Eureka Springs Adventure Park, Arkansas

Join Polaris Adventures Content Manager Jared Christie on a visit to the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. If you've got a day or an entire weekend, you'll want to make a visit to Eureka Springs Adventure Park to discover Arkansas's hidden gem!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Players Adventures Podcast. I'm your host, Jared Christie. Spring has arrived, and what better way to roll into the new season than a visit to Eureka Springs in Arkansas? It's there you'll find an off-road park that's open almost all year round. So please welcome the show, Michael Workman, owner of Eureka Springs Adventure Park, whose last name seems very fitting because owning an off-road park means work, work, and more work. Michael, how are you? I'm doing great today. How are you? I'm doing well, man. I'm doing well. I'm excited that it's springtime, which means off-road season for most people is right around the corner. We're going to talk today a little bit about your backstory because I find it very interesting that you quit your nine to five day job to buy, build, and open Eureka Springs Adventure Park.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Is that correct? Well, yes, uh, I wish it was nine to five, you know, but you know, it was more like 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. But, you know, yes, we did uh quit quit the job and decided to do the off-road thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

That's amazing. I want to ask you more questions about that story of yours, but let's first talk about Eureka Springs. Tell me where the park is located.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Uh, we're located in the northwest Arkansas area, um uh about 30 minutes from the Bentonville-Rogers area, which is a well-known place in the area in the Ozark Mountains. It's a you know, a little hidden gem, you know, of Arkansas, we think, just because of the location to everything. What are some of the bigger cities near you guys? Well, as I mentioned, Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, Fayetteville, a lot of those are known places because a lot of the big corporations in Arkansas are based out of that area. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

You guys are close to a bunch of different states. You must get people from all over that part of the country to visit you.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

We do. The four state area, you know, they really come into us quite a bit. But I mean, we've had people from South Africa, we've had them from everywhere in Europe, you know, they've been to us from all over.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Do they come because the Ozark Mountains or do they do they come because of the adventure park?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Well, I would like to say the adventure park, you know, but uh I think a lot of them are drawn in by the the local businesses and uh the amenities available to big groups and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Now that we know where you guys are at and where the people come from, let's dig in and talk about the park. How big is it? What's the riding like? Give me all the fun facts.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Well, uh the park is a privately owned uh 150 acres. We have over 50 miles of rated trails. We've got them rated from easy, like almost like a dirt road, to extreme, which you would look up or look down the trail and think, you know, people are not sane if they're doing these kind of trails type stuff out here. So there's a little bit of something for everybody. We also offer uh year-round uh camping. We have a campground here on site that has full hookup campsites. We have an amphitheater where we host concerts anywhere from local bands up to uh I think we've had skill drivers, we've had a ton of bands out here, host fireworks shows, weddings. I mean, we do all kinds out here.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Sounds like a fun place. What are some of the interesting things you'll find in the park or on the trail?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Well, we do we have a hitting Sasquatch out on the park. It's a Sasquatch statue, and we uh tell everybody, you know, if you find the statue, take a picture with it and post it on social media. You know, we give out free t-shirts. We have uh caves on the on the park where you can uh stop. When it's 100 degrees outside, it's 50 in the cave, so you can go hang out in the cave. It's pretty uh fun in there. We have bluff overlooks, bluffs all over the park, wet weather creek beds. When you get to walking or creek beds and stuff, you can find uh I found you know, basketball-sized chunks of crystals and stuff like that that have been washed down from somewhere I haven't found where they'd come from yet. But plus a uh ton of wildlife. You know, we have uh turkeys, deer, uh bobcats, foxes, all that kind of stuff you see while you're just out driving around. I haven't seen any bears, but I've had people tell me there's bears around. I did not know about the caves. That's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, they're uh natural formed caves. Um the most notable one we have, it looks like you're repelling down into a hole in the ground, and everybody thinks that, but because there's a rope with knots on it that run down into the hole. But what it is is just to hang on to while you step down through the opening, and when you get in, it opens up to a huge cavern and uh goes back. The first run goes back, I think about 60, 60, 80 feet, and then you can crawl through cracks and stuff to get back through the other ones. Um there's a lot of other smaller caves up in the bluffs and stuff. I haven't been here six going on seven years, and I still haven't gone through all the bluffs to see what all there is to find out there.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Super cool stuff. And I that's really cool because it's not something you see or find in a lot of places, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Well, I haven't been to any other off-road parks per se. I've been through a lot of trail systems that are government-owned and stuff, and I haven't run across it out on any of the trail systems I've been through. So, I mean, I think it's unique. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Now you mentioned you guys have camping and RV sites and food trucks for events. And of course, you can either bring your own machine or rent one, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Yeah. Yeah, we have everything from uh golf carts to uh rock bouncers show up out here, people bringing in their own stuff, side by sides, four-wheelers, dirt bikes. We also offer the the Polaris rentals. I think right now we have the generals and the expeditions, which are the expeditions are the enclosed units with heaters and air conditioners, which a lot of people like, and also offer the slingshots for the on-road stuff. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Now, what are a couple things I need to know or should know if I come to Eureka Springs Adventure Park? How busy are the weekends? Do I need to book in advance? What are the best pieces of advice or tips so I can have a great time?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Well, I would say if you want to for sure have a unit available to you when you show up, I would book in advance. We do have walk-ins that we try to accommodate, but we do have to turn some people away because there's just no bookings available. I mean, we're all full. You know, all I would say things you need to know if you're coming for an extended period of time, you know. We do sell a few soft drinks, waters, stuff, snacks at the office, but bring your own stuff like that. Wear appropriate shoes. I would not come out in your flip-flops if you plan on getting out of your unit, you know. It's all off-road stuff. We do have insects and snakes and stuff like that. I wouldn't want to be trudging around through the woods and flip-flops, but you know, each their own. And uh show up dressed appropriately too, you know, have your clothes on. Don't show up when it's 30 degrees outside in a t-shirt and shorts and think you're getting a enclosed unit. Uh but other than that, you know, just come to have a good time and and uh it'll happen.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

