INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN

Arkansas parks, trails await visitors under new rules.

By Dwain Hebda Photography Courtesy AGFC

With the dawning of summertime and the pent-up demand of a quarantine-weary public, Arkansas’s natural spaces and attractions are more popular than ever. Even if those spaces—like virtually every other aspect of life—have been altered, perhaps permanently, by coronavirus.

“The [Buffalo] River has been as crowded as I’ve ever seen it and this is my 16th season this year,” said Ben Milburn, owner of Buffalo River Outfitters (buffaloriveroutfitters.com). “Seems like a lot of it could be that the river was closed for almost 60 days so people didn’t get a chance to come, and now they’re finally getting a chance so they’re all coming at the same time. They’re trying to take advantage of good water while we’ve got it.”

Natural attractions and amenities from one end of the state to the other have been similarly inundated, despite overseers’ restrictions in the name of public safety. Arkansas State Parks, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife management areas and municipal hiking and biking trails are almost universally open. Lakes and rivers are as well, considering boating activities tend to have built-in social distancing. Even campgrounds have come back, in most places with all available spaces up for grabs.

“First, they let in RV camping with self-contained restrooms,” said Melissa Whitfield, Arkansas State Parks spokesperson. “Now, they’ve opened up tent camping again and the lodges are open again. They’re being careful to clean and sanitize in the lodges particularly; they’ll rotate the rooms so that they’re able to sanitize them properly according to CDC standards before the next guests come in.”

But even with all of that, the signs of the new normal of societal life are still very much visible. Visitors to state parks are reminded to wear a mask while in public spaces within lodges and restaurants or anywhere they cannot maintain social distancing. 

“If you’re going to be in an area where you don’t think you can maintain that 6-foot distance, the park rangers are out to remind people they see congregating,” Whitfield said. “People don’t think about it, so they’re gently reminding that please, if this is not your family group, please remember to keep a 6-foot distance.”

Other attractions have only been lightly affected this spring. In addition to a record-setting float season, Buffalo River Outfitters is still offering its cabins and has only had to make minor modifications to its amenities. 

“We used to transport our customers in our vans and buses to and from the river,” Milburn said. “Now, we’re providing a vehicle shuttle; they meet us at the river where their gear is staged and we’ll take their car to their takeout point and leave it for them. We’re trying to mitigate the potential risk as much as we can.”

The pandemic has dealt communities that rely on tourism and conventions a particularly crippling economic blow. Bill Sollender, director of marketing for Visit Hot Springs (hotsprings.org), said scheduled events and conventions dropped like flies off the city’s calendar this spring, things that generally don’t reanimate overnight. As a result, he said the city is leaning more heavily on its natural amenities than ever before. 

“Right at Memorial Day weekend, that’s when we saw a change,” he said. “We definitely saw people ready to get back out. They were coming out and some restaurants were opening for limited capacity and some were doing curbside. The attractions were adjusting.

“What we were promoting at that time was just a portion of what we always offer and that was outdoor activities­—boating, hiking, biking, fishing. You can go outside, you can do it safely, you can social distance, you can be with your family, you can enjoy Hot Springs. And we began to see hotels fill up. If you’re out on the weekend in Hot Springs it will look very busy and hotels are said to report high numbers, even at 100 percent capacity. So that’s exciting for us.”

Still, Sollender admits, it’s a long way back.

“Everyone’s just holding their breath and hoping that the virus subsides and we stay healthy,” he said. “I’m staying very positive and we’re beginning to plan events again and we’re working with the [state] Health Department to do events safely. The world will change and events will look different, but that’s OK. I think all of us are ready for staying on our toes and trying something new. We can do it.”