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A light dusting of snow adds to the holiday appeal of Bear Creek Cabins.

HOLIDAYS ARE A TIME to surround yourself with the people you love most. Traditionally, this means coming home to the places where we grew up, but an increasing number of families are starting new traditions with destination holidays, gathering in locales removed from any one family member’s home.

At first glance, this may appear to be a radical departure from the norm and, depending on the family, it may very well be. But if you stop and think about it, destination holidays make a lot of sense. First off, traveling is traveling, whether you’re going back to the old homestead or headed for another location. Second, destination holidays offer amenities and activities that aren’t typically available at Grandma’s house, providing family members of all ages with things to do. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, destination holidays eliminate a lot of the stress and workload that typically falls on the shoulders of the family member hosting the holiday shindig.

In Arkansas, there are plenty of picturesque locations to throw a destination holiday, a few of which are detailed in this article. These spots provide everything you could want for a joyful — and dare we say relaxing — family get-together.

Peace and quiet are the order of the day at Bear Creek Log Cabins. Tucked into the countryside just north of Marshall (Searcy County), the cabins provide the kind of solitude that allows family members to unplug and unwind over the holidays.

In addition to the lovely scenery, Bear Creek Log Cabins offers the opportunity to be as active as you care to be. Hiking and mountain biking trails await nearby, as does fishing in Bear Creek. Or pick up the pace a bit with an ATV ride on private roads. Be sure to bring your camera to capture the fun as well as Mother Nature’s holiday finest.

Two of the resort’s other popular activities include watching the elk and other wildlife that make their home here. Native people inhabited the area generations ago, leaving behind ample arrow points just waiting to be discovered along the creek.

As for food, make the short drive to Jasper (Newton County) and take your pick from three historic and acclaimed restaurants. Try Low Gap Cafe for comfort food done well; the delicious burgers and other fare at Ozark Cafe, an Arkansas landmark; or a hearty steak dinner at the one-of-a-kind Cliffhouse Restaurant. buffaloriverlogcabins.net

For something truly unforgettable, check out the accommodations at one of Arkansas’s picturesque State Park Lodges. These beautiful structures put you at the center of everything the state park has to offer while providing all the comforts of a casually elegant hotel.

Lodges can be found at four of Arkansas’s most popular locations: Mount Magazine near Paris (Logan County), Petit Jean outside of Morrilton (Conway County), Queen Wilhelmina near Mena (Polk County) and DeGray Lake Resort State Park outside of Bismarck (Hot Spring County).

Each location features its own onpremises restaurant as well as all the natural beauty and outdoor activities you could want, from trails to wildlife watching. But don’t be afraid to venture out and explore the surrounding small towns in search of great local grub and attractions, too.

The only drawback of the lodges is they are so popular it can be difficult to get a room, especially during the holidays. But if that happens, don’t forget to inquire about alternate accommodations at Mount Magazine or Petit Jean where one of their cozy cabins provides the perfect setting for your family’s newest holiday tradition. arkansasstateparks.com

Dreams of a White Christmas can come true at Petit Jean State Park.

Located a stone’s throw from Bull Shoals Lake, Gaston’s White River Resort in Lakeview (Baxter County) has been hosting families since 1958 and is still one of the finest lodge experiences in Arkansas.

Everything a family could want for celebrating the holidays is here, from spacious accommodations to an award-winning restaurant to plenty of outdoor adventures. Enroll in Gaston’s fly-fishing school to learn the art of tying flies and casting, then put your skills to the test on the White River under the watchful (and patient) supervision of one of Gaston’s experienced guides.

Nearby lies Bull Shoals-White River State Park, a tranquil setting perfect for a stroll along the shore or a hike on one of several woodland trails. The Visitors Center provides a fascinating look at local habitat and wildlife that is sure to interest youngsters and the young at heart. Explore nearby communities for shopping and local fare, including Anthonee’s Kitchen and Italian Restaurant, Beacon Point Restaurant and 178 Club.

Gaston’s offers family rates and a variety of cottages so you can enjoy as much family togetherness (or privacy) as you like. And topping it all off is Gaston’s restaurant, capable of serving up a feast worthy of your family holiday. gastons.com

Gaston’s White River Resort delivers great fishing, waterfront cabins and an award-winning restaurant.

Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism

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By Dwain Hebda Photography by Marianne Nolley

The eclectic nature of the business is reflected in its myriad programming — from guided hunts to wholebird processing to cooking academy — serving a diverse and generally younger clientele.

There’s a lot about Arkansas’s Grand Prairie that defies description. Sprawling out for hundreds of miles in every direction, the land as big and flat as the sky, the area stands in sharp contrast to the hills and peaks of the River Valley, the soaring cliffs farther north or the endless Ozark and Ouachita glades.

Lacking these topographical elements, it’s easy to see the Grand Prairie as one-dimensional, a geological transition zone, faceless as winter crop stubble. Only upon closer examination does one see just how complex and layered a region it is, binding together all that Arkansas is, has been and can be.

It’s a place with which Black Duck Revival and its founder, Jonathan Wilkins, hold much in common. The business, settled comfortably into a former church on Brinkley’s main drag, also defies easy categorization.

“There was no intention to be one thing at the outset,” Wilkins said. “It’s kind of just an organically growing thing. I kind of try not to have a whole bunch of presuppositions about what it’s supposed to be.”

Under Wilkins’ purview, Black Duck Revival exists as a guide service, classroom, processing plant, kitchen, multimedia studio and gathering place. It’s an odd and jarring selfawareness to be everything and yet nothing entirely at once, but that’s precisely the keyhole Wilkins invites people to peek through. Even the name is rife with messaging, though not entirely as it appears.

“A black duck is not a Mississippi Flyway bird, really. They’re really rare in this part of the country,” Wilkins said. “The revival aspect is partly the fact that it was a church. It was also kind of a tongue-in-cheek thing, playing on the racial oddball status of me doing waterfowl in Arkansas.

“But ultimately, the idea was not really for a traditional duck lodge or duck club. This is a place to reinstate human capability. People want to find their own food and beyond that, make the most out of it.”

Bagging birds (specklebelly goose preferred, but ducks welcome, too) is just the appetizer on Wilkins’ full menu of techniques and processes. He also teaches alternative ways to clean the quarry — from mechanical and wax plucking to dry plucking — as well as how to ensure nothing edible goes to waste.

“I teach whole-bird processing,” he said. “We use the feet, we use the neck skin, we use the entire carcass. It’s all part of that idea of a more holistic agrarian association with food and community and all that.”

Black Duck’s rustic luxury and forward-thinking agenda

have found a ready audience over the five years it’s been in business. Guests are generally younger, professional and from out-of-state, many looking for a respite from city life and curated new experiences.

“It’s people who are probably in their 30s, people who live in cities or urban environments and are interested in reconnecting with the natural world,” Wilkins said. “Not saying they’re necessarily high rollers, but people who are established.”

Women guests are common at Black Duck Revival, something that speaks as much about the environment here as it does the agenda or programming.

“I think last year I only had one group that was all males. I prefer it when women are here,” Wilkins said. “There’s a different dynamic that cuts down on the false bravado and all that machismo. It’s just a better experience for everybody. With my clientele, everyone’s usually coming here with ingrained humility, wanting to learn and experience something different. It’s not this kind of rapacious domineering school of thought.”

Wilkins said the better-known the club has become for its approach, the more it stands in contrast to more traditional duck clubs.

“Waterfowl, specifically in the South, is a very cloistered community,” he said. “It’s still very much an ol’ boys network. It’s not incredibly welcoming to women, there’s a lot of duck clubs where women aren’t allowed. Hunting in general is an activity that’s passed down patrilineally; it’s fathers and sons and uncles and grandpas. It is not the most inclusive, welcoming activity by nature.”

Wilkins said this heritage has fed the narrative that hunting lacks appeal for minorities, when in fact the percentage of Black and Hispanic hunters compared to white mirrors the general population mix. If Wilkins himself stands out, it’s thanks to his writing and the Black Duck Revival podcast, not for being the only Black hunter in the deer woods or green timber.

For its part, unsurprisingly, Black Duck Revival is comfortably, resolutely color blind, the name aside.

