s no practical way to reach any of them without one.
Map
Essential Arkansas, mapped
Keep exploring
Where to go next
Oklahoma with Kids
Our home state. Route 66, the Wichita Mountains, and a great city weekend in OKC or Tulsa.
Missouri with Kids
St. Louis with the Arch, Six Flags, and City Museum then Branson and the Ozarks for an entirely different vibe. Both family-friendly.
Tennessee with Kids
Natural beauty of the Smoky Mountains are worth it alone. Add Gatlinburg and you’ve got yourself a really fun week!