There's a man talking experience right there. So now let's go back to the day you showed up at the park, if you can call it a park back then. Tell me what happened and why you decided to purchase the place because the park was not operating as a business until you guys kind of took it over.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah, the uh the park was actually built in 2000 um and was later purchased by the previous owner in 2010. It hadn't really run much as a business since it was built. Uh, the previous owner kind of used it as a black background playground. He has another business and he wasn't really invested in running in his ones. Um, we were just in Eureka for the weekend, staying in a cabin out overlooking the river, and was looking for something to do and run across the property and actually found someone here, and they let us ride, they let us go out onto the property. We really couldn't ride all the trails because unless you had a rig with uh 44-inch tires or bigger, you know, you wasn't really doing much out here. And uh I mentioned to my better half that, you know, this would be an awesome thing to do is own an off-road park, you know. And it seemed like the stars align and everything coming together. And uh it wasn't 30 days later, you know, we were signing papers on an off-road park.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

And that's crazy. What made you guys think you can do this or that you wanted to do this? Because at that time, you and your wife both had full-time jobs.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Yeah, yeah, we both had full-time jobs, and uh it was just, I don't know, things aligned. We felt like if we lose everything by investing it all right now, we're young enough, we can start again, you know. We'll see how this happens. And uh figured, you know, a year or two, and if it don't work in a year or two, you know, we'll start over. It's the American dream. They call it that for a reason.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

Man, you guys had to invest your money, your time, everything you had to make this happen.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Yes, sir, yes, sir. It was a lot. Both of us, we worked a lot of early mornings and very late nights for the first two years. Uh, the property wasn't really usable as a business when we bought it. Uh the road system coming into the park, the campsites, they uh had all deteriorated. The property was covered, and it was it was two years, I would have say almost two years straight of cleaning up trash and trying to get everything back to a usable condition. And uh at some point, um Trish stopped working and come to manage the park full time and it became too much for her, and I had to stop working, and then we both just jumped in and thought, you know, cross your fingers, let's see if this is gonna work.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Did your friends and family think you were crazy? How close did they come to an intervention?