“Black Duck Revival is not and was not intended to be exclusively for people of color. Frankly, the vast majority of my clientele are Caucasian,” Wilkins said. “Initially there was a lot of outward push for it to be this Black duck club, and it’s not that I’m running away from that moniker, it’s that it doesn’t fully encompass what I’m doing. I’m definitely satiated with the organic expanse of it and willing to see what that turns into.”

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“It takes a village” is a popular phrase underscoring the individual responsibility each of us has for maintaining the health and vitality of our communities. It’s equally true in what is demanded of us in keeping our wild spaces pristine and unspoiled.

But while we all have a role to play, some of us rise to a higher level of advocacy and service, devoting time, talent and treasure in ways that benefit us all. Often overlooked and rarely thanked, these dedicated souls work behind the scenes to improve access, protect habitat and promulgate new generations of outdoors enthusiasts.

BY DWAIN HEBDA PHOTOGRAY BY NOVO STUDIO

You don’t have to spend much time in Northwest Arkansas — or Bentonville in particular — to recognize cycling is king around here, especially mountain biking. Yet to Kyla Templeton’s way of seeing things, the community has only scratched the surface of its true potential as a cycling mecca.

A native of Oklahoma City, Templeton moved to Bentonville after college to work for Walmart. Her own personal experience getting turned on to cycling provides a touchpoint for the many people she’s helping enjoy the activity.

“The summer before my last semester of college, I bought a mountain bike,” she said. “I had an internship at UPS in Dallas, and I rode this mountain bike for a week or two before I was like, ‘I think I want a road bike.’ I just loved to ride, especially with a group of my girlfriends. I found a lot of joy.”

Templeton has been at the heart of promoting and expanding cycling by lowering barriers to participation for all. She founded Girls Bike Bentonville in 2012 to help increase road cycling among women. In 2015 she co-founded and, until last year, led Arkansas’s chapter of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, a group targeting middle and high schoolers that provides guidance on holding mountain biking competitions, certifying coaches and growing grassroots networks of cycling clubs. Most recently, she founded Bike School Bentonville, a for-profit entity that teaches people how to ride the trails.

All three ventures, she said, are rooted in the same basic premise of expanding ridership and improving the experience, channeled through different audiences.

“Girls Bike Bentonville was designed to help empower women to have community and do something fun and healthy together,” she said. “Women have a tendency to need instruction and I think they kind of need somebody to tell them they can do it, in ways that men don’t.

“With NICA, the goal was to get schools involved because we know

The schools bring access. Our role was to train and support coaches and to empower them with programming wonderful such as racing or girls’ programming or stewardship programming in order to motivate kids to want to join thing and participate.” In both cases, Templeton’s about leadership drove impressive results. Girls Bike Bentonville’s group rides would grow to attract 45 riders or cycling is more per outing while more than 1,200 individuals made up the group’s Facebook page. The NICA it gets the venture enjoyed similar success, growing at an average rate of 1015% per year. Now, as she turns her whole attention to Bike School Bentonville, which she co-founded with Nat Ross, she’s got similarly ambitious goals in family mind. “The goal of Bike School Bentonville is to be like ski school, involved." but for mountain bikes,” she said. “We’ve built this community around trails, and people come to Bentonville because they want to mountain bike. People have been talking about we’re going to have Olympians coming out of Bentonville because our trails are so good. Well, that sort of development doesn’t just happen; you have to have people who can cultivate and coach others, especially young people. “We’re developing coaches by partnering with the National Center for Youth Development. They’ve helped us build our curriculum for the younger kids’ programming and helped train our coaches.” Asked what the best part of all this has been, the mother of two boys said watching families bond through cycling has been rewarding. “The wonderful thing about cycling is it gets the whole family involved and it has the potential to transform families, giving them a quality activity to spend time doing together,” she said. “It transforms whole communities when people get behind it.”

AAs long as Lowell Myers can remember, fly-fishing has been a part of his life. He’s been at it so long, he can’t recall precisely who taught him, though odds are, he said, it was his older brother. Regardless, it feels like he was born with a rod in one hand and a hand-tied nymph in the other.

