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Ouachitas
The Ouachita Mountains region of the state is ripe with exciting opportunities for any type of vacation. There are exciting theme parks, a breathtaking botanical garden, stunning lakes, diamond and crystal mines, spectacular horse racing and much more located in some of the most enchanting countryside in the state.
Find excitement or relaxation at any of these places:
- Crater of Diamonds State Park - Murfreesboro (p. 71)
- North America's only diamond mine open to the public
- More than 70,000 diamonds have been found in a field since farmer John Huddleston discovered the first such gems there in 1906
- DeGray Lake Resort State Park - Bismarck (p. 65)
- Located on an island and reached by a short causeway, the park's 96-room lodge features a spa, swimming pool, well-equipped exercise room, convention facilities and a full-service restaurant
- Garvan Woodland Gardens - near Hot Springs (p. 66)
- 210-acre botanical garden contains the Oriental-influenced "Garden of the Pine Wind" with stream courses, waterfalls, stone bridges, native and Asian plantings
- Anthony Chapel, newly-constructed and in the style of Thorncrown Chapel
- Hot Springs National Park (p. 67)
- Thermal baths and massages are available at the Buckstaff and other locations
- Film and exhibits in the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitors Center located on historic Bathhouse Row tell how a remarkable array of thermal springs in a valley of the Ouachita Mountains prompted Congress to protect the area in 1832
- Magic Springs & Crystal Falls - Hot Springs (p. 67)
- Combination theme and water park with five exciting roller coasters, including the X-Coaster, which shoots riders 150 feet in the air, flips them upside down and sends them on a 360-degree corkscrew roll at more than 65 miles per hour
- Water park features the new Crystal Lagoon opening this year with three speed slides, four tube slides, two tubing bowls and more than 10,000 square feet of new pool area
- Queen Wilhelmina State Park/Talimena National Scenic Byway (p. 70)
- Scenic byway stretches for 54 miles along crests of the Ouachita Mountains before terminating at Talihina, Oklahoma
- State park sits atop Arkansas's second-highest peak at Rich Mountain
Copyright © 2007 Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. All Rights Reserved.
by .
The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism is in compliance with the ,
Ar. Code Ann., § 25-19-101 et seq.
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