So Many Things to Do on Beaver Lake

There’s no end to the fun you can have during your stay at Sugar Ridge Resort on Beaver Lake! From boating and paddleboarding to fishing, swimming, and shoreline picnics, Beaver Lake is one of Northwest Arkansas’s most scenic outdoor playgrounds. Spend your days exploring sparkling coves and wide-open water, then return to Sugar Ridge Resort, your relaxing retreat above the lake.

Surrounded by limestone bluffs and forested hills, Beaver Lake offers more than 28,000 acres of clear, deep water. A favorite destination for families, couples, and outdoor lovers alike, with easy access just minutes from Sugar Ridge Resort!

Get on the Water: Boat, SUP, & Jet Ski Rentals

Beaver Lake is a paradise for water lovers, so naturally one of the top things to do here is simply to get out on the water. Bring your own boat or rent one from marinas such as Prairie Creek, Horseshoe Bend, Rocky Branch, and Hickory Creek.

For a more active day, hop in a kayak or on a stand-up paddleboard to explore hidden coves and shorelines. Rentals for kayaks, paddleboards, tubes, pontoons, fishing boats, ski boats, sailboats, and even jet skis are available through local outfitters like Beaver Lake Outdoor Center.

Fishing and Scuba Diving on Beaver Lake

Beaver Lake is nationally renowned as a premier fishing destination, especially for bass fishing. Anglers will find largemouth and smallmouth bass, white bass, catfish, and more. There are plenty of opportunities for both beginners and experienced fishers to cast a line and catch a fish.

The lake’s crystal-clear water and rocky bottom provide excellent visibility. This draws scuba divers, intrigued by the underwater bluffs and old, partial structures. Local dive shops offer both gear, guidance, and training.

Swimming, Picnicking, & War Eagle Cavern

If you prefer to enjoy the waters without a boat, there are some wonderful spots along the shore for swimming or picnicking. Recreation areas offer easy shore access, grassy picnic grounds, and relaxing, shady spots. Evening lake views and sunset paddles are an unforgettable way to end a perfect day in the Ozarks.

Those looking for something beyond the ordinary will enjoy a visit to War Eagle Cavern. This unique cave is one of the oldest show caves in the state, one of the largest caves in Northwest Arkansas, AND the state’s only lakeside cavern – all less than an hour from Sugar Ridge Resort!

War Eagle Cavern has three stories of caverns, strange subterranean formations, an underground lake, cave wildlife, waterfalls, and a fresh water spring that flows out of the cave’s mouth. A variety of guided tours are offered, along with gemstone panning, a maze, the Moonshiners’ Mystery Shack, gift shop, and feeding lake fish from the boat dock.

Learn more at the War Eagle Cavern website.

More Outdoor Fun Nearby

Beyond the lake itself, nearby Hobbs State Park offers miles of hiking and biking trails through forests and to scenic overlooks. Downtown Rogers, AR is home to thriving breweries, unique shops, and excellent local dining options. Don’t forget nearby Eureka Springs, either – there’s always something fun going on there!

Beaver Lake’s combination of water activities, natural beauty, and proximity to other attractions makes it a destination worth returning to. Whether you’re planning a weekend trip or a longer vacation, Sugar Ridge Resort is the perfect home base from which to enjoy the best Beaver Lake has to offer.

See y’all soon!

Tour Cosmic Cavern

Spelunkers staying at Sugar Ridge Resort will be excited to learn that one of the country’s top ten show caves, Cosmic Cavern, is less than an 45 minutes away. The “Must See” attraction is located in Berryville, AR, half-way between Eureka Springs and Branson, Missouri.

Arkansas is home to a lot of fascinating caves and many are within easy distance of our Beaver Lake cabins and suites. None are quite as famous as Cosmic Cavern, however. This historic attraction is the largest, and considered one of the prettiest, privately owned show caves in the state.

The cave, while known to ancient Native Americans, was not discovered in the modern era until 1845, when it was mined for its onyx and other minerals. Cave ownership changed hands repeatedly until 1980, when it was purchased by the Langhover family, who still operate it today.

Inside, you’ll find a variety of unusual features, such as a 9-foot soda straw formation, the longest in the Ozarks. In fact, Cosmic Cavern has many unique and beautiful rock formations, or speleothems, to admire. Stalactites and stalagmites, flowstone, helictites, cave bacon, draperies, and more.

The cave is also home to two “bottomless” lakes. One, South Lake, has a long-term population of trout, some of which have lost their sight and pigmentation from being underground for so many generations. The other lake in the cavern was only discovered in 1993. Consequently, it is incredibly pristine and clear.

Cosmic Cavern is also unique for its temperature, which stays a relatively balmy 64°F with 96% humidity throughout the year. Most other caverns are lucky to hover around the mid to upper 50’s.

