It was a beautifully warm April day in Northwest Arkansas as we pulled out of the driveway on our BMW 1200 GS Adventure. The only downside was the wind blowing pretty hard out of the west. Leaving town in our rearview mirrors we took Highway 16 East, passing by Lake Sequoyah on our left.
Just before coming to the town of Elkins, who's mascot is an Elk (insert lack of imagination here), we turned onto Highway 74 North. I was looking forward to this part of the ride because I didn't remember ever driving this road in the past. I was actually a little disappointed with 74 and was happy when we made it to Huntsville and transitioned onto Highway 23.
We took our first break just past Huntsville as we crossed War Eagle Creek and pulled off at an access point. It felt great to stretch my legs a little and check out the creek. I struck up a conversation with a couple of kayakers just finishing a float and talked about our own trip down the Buffalo River the previous weekend.
The kayakers strapped their boats onto the roof racks of their cars, done for the day. Kate and I had pretty much just started ours so it was back in the saddle for us and pointed the nose of the Adventure towards Eureka Springs.
I really enjoyed the ride on Highway 23. The scenery was beautiful and the roads fun to ride. We passed by Withrow Springs State Park and cut through the edge of the McIlroy State Game Management Area. There's lots to see and do just off the highway and I'd highly recommend swinging by the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and check out some of the big cats they've rescued.
Kate and I blended in with all the other bikers as we pulled in to Eureka Springs for another leg stretcher and a bite to eat. After a nice lunch the plan was to continue north on 23 up towards Missouri then take Missouri Highway 86 on up to Eagle Rock. My carefully planned route broke down when I missed the sign for 23 as we departed Eureka Springs and ended up on Highway 62 heading back towards Bentonville and Rogers.
I'd driven 62 out of Eureka last year when we brought the family over for the Eureka Springs Fat Tire Festival. The Festival is a fun weekend of mountain bike races and other competitive events. I'd forgotten how tight and steep some of the turns are through the mountains and really had to concentrate to keep my speed down and not drift into on-coming traffic.
Watching my GPS as we rode I kept my eyes open for a road that would take us north to Missouri. At Gateway we took 37 North up to Seligman, Missouri. We stopped at a convenience store to consult the GPS and saw we weren't too far from Eagle Rock!
We rode east on Missouri Highway 112 to the Roaring River State Park then continued east on Highway F. I'm not quite sure why Missouri uses numbers and letters for their roads. The campgrounds were full of families playing in the river, hiking and grilling over an open fire.
Now this is where the riding gets good. An unexpected bonus of missing my turn out of Eureka Springs was we ended up riding through the Mark Twain National Forest. The roads were wonderful over rolling hills and offered spectacular views. I can't wait to go back when all the trees and foliage have bloomed, and I'm sure the changing leaves in the fall will be breathtaking.
Passing through the forest Highway F dead ends into Highway 86. We turned south and motored into Eagle Rock. We'd finally made it! I pulled into the marina at Eagle Rock Park and was greeted by this sign. I may have driven straight into the lake if it hadn't been for the warning. Really?!
Anyway, we took our last break so Kate could hop off and take a few pictures and get some feeling back into her rear-end. Did I mention this was our longest ride so far?
While Kate was taking her pictures I took one myself. Can you guess what the main subject of my picture was?
By the time we were finishing up at Eagle Rock it was getting pretty late in the day so we decided it was time to head home. We backtracked through the Mark Twain National Forest and worked our way back into Arkansas and Highway 62 towards Rogers.
One funny note on the way home happened when we were back in Seligman, Missouri. We were at a stop sign turning south back to Arkansas when six or seven other bikes came up behind us. They were all heading our direction and I led the pack for about twenty miles or so. Kate and I were both laughing at me leading the pack riders back into Northwest Arkansas.
This long ride absolutely stoked the fire of traveling by bike so Kate and I are already planning our first overnight Adventure.
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