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of them thought we needed an intervention. They they really didn't understand how we could quit something we had invested a lot of time and jobs and stuff into, uh, and uh just we're the first people in our family to do anything like this, so we just kind of jumped off the ledge and say, here we go. But you know, we've had a lot of uh help from our family too, and I don't think we could have made it as far as we have without some specific help from our family.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Now that it's been a handful of years since you made that decision, I imagine you've learned a ton, but it's been worth it.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Oh, yes. Yes, I never knew how many hats you would have to wear to own an off-road park. But I've been everything from uh a landscaper to a uh IT man. You know, I've done electrical plumbing, heavy equipment operating. It it's been a lot.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

If you have some free time, I've got some uh projects around my house, Michael, that could use a little help.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Yeah, that's that's funny you mentioned that because I do have family members that are like, hey, you know, if you got some time, I was like, I don't ever have time. I quit a job that I work too much to find a job that I enjoy doing and work way too much.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Well, good for you. We've covered a lot of the off-road parts of the park, but people can also leave the park on a slingshot. Tell me about that. Where can they go? You guys are located in the Ozark Mountains. There must be a few curvy roads around those parts, I imagine. There's even place there's even a place called the Pig Trail.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. The pig trail is well known. It's uh rated in the top ten in the United States as a motorcycle route. I don't know exactly why they call it the pig trail. I'm assuming it's got to do with all of the wild hogs plus the Arkansas Razorbacks. I'm sure there's some kind of history in there somewhere, but it is full of switchbacks, curves, bluffs. I mean, it is a really scenic, beautiful drive. Uh, that's not the only route in Arkansas. I mean, for the bikes. I mean, there is a plethora of uh of routes that we have mapped out, mileages, places to stop. You can uh drive in in your RV, do the off-roading, jump in a slingshot, run to town. They have a lot of eateries uptown, different craft stores, stuff like that. Eureka Springs uh also has uh just about a parade every weekend, it almost seems like they have car shows. Uh some of the more eventful things they have uh in October, they have what they call zombie crawl, where the whole town dresses up like a zombie. They have uh do all the rigs up, looks like a zombie apocalypse almost. But I mean, throughout the year they do St. Patrick's Day and I think Mardi Gras might be this weekend. It gets a little wild, but you know, everybody has a good time.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

That's right. I hear Eureka Springs is the oldest city in Arkansas, and they have over a hundred Victorian homes. That sounds like a cool place.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Oldest city in Arkansas without a stoplight, too. No kidding. Yep, no stoplights in town, which is either a good or a bad thing, you know, because then you're at the uh behest of other people whether you're able to get out sometimes, you know. And uh but the you know, the local law enforcement law enforcement they do get out and help flag traffic for people sometimes because during all the car shows, the bike rallies, all that kind of stuff, you know, it gets kind of congested, but you know, we still get around. Summer sounds pretty hop in there. Yeah, yeah, there is uh always something to do. I mean, uh they have ghost tours out at the local cemetery. We have a haunted hotel here in town. There's, I mean, it's got some really good history if you if you really like history. I don't believe in it, but you know, the history's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

You hear a lot about the Ozark Mountains, they sound pretty cool. What's the big appeal or draw?

SPEAKER_00 13:38

I think it's all the scenery, the mountains, you know, just being able to drive on the roads and see what you see, all the little uh mom and top pop places, all the bluff overlooks, all the just oddities that you see driving around in the mountains, you know. It wasn't very long ago, you know. It was all outhouses and party lines for telephone lines, you know. I mean, I I just think it's really really neat. Did I hear correctly that Arkansas also has a Grand Canyon? They have what they call the Arkansas Grand Canyon. It is really cool. During the fog and stuff, you can go out there and look out across it and see the fog floating across the valley. You can hear elk butting out there. I mean, Arkansas is very diverse in wildlife too, you know. Uh elks, bears. I don't think we have any moose, but you know, there might be. I have seen and heard about the sasquatch showing itself every once in a while around here. And I mean, I haven't uh seen him personally, but I've heard about him. Well, you know, that's located in your park, it just won't tell you where, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, years ago I actually broke my foot out on the property and had to crawl back to the house, and I kind of figured if there was anything out on the property that would ever have eaten somebody, it would have eaten me then. So, you know, I figured he would help me.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

So you've got a cool town, off-roading, slingshots, campsite. There's a ton going on. When did you guys get connected with Polaris Adventures?

SPEAKER_00 15:05

I believe it was 19 or 2000. It was right before, right during COVID. Uh Chris, the Adventures Network wasn't as big as it is now. Um, it was something really exciting for us to start into, and uh I think has really grown our business, grown our park, and has given a new offering to the people that show up around here.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

Well, you've got me excited to come to Arkansas and the Ozarks and check out all the writing and the cool sites. Michael, thanks so much for being on the show today. Yeah, thank you for having me. Be sure to like and follow the Polaris Adventures podcast wherever you listen to your podcast, and we will talk to you again soon. Remember, you belong out here.