Why You Should Visit Arkansas. Mountains, Rivers, Public Diamond Mi...

After being here for a bit, I know many Steemians love #travel. #Arkansas doesn't come up much on the list of popular travel destinations, but I want to help change that. I know there are some folks here that live in Arkansas and many others that have visited so please leave recommendations or favorite memories in the comments!

Here are some reasons you might want to visit Arkansas:

1. Arkansas is home to the only public diamond mine in the United States (and world?).

Yes, you read that correctly. At Crater of Diamonds State Park, you can pay the tiny entrance fee and search and mine for diamonds all day. You can keep any you find and diamonds are found almost every day. Every year or so someone finds something amazing. (Pro-tip do your research and don't go in the summer)

2. Arkansas is home to the Buffalo River, America's First National River.

The Buffalo River is an incredibly scenic river in northern Arkansas. It offers challenging whitewater upstream and easy floating downstream. High bluffs, nearby waterfalls, and great gravel bar camping make for lots of fun! You can swim, do rope swings, jump off bluffs, find fossils, see bald eagles, elk, and coyotes and more. The stars at night are incredible.

3. Arkansas has Hot Springs National Park which was initially set aside before the concept of National Parks was invented!

So, even though it wasn't the first national park, (Yellowstone holds that honor and rightly so) Hot Springs was the first piece of land set aside by the federal government to preserve its use for recreation.
Hot Springs has, you guessed it, hot springs just bubbling up out of the ground! It also has historic bathhouses where you can take relaxing soaks and get massages! Hot Springs is in a beautiful part of the state and has some large lakes nearby that are great for boating, fishing, and swimming.

4. Arkansas is home to the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains.

These mountain ranges are the highest places between the Rockies and the Appalachians and they are two distinct ranges, that are both roughly 300 million years old, making them much older than the modern Rockies. There are some large wilderness areas and national forests in these ranges and they aren't nearly as busy as spots in California or Colorado. One thing I really appreciate about Arkansas is that it is usually a short drive to get out in the wilderness and you can be truly alone if you want. You don't need to make reservations for campsites or backpacking routes 6-months in advance, you just go!

5. While it has mountains and whitewater rivers, it also has bayous and swamps.

This is a picture of Fourche Creek in Little Rock, but there are much larger bayous and swamps in the southern and eastern parts of the state. In fact, Arkansas claims to be home to the longest bayou in the world!