Touring Cosmic Cavern

Visitors to Cosmic Cavern can enjoy both Guided Walking Cave Tours and Wild Cave Tours.

Guided Walking Cave Tours take around an hour and 15 minutes and cover a distance of approximately 1/3 mile. Your path is well lit and, while there are some stairs, most of the tour is level. This tour will take you past many unique stone formations, as well as the two subterranean lakes. You may even see blind cave trout and blind cave salamanders. Fascinating!

Wild Cave Tours, on the other hand, are offered after normal hours and take you to deeper, undeveloped parts of the cave. You’ll definitely get a little wet and muddy but gloves, hard hats, and lights are supplied. Fun and exciting!

Cosmic Cavern also offers a gift shop, lunch pavilion, museum, and gemstone panning station. Here, youngsters (or the young at heart) can amuse pan for various crystals and keep what they find. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, quartz, and more.

Cosmic Cavern is located at 6386 Hwy. 21 North, in Berryville, AR 72616. – just 45 minutes drive from our Beaver Lake Cabins and Suites.

Cavern hours are 9am to 5pm daily, March through December. Visit the cavern website for more information. You can also find the cavern on Facebook.

More Local Caves

You say you like caves? Well, you certainly came to the right place! As we say above, Arkansas is home to many caves, some of the best of which are right here in the local area.

For more underground fun near Sugar Ridge Resort, consider visiting War Eagle Cavern on Beaver Lake and Onyx Cave Park in Eureka Springs.

What things do you hope to do during your Beaver Lake getaway? Let us know and we’ll help get you on your way! Sugar Ridge Resort loves sharing beautiful Arkansas with our guests!

Explore Quigley’s Castle

Those looking for a unique experience will enjoy visiting Quigley’s Castle, an unusual and historic family home known as “The Ozarks’ Strangest Dwelling.”

The Beaver Lake area is home to a number of unique and memorable attractions. Thorncrown Chapel, War Eagle Cavern, Christ of the Ozarks, Blue Spring Heritage Center, and so much more. None are quite as idiosyncratic as Quigley’s Castle, however.

The “Castle” is really a farm house, built just south of Eureka Springs in the 1940’s – but that’s where what’s normal about this family home ends.

When visiting, one of the first things you’ll notice about the property is all the plush and colorful foliage. Wildflowers, antique roses, and 400+ varieties of perennials surround the home. Then again, maybe the towering, vine-covered rock pillars, “bottle trees”, and other rock sculptures will catch your eye first. Or perhaps the two-story, plant-filled, stone/shell/fossil/arrowhead-covered house will be what first grabs your attention.

Whichever detail, you can credit Elise Quigley (1910-1984).

A Castle’s Humble Origins

When Albert and Elise Quigley first moved onto the property in 1930, their only dwelling was an old lumber shack. Albert promised he’d build Elise a real home and that she could design it. Excited to move out of the decrepit old shack, she got right to it.

Even the best of intentions can fall by the wayside, however. Five children into the marriage, the Quigley’s were still living in the old lumber shack. Elise had had enough. One morning, after Albert had left for work, she and the children pulled the old shack down. A replacement would have to be built now, and Elise was ready with her design.

Construction on the house began in 1943, with lumber sourced directly from the farm. A nature lover, Elise dreamed of a house that was less a box keeping nature out than one that contained and reflected the natural world back. 28 huge, picture windows in the walls remove the sense of being indoors and allow natural light to fill the space within. Her unusual design separates the interior living space from the exterior walls with four feet wide flower beds. Here she nurtured flowering, tropical plants that have since grown all of the way up to the second story ceiling!

Elise’s lifelong habit of collecting fossils, crystals, arrowheads, and other interesting small stones came into play when she decided to rock the outside of the house with her collection. The task took her three years to complete and then spread out into the garden and yard. Here she constructed fences, chairs, statues, and other whimsical forms using found stone, shell, and crystal.

Elise Quigley’s quirky love of collections can be found indoors, too. She spent forty years filling every possible nook and cranny of the house with her collections and creations. Antiques, mementos, and lots more stone, shell, and crystal. Her famous “Butterfly Wall” is a particularly spectacular example and must be seen in person to be truly appreciated.

Quigley’s Castle

Elise Quigley died in 1984, leaving her magnificently singular home behind for others to enjoy. Quigley’s Castle can be found at 274 Quigley Castle Road in Eureka Springs; just a scenic half hour’s drive from Sugar Ridge Resort and our Beaver Lake cabins.

The Castle is open March through October. Hours are 10am to 4:30pm, April 1st through October 31st. Call for March and November hours: (479) 253-8311 Closed Sundays and Thursdays. Visit the Castle website for more information.