Farms – zenlations

Winding down highway 63 late in the evening after the rush hour buzz, we made our way into what seemed like the dark abyss of snow covered hills and old tall pine trees. We arrived at the Old Roper’s campground at around 12:30 AM and were promptly greeted by Bethany and Dixie (a 10-week old puppy) to show us the cabin we would be staying in for the weekend.

Our hosts, Wade and Bethany, had prepared a fire in the wood-burning stove to warm the cabin up for our arrival. After they showed us the ropes (pun intended), we quickly made our way to the hot tub on the giant outdoor porch.

After a late night of howling at the Wolf Moon, we awoke to an inspiring valley filled with bluffs, waterfalls, animals and a rich history of weekend memories. The Old Roper’s Campground has been home to campers and equestrians for a few decades.We had the chance to visit with our AirBNB hosts, Wade and Bethany, that afternoon before we set out to explore the property. We learned that for 30 years, Wade’s father ran trail rides for equestrians and eight years ago, he decided to retire. Just two years later, Wade began building and restoring the cabins. The cabin we stayed in (pictured above) has rock features and a spring box fed by a waterfall built with some local rock by Glen Branscum. The waterfall flows into a spring box just outside the bedroom window bringing the tranquility of the property inside.

The front door of the cabin opens up into a large screened-in porch (and we mean large: 25′ by 25′) that Wade built himself. It is equipped with a large opening in the roof to help ventilate the BBQ pits and smokers they provide for guests. Currently, the campground has a couple of cabins set up, several RV hook-ups, some lovely calves, chickens, and dogs, and their home, which they are currently in the process of building. Since the beginning the rehab process, they have been renting their cabins and property to local folks for get-a-ways, weddings, and events, and in the past year opened it up to AirBnb (where we found it!) and other guests. Located just miles from the folk music capital of the United States, Orin, Arkansas, the campground is surrounding by acres of trails, waterfalls, and caves.

Blue Berry Pankcakes — Blueberry Pancake Master

All of the basic amenity’s one might need to cook any basic meal are provided. All of this with the beautiful view of the valley. This cabin would be absolutely fantastic anytime of year, but we are particularly interested in coming back down early summer. The large picnic style table in the middle of the room provides a great space for family dinners prepared on this unique outdoor screened in porch, and with the jacuzzi and creek just below it was an inspiring ambiance fora romantic evening one might seek on a weekend getaway, not to mention a furry friend’s dream…. So all in all: this cabin is the Gem of the Ozarks.

We took our sweet time getting home on Sunday, stopping every time we could to enjoy as much as Arkansas had to offer. We spent most of our weekend enjoying the peace and quiet of our cabin getaway in the corner of the valley, enjoying the beauty of the St. Francis mountain range. So on our way out, we explored a few nearby state and county parks as we made our way through the hills back to the real world, noting spots for future travels. As we drove through Arkansas in the daytime, we noticed just how many caves there were! The caves are one of the most sought after natural features that travelers come to see from near and far in this region. After some further exploration through the national parks, we learned that white-nose syndrome has been effecting bats in these caves for years now and changed the way these caves can be visited. With Dexter in tow, we weren’t able to explore more about the area through any of the publicly guided cave tours on the way out, but we were inspired to make a special playlist to carry us back across the Missouri border: Guano Happens.