“I grew up in Northeast Arkansas in Biggers, near Jonesboro,” he said. “Grew up in an outdoors family, hunted and fished all the time. I started fly-fishing at an early age and it stuck with me. I enjoy being on the water.”

Like a lot of people, the sport gave Myers a welcome respite from the modern world. But unlike most people, the pull of the trout was enough to take over his professional life. After stints in youth ministry and business administration, he surrendered to his passion for fishing and began guiding 20 years ago.

Sore Lip ’Em All, of which he is operator, grew out of Myers’ relationship with Trout Magnet founder Jeff Smith. Through the guiding business, he gets to pass his enthusiasm on to others.

“As guides, we encounter people who’ve never held a fly rod or a spinning rod or anything,” he said. “To see them gain an interest in being outdoors and being able to help them catch their first trout is one of the really rewarding things about this business.”

Given the nature of his livelihood, Myers became keenly aware of the need to maintain habitat, leading him to devote considerable time to conservation groups. He’s a past president and past board member of Trout Unlimited and past president and current board member for the Little Red River Foundation, to name a couple.

“Some of the things we accomplished, we enhanced the Little Red River cleanup,” he said. “It was already

going on, but we tried to bring more attention to that during my time at Trout Unlimited. One year, we had over 200 volunteers gather on a particular Saturday. That’s exciting for me to see that many volunteers. “Through the Little Red River Foundation, we petitioned Arkansas Game and Fish and “Arkansas received approval to plant cutthroat eggs in the Little Red River, which had never been is getting done before. The only eggs that had been planted previously were brown trout eggs in the early ’70s. to be known We did that three years ago and we’re hoping to do that again in the next couple of years and hopefully as a in the future to provide another species of trout in this river.” Myers has also been destination instrumental in efforts to introduce young people to the sport of fly-fishing. for trout, “When I was with Trout Unlimited we helped kids learn how to cast and fly-fish and that that's was very rewarding,” he said. “In the past, our guide service has helped out with Boy Scouts for to help them earn their merit badge.” Myers said the issues facing certain." Arkansas trout fishing today are byproducts of the state’s enhanced reputation for good fishing. While popularity is a positive, he said, continued diligence is required to maintain the quality of trout fishing here for present and future generations. “Arkansas is getting to be known as a destination for trout, that’s for certain,” he said. “Any body of water anywhere, whether it be in Maine, Alaska, the Rocky Mountains or anywhere in between, is going to have challenges. There are still some improvements to be made in Arkansas that will better protect what we have and hopefully improve it for the future, leaving it better than what we have now.”

As a professor in the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of ArkansasMonticello, Dr. Douglas Osborne educates students in subject matter ranging from wildlife management and conservation to wetland and landscape ecology and management. The topics are all close to the Illinois native’s heart.

“I love figuring out what these students are good at, what their weaknesses are and where they want to go in life,” he said. “Just that interaction, that next level of mentoring students and seeing them move into careers, fulfills me.”

Osborne enjoys what he does on the UAM campus so much, it’s hard to imagine anything that could top it. That was until the opportunity came along to lead the Five Oaks Ag Research and Education Center, a cuttingedge educational program set in one of the Grand Prairie’s most storied and ecologically progressive duck clubs.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever told anybody ‘no’ in my life, and I wasn’t going to start with this,” he said.

The brainchild of Five Oaks owner George Dunklin, the 2-year-old Ag Research and Education Center is the state’s boldest educational initiative yet in preparing the conservationists and land management professionals of tomorrow.

“The economics behind the waterfowl in the state are really important,” Osborne said. “The hunting heritage alone in terms of waterfowl in Arkansas is just tremendous; many generations of people have grown up waterfowl hunting. It’s important for the state to maintain healthy hunting populations.

