One Tank Travels: Blue Spring

It could be argued that Blue Spring is one of the oldest attractions in Carroll County, having been bubbling up constantly clear 54 degree water at the rate of 38 million gallons a day for longer than humankind has been around. Native Americans considered the spring to be sacred ground. The Osage used the spring as the anchor of their trading post. It’s been a resort destination for those wishing to be healed by its waters.  It’s a neat place to visit, even in the hottest part of summer.

The property, the Blue Spring Heritage Center, is on the National Historic Register, officially for its connection with the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee people were camped on the ridge above the spring for nine days in 1839 during that tragedy before being pushed further on into Oklahoma Territory.

In 1971, University of Arkansas students under the direction of Robert G. Chenall conducted a dig down from the fount of the spring at a ledge and discovered the remnants of societies as far back as 8000 years. The Bluff Shelter, as it is known, has been providing cover and relief from the weather for passersby for millennia.

In 1993, Eureka Gardens were born around the Spring, and in 2003 the Blue Springs Heritage Center was created to tie together gardens,
spring and history into one very comprehensive and lovely site.

There’s a film that covers the history of the place you should watch before you hit the trails.  It’s housed in a building with a small museum containing artifacts about the spring and early Eureka Springs. In addition to the 20 minute film, there’s a snippet of a DVD you can  purchase at the gift shop about the first dive into the recesses of the spring.

If you take kids, you should stop at the first station, a trout feeding point with fish food kept in a gumball machine. It’s a gazebo on a deck over the water, and if you look down you can see fish as long as your arm.

The boardwalk will take you over the spring itself, massive Blue Spring in all its quiet glory. The stone wall around the spring was placed
there during a very brief period in the early 20th century when a company was formed to sell the water. That company lasted about a year.  All along the sloping edges leading down to the blue-green pool, flowers and herbs have taken over. It’s a bright spot, quite fragrant and buzzing with insects. At the same time, it’s very quiet.

There are other areas to explore at the Heritage Center – such as the Medicine Wheel garden, the old dam and the Bluff Shelter – an amazing rock formation that juts out over the bank of the river, the location of Doctor Chenall’s famed dig. There are numbers scribbled up on the wall above that mark out the hieroglyphs left there by ancient folks.

About Kat Robinson

Kat Robinson is the communications manager for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism's tourism division. She is a lifelong Arkansawyer with years of residency in Little Rock, Russellville and Jonesboro.