ROAD TRIP

ALSO THE CRAPS TABLES. IT’S TIME FOR A ROAD TRIP!

Hurry it up, because we all know this is the sweet spot on the calendar. Ice storms behind us, heatstroke weather in front of us. Now’s the time to get out and about in Arkansas.

We’ve taken the liberty of serving as your travel agents, executing dry runs of a few trip options so you’ll have a good idea what you’re in for. Difficulty levels range from tenderfoot (How hard is it to feast on a $150 steak and lose your shirt at the Saracen Casino craps table? Not very hard, writer Rhett Brinkley admits) to hardcore (Solo backpacking the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail was no big deal for Stephanie Smittle, but that’s only because she’s a professional).

If you’re a good Arkansan who floats the Buffalo at least once a year, you’ll be interested to learn about all the work that goes into keeping our favorite canoe routes clean, open and welcoming. March 1 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Buffalo River as the United States’ first National River. Lindsey Millar wades into the history, looks to see what’s around the next bend, and gives some ideas on how to celebrate this important milestone.

We’re reluctant to throw too much fanfare at Historic Cane Hill, an undersung community in Northwest Arkansas that’s now a temporary home for a Smithsonian traveling exhibit. But that’s only because we’re tempted to keep the secret to ourselves. Contributor Caroline Millar and her son scoped out the Smithsonian “Habitat” experience, which opens April 16 and ushers visitors through the forest to take in oversized fungus sculptures, a human-sized nest and other thoughtfully curated extras to help us think about and understand nature in a fuller way.

Clearly, there’s lots to do in Arkansas. So get going.