“At the same time, the habitats are declining because the trees are dying. We’ve got poor forest conditions now because of changes in hydrology. We’re trying to better understand these systems and how we can manage them differently to promote healthy forests which are, ultimately, healthy habitat for ducks. We’ve got several research projects going looking at forest health, duck populations, duck migration and movement.” As program director, Osborne oversees students in the one-year paid graduate certificate program. They live and work at Five Oaks while learning firsthand about ecosystems and issues related to conservation. “They’re out on the land every day, either with me learning about ecology and waterfowl habitat or with [UAM’s] aquatics professor learning how to identify aquatic

“I love insects which are important food sources for ducks. They’re also out on tractors or moving figuring out water around the farm to flood and irrigate different waterfowl what these habitats.” The program draws students from across the United States, students are all of whom get an eye-opening experience in the living lab. “Students typically learn good at, what about this sitting in a classroom, but to actually put their hands their on it and do it themselves is unique,” Osborne said. “In a classroom, you get lectures each weaknesses week and maybe have a twohour lab once a week, but these are and kids are getting the chance to actually turn the generators on and start pumping the water out where they of the ditches or opening water control structures and moving water themselves.” want to As the product of a rural upbringing, and a lifelong duck go in hunter besides, Osborne relates to the program on several levels. He sees the curriculum both as life." having an immediate impact and holding the potential to make Arkansas the center of the land management and conservation studies universe. “After our first year, two of our graduates went to grad school, one got a private land job in Arkansas and a fourth student got hired by Ducks Unlimited as a biologist in Colorado,” he said. “In every case, they were recognized for the skill set they gained from the program by working as apprentices, in a manner of speaking. It took their education and experience to the next level.”

If Samuel Ellis had listened to most of what he was told his whole life, there never would have been a Rock Town River Outfitters, particularly as it pertained to the state’s namesake river.

“I was always told growing up that the Arkansas River is very dangerous, don’t go anywhere near it,” he said. “I kind of questioned that and started going out by myself on the water to explore the Little Maumelle and the Arkansas.”

To be fair, Ellis wasn’t your ordinary paddler, having spent time as a professional whitewater rafting guide in Colorado where he’d take tourists out on the wilder northern reaches of the Arkansas River. He returned home with advanced boating skills and a thirst for exploring the waterways of his home state

“The Arkansas River used to be very dangerous, before they built Murray Lock and Dam,” he said. “But these days you can look at the water flow on an app before you even get out of bed to see if it’s safe or not.”

Having seen the potential for river tourism in Colorado, Ellis started to think about how he could leverage the once-taboo Arkansas River into a business. In 2017, he spent his life savings on three kayaks and started taking groups on guided paddling tours as a side gig.

Rock Town River Outfitters’ first year was hand-tomouth, but the steady demand for tours told Ellis he was onto something. In 2018 a prime River Market location opened in the former Bobby’s Bike Hike space. Ellis took a leap of faith and hasn’t touched down yet, adding paddle boards, bike rentals and guided bike tours to the mix and opening a Two Rivers location in 2019.

“We do sunset tours every Friday and Saturday, usually between eight and 10 people,” he said. “We

started doing corporate events and groups; we can put about 50 people in the water right now. “We also do a pedal-paddle package that’s gained a lot of interest. People can hop on a bike rental in our “I love it when River Market location, ride to our Two Rivers location off people ... rent a River Mountain Road, hop in a kayak rental for two hours and bike back downtown to bike or kayak grab lunch or dinner. It’s been really cool watching people view and they come and experience this much of Little Rock without touching a steering wheel.” back and their With each tour Ellis educates people on the positive attributes first words of the Arkansas River. He said he knew he was making headway when the percentage of locals are, I really grew level with the number of out-of-towners. “Originally it was mostly underestimat- tourists; most of Central Arkansas was still under the ed Little Rock. impression that the Arkansas River was dangerous and you shouldn’t be on it,” he said.

This is “When COVID hit, everybody was locked up in their house wonderful. " and looking for something to do. That’s when we really finally got the trust and support of local people here in Little Rock.” Ellis has also become a key player in wider efforts to promote the area. The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau regularly uses him to show off the area to visiting travel writers and other influencers. Realizing a rising tide lifts all kayaks, he’s happy to participate in marketing his hometown. “Little Rock’s not on a lot of people’s bucket list, let’s just be honest,” he said. “But I love it when people come and find us to rent a bike or kayak and they come back and their first words are, ‘I really underestimated Little Rock. This is wonderful.’ That’s a great feeling knowing that I’m getting to showcase Little Rock and to represent it as a really fun outdoor recreation spot.”