Local guide

Victorian stone buildings stacked up the hollow along Spring and Main. Park once and walk. The streets loop and climb, so wear real shoes.

The spring the town was built around in the 1880s. Free music on weekends in the warmer months.

More than a dozen restored springs sit within walking distance. Grotto, Sweet, and Crescent Springs make an easy loop.

A spring inside a stone grotto, cool on the hottest day.

A 1940s house built around an indoor garden, with a rock-collection wall outside.

A deep blue spring pool with gardens and walking paths.

The 1886 hotel on the ridge above town. Go for the view, stay for the evening ghost tour.

Built so steeply into the hill that you walk in through the bell tower.

E. Fay Jones's glass-and-timber chapel in the woods west of town. Go early, before the tour buses.

One of the largest city parks in the country, with miles of hiking and mountain-bike trail around a spring-fed lake.

A sanctuary for rescued big cats. The guided tour is worth it.

A short cave tour close to the cabin, good for kids.

Underground lakes and big cave formations.

A cave on the shore of Beaver Lake, with trails above ground too.

A private canyon of waterfalls, trout streams, and trails, just over the Missouri line.

Arkansas's largest state park, on the shore of Beaver Lake, with long hiking trails.

Clear, gentle floats and smallmouth bass. Best in spring and early summer, when the water is up.

Boat rentals on Table Rock Lake, the closest big-lake marina to the cabin.

Boat rentals on Beaver Lake.

Bald eagles winter on Beaver Lake. Boat tours leave Rocky Branch Marina through Hobbs State Park; reserve ahead for weekends.

Launch a kayak from the shared dock or fish catch-and-release from shore.

World-class American art in the woods, with free general admission and trails outside.

Tall bluffs, long floats, and the hike to Hawksbill Crag.

Silver Dollar City, Table Rock State Park, and the shows.