Arkansas Last Minute Vacations - Beach Sell Off Vacations and Beach Last Minute Vacation Deals at Arkansas Family Resorts

OZARK REGION ~
In the Ozark Mountains, the White River is Internationally famous for its beauty and great trout fishing, and several resorts and full-service marinas are available. Bull Shoals Lake, with more than 45,000 surface acres of water and a 1,000-mile shoreline, is a popular destination for those interested in fishing, water sports or just relaxation. Largemouth bass and big stripers are on the fishing menu. Many accommodations and guide services are available. There are many campgrounds in the area, including Bull Shoals-White River State Park, which also has a full-service marina with rental boats and which offers year-round interpretive programs.

RIVER VALLEY REGION ~
Old World charm, unsurpassed scenic beauty, modern sophistication – it's all here in the Arkansas River Valley.

You'll find pretty little towns such as Ozark and Russellville on the Arkansas River, and you'll find European flavor in the Altus area, the heart of Arkansas Wine Country. Three family-owned wineries dating back to the 1800s and one new one in the area offer tours, tastings and insight into the art of viticulture. You'll find another winery at nearby Paris.

Throughout the valley, the Arkansas River provides exceptional recreation. Lake Dardanelle in the Russellville-Dardanelle area is one of the most popular lakes in the state.

The unsurpassed beauty is best viewed from one of "The Tri-Peaks" that dominate the valley – Nebo, Petit Jean and Magazine. Atop the first two, you'll find state parks that proudly proclaim their Civilian Conservation Corps heritage with 60-year-old-plus housekeeping cabins at both parks and a lodge at Petit Jean. Also at Petit Jean is spectacular Cedar Falls, the park's trademark. Another lofty state park is under development for Magazine, where some of the state's most unspoiled landscape can be found. Currently, you can sightsee and hike, with new facilities opening this fall. These include 18 campsites with water, electric and sewer hookups; a bathhouse; a pavilion and a visitor center with exhibits.

Modern sophistication blends nicely with Old West history at Fort Smith. The state's second largest city is also one of its most historic. At the Fort Smith National Historic Site, you can discover what life was like on the lawless frontier.

And across the river, the refinement of the Victorian era is preserved in all its glory in venerable Van Buren, a mecca for arts, crafts and antiques.

OUACHITAS REGION~
Rugged mountain trails. Awe-inspiring vistas. Comfortable resorts. Rustic campsites. Sparkling lakes. Real diamonds.

These attractions are among the many reasons vacationers return to the Hot Springs area Ouachita (Washitaw) Mountain region year after year. They come to hike the nature trails of Hot Springs National Park and enjoy the vistas from the mountaintops in the rugged backcountry of the Ouachita National Forest. They also come to be pampered at the luxury hotels and famous thermal baths of the resort city of Hot Springs.

Five crystal clear lakes, known as the "Diamond Lakes," lure tourists who love water and beautiful scenery. The largest, Lake Ouachita, offers a wilderness experience combined with the amenities of full-service resorts. Luxury houseboat rentals are available at Lake DeGray and Lake Ouachita. And at many locations, you can enjoy a round of golf after you've finished a morning fishing excursion. Rockhounds will also find themselves right at home at an unusual "crater" where you can search for real diamonds and keep any you find, or find quality quartz crystals at one of the mines found in the region.

CENTRAL REGION~
Little Rock and North Little Rock form the vibrant heart of Arkansas. The two cities and their neighboring towns comprise a metropolitan area of some 500,000 people in central Arkansas. This metropolis, as well as Conway, Searcy and Cabot, and nearby cities in the central region, offer a cosmopolitan mix of historic attractions, imaginative shopping opportunities, fine dining, nightlife and creative arts and fine hotels.

A grand collection of museums offers something for every taste – from art to history to aerospace. And the Quapaw Quarter of restored 19th-century homes is one of the country's finest examples of bringing an older neighborhood back to life through adaptive reuse. Be sure to visit the new River Market in Little Rock for tastes of exotic cuisines and the freshest of produce from nearby farms in season.

Extensive park systems in both cities provide the chance to play golf or tennis, fish for lunkers in the Arkansas River or on area lakes, hike leafy trails, talk to the animals in the park-like Little Rock zoo or picnic in beautiful natural settings.

Central Arkansas is an ideal staging area for your Natural State vacation. Its big city tempo exists side by side with small-town charm. Discover Central Arkansas's winning ways for yourself.

DELTA REGION~
Follow the green-and-white pilot wheel markers along the Great River Road in the heart of eastern Arkansas's Mississippi River Delta country. The road, designated a national scenic byway, will lead you from north to south through this rich agricultural kingdom where cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat flourish in some of Arkansas's richest soils. Crowley's Ridge Parkway, another national scenic byway, also winds through this region, providing excellent views of the productive land from atop a geologic oddity rising from the Delta. This is the land where Europeans first crossed the Mississippi in 1541, where you can experience a taste of the civilizations they found here by visiting the Hampson Museum State Park at Wilson and at Parkin Archeological State Park at Parkin. You can relive the early days of more recent settlement at countless museums throughout the region, including the Arkansas State University Museum at Jonesboro and the Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie at Stuttgart. Highpoints include the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum & Education Center at Piggott, where "Papa" penned portions of "A Farewell to Arms"; the historic riverport of Helena, where the Delta Cultural Center interprets the land, the people and the music of the river country; Arkansas Post National Memorial, which preserves the site of the earliest European settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley; Southland Greyhound Park, one of the largest dog tracks in the country; and Lake Chicot State Park, where fishing is exceptional and bird watching second to none. And don't miss the Louisiana Purchase State where a monument marks the initial point for surveys of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

TIMBERLANDS REGION~
Timber. Oil. Deer Hunting. Bass fishing.

These are words commonly used when people talk about the Timberlands of Arkansas. It's a region with rich natural resources that was discovered by pioneers from the eastern United States in the early 1800s.

Cities such as El Dorado, Camden and Pine Bluff Arkansas were built when these newcomers, who were impressed with the regions dense woods of pine and cypress, decided to settle. In the 1920s, belief in their homeland paid off handsomely when oil was discovered in the El Dorado area.

The abundant natural resources of the Timberlands are still attracting people today. Each year, thousands of sportsmen descend upon Southern Arkansas to hunt deer in what is considered the best deer hunting region in the state. They also come in search of the lunker bass that reside in the area's legendary lakes and rivers.

Other visitors enjoy the legacy of those pioneers by visiting sites ranging from 1800s log cabins and restored Victorian homes to local museums and colorful murals that tell the history of this land.