Fishing Beaver Lake Arkansas

Fishing Beaver Lake Arkansas

Anglers staying at Sugar Ridge Resort will be happy to know that Beaver Lake is a popular fishing spot. The 28,000+ acre lake is home to a wide variety of fish, with boat ramps, marinas, gear rentals, guides, and more. Read on to learn more about fishing Beaver Lake, Arkansas.

With Eureka Springs so close nearby and the beauty of Beaver Lake at your feet, there’s no end to the fun you can have during your stay at Sugar Ridge Resort. This is especially true if your idea of fun includes casting a line into the water.

Beaver Lake is an angler’s paradise with a wide variety of fish to go after. Black bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, walleye, crappie, redear sunfish, blue catfish, bream, and many others.

The White River is also nearby with its healthy stock of brown and rainbow trout; the perfect fly-fishng spot.

In fact, Beaver Lake is a favorite destrination for FLW tournaments and several 40-pound-plus state-record stripers have been pulled from these waters.

Fishing Beaver Lake Arkansas

Fishing Beaver Lake by boat

With 487 miles of shoreline and a variety of outfitters and guides to choose from, fishing Beaver Lake, Arkansas can take a variety of forms.

First thing’s first, however: you’re going to need a valid Arkansas fishing license and knowledge of the Beaver Lake fishing rules and regulations.

Next up is gear. If you didn’t bring your own, you’ll find a number of providers around the lake.  The Beaver Dam Store is just five minutes from Sugar Ridge Resort with a good fly and tackle shop, as well as fishing guides.

Those hoping to fish from the surface of the lake will discover a public access boat ramp just one mile from the resort. You say you didn’t bring a boat? No problem! Beaver Lake is home to a numerous boat rentals, including those at nearby Starkey Marina.

There’s no bad season for fishing at Beaver Lake.  In fact, you can catch fish here all year long.

fly-fishing the White River near Beaver Lake
Fly-fishing for trout in the nearby White River.

Spring and fall are the best times for bass fishing because of that’s the time of their pre-spawn and spawn. Early spring and winter are some of the best times for striper, while walleye are best in spring or fall. Summer sees most folks going after catfish, though night-time striper fishing is also popular. Fall sees very healthy populations of striped and hybrid striped bass. Crappie are very plentiful and can be caught all year long.

As with all bodies of water, some parts of Beaver Lake are better than others for finding fish. Creek mouths are some of the best areas for striper and hybrid fishing, especially in summer. The flats near where the White River and War Eagle join Beaver Lake is a prime hot spot.

View up-to-date Beaver Lake fishing reports to discover current hot spots. You may also want to consider hiring a fishing guide or charter, which we would be happy to recommended for you.

Whatever tack you take, you can’t beat fishing Beaver Lake, Arkansas – and Sugar Ridge Resort is here to help!

Attend Hillberry Music Festival 2023!

Hillberry Music Festival audience members

Hillberry Music Festival 2023 is just weeks away. The popular, multi-day festival features over 30 groups playing Americana, Bluegrass, and Funk on two stages for five nights. October 4th through the 8th, 2023.

If you like good music, good food,  and a good time, you’ll love the Ozarks, you’ll love Hillberry Music Festival. The event, which sprang to life spontaneously in 2015, celebrates the arrival of the harvest moon. Thus it’s less well known full name: Hillberry the Harvest Moon Festival.

The festival seems to get a little bigger each year and is considered one of the Midwest’s top Bluegrass Festivals. The event draws thousands of people each year and who can blame them? More than 30 bands for 5 nights plus food, drink, craft vendors, workshops, and more.

The event takes place on The Farm, a 160-acre campground and events center north of Eureka Springs. The location is a stunning camping area featuring 360-degree panoramic views of the Ozarks. Mark Twain National Forest, Table Rock Lake, the White River, and Beaver Lake are all nearby.

In fact, The Farm is less than a 15 minute scenic drive from Sugar Ridge Resort.

While many who attend the festival simply camp on site, others prefer to retire to a separate location. Somewhere like the Beaver Lake cabins and suites at Sugar Ridge Resort!

Spend as much time as you like soaking up the fun of the festival, then return to the peace and quiet of your accommodations on Beaver Lake. Perfect!

