Unlock the charm of Northwestern Arkansas: Your ultimate weekend travel guide(Pet Friendly)

After passing through Arkansas a half dozen times, my wife and I finally said let’s go Fayetteville. Of course it took some bribery to go there in the form of a thing called a solar eclipse. Well let me tell you what, when we got there a little after lunch from Birmingham, I was already pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of the area. The Bentonville, Fayetteville,Springdale, and Roger’s area was unique in its own way and has left a lasting impression on us to schedule a second trip there. This is minus the mountain biking, we brought our favorite travel buddy Rudy!

The monotonous drive across I-40 is quickly erased once you merge onto I-49 north. You enter an area seemingly untouched by people called the Ozarks/Boston Mountains. This drive alone was worth the trip up to the Fayetteville region. Arkansas really knows how to build their bridges. An alternate route that is even more scenic is Hwy 71. It runs parallel with 49 but travels through some of the mountain towns. I would recommend this also if you have the time.

Saturday: first stop: Onyx coffee in between Springdale and Fayetteville. I own a coffee roastery called Fly Line Coffee so of course I am going to try some awesome coffee here. Definitely worth the 7 hour drive! After coffee we hopped in the car again and drove the thirty minutes up to the Missouri state line. We had never been to Missouri. After taking a few pictures, we left and returned to Springdale to see the flagship store for Walmart. This is located at the Elm Springs Road exit. This was awesome to see and would recommend it to see some of their mini stores within such as Reebok and Levi. After spending a brief time in there we headed back to Fayetteville. Now, Fayetteville brings that unique experience of a college town crossed with one of my favorite towns in the southeast, Asheville, NC. To see the town, you can park for free(2 hour) limit in town square and walk around from there or rent scooters! Everything is hilly! While near town square, venture over to Feed and Folly for an awesome rooftop experience, great cocktails, and some amazing food. I got the Philly cheesesteak and man was it was something else. I’m still thinking about it. Maggie fish and chips and the cod could cover her entire face. The homemade “chips” were out of this world. I would recommend reservations. We got lucky but that’s not always the case. They are pet friendly and have seating in the front street level and rooftop patio is pet friendly! I am major food lover so of course I am going to share the great food we tried while there. We called it a night after that, a long drive coupled with a few drinks and I am out. Plus, Rudy was ready return to the hotel room and get his dinner.

Sunday: We woke up early make the best of our short time here and ate a surprisingly great breakfast at our Hyatt hotel. Then the most important part of the day, coffee!!! I absolutely drove the 30 minutes up to Roger’s to the headquarters of Onyx Coffee Lab. This Hq is situated in one of the coolest towns I’ve seen. An awesome place to bring kids, pets and walk around. The pour coffee was some of the best I’ve ever had and made the journey more than worth it. After exploring Roger’s some, We decided to go on a hike before lunch. After doing some research on the AllTrails app, we chose Arkansas State park, Devil’s Den. This park is about a 40 minute drive from Fayetteville and was actually not that crowded. The drive in was nothing short of spectacular. I would recommend the more scenic drive by getting off at the west fork exit and taking road 170 there. An interesting fact is all Arkansas State Parks are free entry, no matter residence. We chose to hike the yellow rock trail to an awesome overlook via the overlook shelter parking lot. Get there early, it’s limited parking! Man was this a view, all 3 of us enjoyed the relatively easy hike. It was only 2.5 miles and was not difficult at all. Be careful at the overlook with children, it is overhanging and there is a sharp drop off the cliff. After the rewarding hike we had worked up a hunger and decided to head back north and ended up in eating at Briar Rose Bakery in Farmington(dog friendly patio).Man oh man, this was worth it. I got a ham and Brie cheese sandwich with strawberry mustard. Hands down one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. We had to get us some of their famous cinnamon rolls to go for breakfast on Monday. After leaving there we actually caught a softball game between the razorbacks and Missouri tigers. We walked around the campus some before getting some dinner at the edge of campus at Mo’ Tacos and Churros(dog friendly patio). Fantastic tacos and churros at an affordable price. Parking is hard to come by but the lot directly across is free under one hour and is open to the public on the weekends after 5. It is a faculty and staff lot during the day.

Monday: Monday was the eclipse day, we got up super early and drove over to Mountain Home to get a good spot on Norfork Lake. I won’t go into too many details but it was a great call stopping here. The skies were clear and Mountain Home had plenty of lunch and coffee spots to feed you from the eclipse hunger. The drive over from Fayetteville to Mountain Home was a great scenic drive across the Ozarks. Plenty of farms and small towns to occupy the drive. After seeing the totality, we quickly loaded up and made the long drive home across northern Arkansas.

On this trip I found a new love for a state not so far away from Alabama and will definitely be making a return.