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By Mark Bivens Earlier this week we looked over the Arkansas Parks & Tourism website to get a handle on when the fall foliage in our area was predicted to peak. This coming weekend was predicted to be the time to take a look around our area for the best of the best in viewing fall colors.
Wednesday we departed Malvern with a simple mission — to drive down Highway 270 to Mount Ida seeking the ultimate in viewing for fall foliage. At 1:30 p.m. we left the MDR office with the temperatures at a comfortable 56 degrees. In truth, the trip was a bust. But the drive to Mount Ida is a nice one during the fall despite the fall the peak realistically just hasn't arrived. By the time we hit Hot Springs and starting doing some heavy-duty scanning of the mountains, it was apparent we would have to look to find any brilliant colors. Just outside of Hot Springs on Highway 270 the rock shops began springing up, but the fall colors weren't out in numbers. In the short of distance of a few miles three businesses had banners out front, each with different messages. One said “Fishermen welcome.” Another stated “Hunters welcome.” Still another proclaimed “Bikers welcome.” For some reason I thought anyone with money in their pocket was welcome in a business. Can you imagine this scenario? A fisherman walks in a restaurant, finds a table and takes a seat. The waitress walks up. “Are you a fisherman?” the waitress asks. “Sure am,” the customer says. “Then get up and get your tail out of here!” Doesn't it go without saying that fishermen, hunters and bikers are welcome as long s they can pay for whatever it is a business is selling. Continuing toward Mount Ida on Highway 270, the more we drove, the more it was apparent we'd picked a bad time. Unlike the drive on Highway 71 from Alma to Fayettevile, that so many of us Razorback fans are familiar with, where the trees are so brilliant at this time of year it seems they're almost electric, there wasn't much to see en route to Mount Ida. The best colors seemed to be around the tiny town of Royal, just outside of Hot Springs. Coming into Mount Ida, a unique little place that almost seems lost in time, there was a woman sitting on a wooden bench in front of a motel. That had a Norman Rockwell look, until upon closer inspection it wasn't someone sitting outside to get some fresh mountain air or to wave at bypassers. She'd merely stepped outside for a smoke. This isn't to say a drive to Mount Ida isn't a fine outing, but for now, it isn't the place to enjoy any fall foliage.
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