The Spots

Cabins

As of 2022, we stay in a new placed called Buffalo Trails Cabin (link), which is roomy enough for us 4 even with our 2 kids now teenager-sized. It has a full-sized kitchen and is well secluded in a wooded area pretty much to itself.

Prior to that, from 2012 to 2021, we stayed in Dogwood Springs Cabins (link), an RV park which also featured its own cabins, and a pool with waterslide. Its kitchen area was always too small, but we made-do, as we liked the owners (Lawsons), the "free range" parenting atmosphere, the fenced-in play area, and especially the pool-waterslide. As the kids grew older, and the cabins now had new owners who ended up taking down the slide and eventually even removed the pool as well, we moved to the new one in 2022. (In 2016, we stayed at a larger one called Big Bear Cabin (link) as a one-time thing to accommodate Kevin and my mother.)

Swim Spots

This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a "quick run-down" of our favorites over the years. (The "exhaustive" list of almost every spot is HERE.) If the spot is mentioned in the Swimming Holes book, its page number is noted.

Blue Hole is a favorite since year 1, it's secluded and almost always deep no matter the water levels, but the path is a bit challenging (about 1˝ miles). Bradley Park provides a "quick dip" within town, and has been the source of many good photos. Crow Hole is a spot the kids liked for its rope swing, although the road is rather rough and tight at times. Falling Waterfalls is a favorite for its waterfalls and jumping area, although it's almost an hour from Jasper and involves going down a rutty road, plus you'll be some distance from any eating places or gas etc. Hasty is another favorite, this is where I took photos of the French tourists in 2017 and where we found an injured large bird in a later year. It's located very near the cabin we stayed at in 2022. Longpool is a favorite with its jumping platform. Ponca Bridge is a favorite, as it provides a place for one to jump into the water from a short bridge, and the pepperoni grilled cheese sandwiches are nearby. Robertson Hole is about 35-40 min away, is scenic, and has deep water, it's perhaps remembered as the spot where we ran into some locals who were with their horses and they interacted with us quite a bit.

Gas, Food, Groceries Etc

Let's be practical. You're going to need to eat and fuel up your vehicle while you're there. There are more places than what I've listed here, plus there are nearby spots on the way in through Russellville, once you've arrived there are many spots available about 30 min away in Harrison. This is a rundown of our go-to spots within Jasper itself.

For groceries and gas, there is Harp's Grocery Store. This same location used to go by other "mom and pop" names for awhile in the early going, but around 2015 (I believe) it had become Harp's, a recognized chain in the Arkansas area, which helped "stablize" things a bit. For gassing up your vehicle and getting snacks/groceries etc, this is the best place to go--gas up here before going on any longer outings to play it safe.

For eating out, there are two main eateries in town for us, Ozark Cafe and Sharon K's Cafe. The former I find rather expensive, although good. The latter, it's more of a "country diner" sort of place, and cheaper, and as I recall it's only open earlier in the day, so we would tend to stop here many times for breakfast. If you're near Ponca, the Buffalo Outdoor Center has sandwiches, including the pepperoni grilled cheese sandwiches. (Note, cell phone service is practically non-existent there.)

Especially if you venture into the Fallling Waterfalls area south of Jasper, where it's rather rural and cellphone service is spotty, you will find gas stations hard to come-by. There is this one spot on ARK 7/16 which I have documented for you. It's small, and easy to miss, but they've come through when we've been in the area and needed a quick fill-up or snack etc. There is another in the nearby Deer area. Both are useful "fallback options" if by chance you find yourself running low before returning to Jasper. Another gas station is located near Dover, roughly where "Longpool" is, although it's about 27 miles away and in the opposite direction of Jasper. Another is in Mt Judea, in the general area of Falling Waterfalls.

Closing

This page is meant to be a more "quick and dirty" page which enables someone who's visiting this place for the first to get off to a quick start without the need to do a lot of reserach and reading, so it excludes or minimizes any sort of elaboration on other spots. There many spots such as Sam's Throne (a hiking-viewing place near a little down called Mt Judea), Carver (near "Blue Hole"), a Subway in Jasper, a restaurant nearby Sam's Throne in Mt Judea which has changed names many times, Ozark Campground, Lost Valley, Pruitt, Whiteley Hole (a secluded spot not far from Ponca, a former farm of sorts), Haws Craig/Whittaker Point (a beautiful hiking trail), Shine Eye, Buffalo Point--the list goes on forever.

Feel free to read the Glenn Wheeler book shown above, or view the "detailed" Google Map I made which has the location for LOTS of spots. There are many places to stay besides the 3 which I noted--both cheap hotels right in town for a quick stay, and many other cabins. There is Cliff House Inn about 6 miles out heading back towards Russellville which has a really nice restaurant (we simply started avoiding it after the owner was too "militant" about masks during a 2020 visit).

In short, simply consider this a "quick stop" site to sort of get you going quickly. You may find other spots far better than these, it's entirely possible. It's your life, live it your way, as we did.