Ozark National Forest has about 1.2 million acres located in the Ozark Mountains in northern Arkansas. A few of many highlights in this National Forest are Mount Magazine Scenic Byway offering beautiful, scenic overlooks of the Arkansas River Valley, Blanchard Springs Caverns, and many campgrounds including Horsehead Lake and Cove Lake campgrounds offering beautiful lake views.
If you like beautiful scenic drives, try the Mt. Magazine Scenic Byway. This Scenic Byway is about 25 miles of highway (mostly Arkansas State Highway 309) in the western/central portion of Arkansas on the south side of the Arkansas River Valley. You have to drive slowly for much of the way, especially through the section that leads to Mt. Magazine. This section of the byway provides spectacular views along a winding mountain road with 'sharp curves and hairpin switchbacks' leading to the flat-topped Magazine mountain. Allow at least one to two hours to drive slowly and stop at scenic overlooks to thoroughly enjoy the beautiful views along the way.
At an elevation of 2,753 feet, Mt. Magazine is the highest point in the state. On the way to and on top of the mountain you'll enjoy gorgeous views of forested mountains, rock bluffs, and beautiful lakes.
From Mt. Magazine, the byway goes down about 2,300 feet to the town of Paris, passing the 160-acre scenic Cove Lake on the way. The byway leads through downtown Paris (population of about 3,300), and goes on to Webb City passing more beautiful natural landscapes on the way including meadows, pastures and prairies.
Blanchard Springs Caverns, a system of "living" caves and caverns, is another highlight of this National Forest. Life Magazine described it as "one of the most extraordinary finds of the century". The name comes from the nearby spring that pours out of the mountainside and into a pond named Mirror Lake. Nearby is a short, scenic walk to the falls where the water exits the caverns.
Special interpretive programs are presented at the Sheltered Cave Amphitheater three times weekly from Memorial Day through Labor Day. These programs are free to Blanchard Springs campers with only a small fee for non-campers.
Blanchard Springs Caverns offers three tours. The Dripstone Trail tour explores the upper level of these caverns; the Discovery Trail tour is longer and more strenuous leading through the middle level; and the Wild Cave Tour offers an introduction to spelunking or caving.
Informative Forest Service interpreters guide these tours. The Dripstone and Discovery tours are limited to around 30 people and the Wild Cave Tour is limited to 12 people. All tours begin at the Visitor Information Center. Beware, these tours can cost up to $75 but are very informative and are an excellent way to enjoy the beautiful and unique features of this living cave system.
Take the scenic drive and go caving during the day and camp at night with beautiful views of either Cove or Horsehead Lakes. There are many places to camp at Ozark National Forest.
One campground that offers views of a lake as well as shade under a mixed forest of hardwoods and evergreens is Horesehead Lake campground. Horeshead Lake is a small fishing lake of about 100 acres with a swim beach. The campground is also small with only 10 RV and tent sites and is situated so that most sites have a good view of the lake. While at the campground, take an easy hike on the three mile Horsehead Lake Trail.
Cove Lake campground is another, slightly larger campground that also has lake views from some of the camp sites. This is a good place to camp if you're traveling along the Mt. Magazine Scenic Byway since it's en route to Mt. Magazine.
Camp at Horsehead Lake or Cove Lake campgrounds with beautiful lake views from your camp site, take a leisurely drive with spectacular views along the Mt. Magazine Scenic Byway, or go underground and experience caving at Blanchard Springs. Ozark National Forest, like all of our National Forests, offers exceptional opportunities to experience the beautiful natural landscapes of our country.
Camping In National Forest
Vail Resorts consists of five mountain resorts. Each resort receives monetary contributions of $1 from each skier per season pass, online lift ticket transaction and night spent at the resort in the Colorado and California locations.
Since the program began, Vail has received more than $550,000 in guest contributions. The National Forest Foundation (NFF) has matched the contributions by more than $275,000. All funds are used for projects that aim to restore, improve and protect Vails neighboring National Forests.
The effort put forth by Vail Resorts owners, employees and skiers alike gives a glimpse into the number of skiers who are concerned about the environment. The preservation of National Forests is a major factor in the success of not only Vail Resorts but other ski resorts worldwide. The environment skiers are helping protect is the same environment that attracts them to Vail Resorts to begin with.
Vails five major resorts are some of the most visited and most family friendly resorts in North America.
Families can learn very valuable lessons about wildlife preservation, recycling and environmental issues. Currently, Vails recycling program recycles about 70 percent of on-mountain waste. The amount of waste recycled equals nearly one pound per guest, and about 100 tons of material per month are recycled during an average ski season.
Some of the most notably environment friendly parts of the resorts are:
* Beaver Creeks Spruce Saddle Lodge. The lodge is the first ski resort restaurant to become a Certified Green Restaurant by the Green Restaurant Association. The GRA is a national non-profit organization that dedicates its time to setting sustainable environmental standards within the restaurant industry.
Spruce Saddle Lodge is one of the first resort restaurants to be recognized by the GRA for multiple environmental breakthroughs. The restaurant uses recycled, tree-free, biodegradable and organic products throughout the lodge. It also maintains impressive water efficiency, energy and conservation levels and recycling and composting programs.
* Keystone Composting at Keystone Ranch Restaurant. Keystones composting program began in 2002 and has grown immensely over the years. More than 500 pounds of kitchen waste per week is being diverted from the landfill.
Combined with efforts from the Keystone Conference Center, food scraps and wood shavings create the soil used in landscaping throughout the resort. Similar composting programs are being established by other resorts.
* Heavenly Waste Reduction, in partnership with Californias El Dorado County, diverts about 482 tons of recyclable waste from landfills each year.
Surrounding communities are also encouraged to keep yard wastes out of local landfills. An annual event, Compost Your Combustibles, educates and encourages citizens to participate in recycling and composting efforts.
* Vail Resorts and RockResorts. Recycling programs are in place for all employees and guests of any Vail Resorts or RockResorts.
They promote water conservation to guests by promoting the reuse of towels and linens for multi-night stays.
Restaurants on the resorts use biodegradable, compostable and recycled food and beverage containers and flatware. The resorts recycle beverage and food containers and paper items used in all resort operations.
All areas of the resorts use environment-friendly cleaning products that are not only safer for the environment, but for guests and employees as well.
Resorts worldwide are becoming more environmentally aware and passing their knowledge on to their guests. With the help of their guests, they are able to conserve more water and recycle and compost more waste in a broader range of areas of resort operations.
The efforts put forth by these resorts and others around the world help protect the environment and wildlife that attracts their visitors.
Both Carl Zimmerman & Ben Needles are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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