2023 Hillberry Music Festival Lineup

This year’s Harvest Moon Festival runs from October 4th through October 8th, 2023. The Farm is located at 1 Blue Heron Lane in Eureka Springs, AR

Hillberry Music Festival 2023

Wednesday, October 4 –
5:40pm – 7:10pm: Front Porch (Shrine Stage)
7:55pm – 9:25pm: Eureka Strings (Shrine Stage)
10:10pm – 11:40pm: Friends of the Phamily (Shrine Stage)

Thursday, October 5 –
11:30am – 12:30pm: Danny Spain Gang (Shrine Stage)
1pm – 2pm: Magnolia Brown (Shrine Stage)
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Red Oak Ruse (Shrine Stage)
3:40pm – 5pm: Country Jesus (Main Stage)
5:40pm – 7:10pm: Rumpke Mountain Boys (Main Stage)
7:55pm – 9:25pm: Kellergrass with the Hillbenders (Main Stage)
10:10pm – 11:40pm: Kitchen Dwellers (Main Stage)
12:55am – 1:55am: Arkansauce (Main Stage)

Friday, October 6 –
1pm – 2:30pm: Skye Pollard & Fanmily Holler (Shrine Stage)
3pm – 4:30pm: Chucky Waggs & the Company of Raggs (Main Stage)
5:10pm – 6:40pm: Sierra Hull (Main Stage)
7:20pm – 8:50pm: The Wood Brothers (Main Stage)
9:30pm – 11pm: Leftover Salmon (Main Stage)
11:40pm – 1:10am: moe. (Main Stage)
1:30am – 3am: Fireside Collective (Shrine Stage)

Hillberry Music Festival Performer

Saturday, October 7 –
9am – 10:30am: Hillberry All-Stars / Chompdown! (Activities Tent)
12:45pm – 2:15pm: The Vine Brothers (Shrine Stage)
2:30pm – 4pm: Catfish Seminar (Main Stage)
4:30pm – 6pm: Opal Agafia (Main Stage)
6:45pm – 8:15pm: Neal Francis (Main Stage)
9pm – 12am: Railroad Earth (Main Stage)
12:40am – 2:10am: Here Come the Mummies (Main Stage)
2:10am – 3:40am: Sicard Hollow (Shrine Stage)

Sunday, October 8 –
10:15am – 12:30pm: John Henry Band Competition
12:30pm – 2pm: The Gary Lawrence Show (Shrine Stage)
2:30pm – 4pm: Rochelle Bradshaw (Main Stage)
4:40pm – 6:10pm: Sad Daddy (Main Stage)
6:50pm – 8:20pm: Elephant Revival (Main Stage)
9pm – 12am: Railroad Earth (Main Stage)
12:40am – 2:10am: The Sensational Barnes Brothers (Main Stage)
2:15am – 3:30am: Blurrred Name (Shrine Stage)

Festival tickets are limited and sell out every year. Get yours while you still can on the Hillberry Music Festival website. You can also find this event on Facebook

Visit Blue Spring Heritage Center

Blue Spring Heritage Center

Visit Blue Spring Heritage Center and discover one of the area’s last uncapped springs, along with fascinating history, unique geology, and unrivaled natural beauty.

Blue Spring is a natural spring that fills a deep, round pool with 38 million gallons of fresh, clear water every day. The water from the pool first spills over into a trout-filled lagoon, then tumbles over a small dam down to the White River.

People have been visiting the spring for thousands of years. In fact, a 1971 archeological dig at the spring uncovered artifacts dating back to 8000 BCE. Visiting Native Americans very clearly used the nearby, overhanging bluff as a shelter, earning it a much-deserved spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, you’ll still find much of what drew those original visitors to Blue Spring, along with landscaped gardens, a Visitor Center, and more.

Best of all, Blue Spring Heritage Center is located at 1537 Co Rd 210, an easy and scenic 15 minutes from the door of our Beaver Lake cabins.

Visiting Blue Spring Heritage Center

Cliffs at Blue Spring Heritage Center

Blue Spring Heritage Center offers 33 acres to soak up but we suggest starting off at the Visitor Center. Here you can view a short film on the spring’s history, along with historic artifacts and photos.

After that, it’s time to hit the trails. The center is home to a mile of well maintained and popular walking trails. Interpretive signs throughout provide insight as  you walk through the gardens and to different points of interest.

Blue Spring Heritage Center

Highlights include the historic Bluff Shelter and Blue Spring’s trout-filled lagoon. A gazebo overlooking the lagoon is a popular place to stop and take in the view. You can also feed the trout, if you wish. Fun!

You’ll also find three special and lovely gardens at Blue Spring Heritage Center. The Medicine Wheel Garden contains plants that are important to Native American spiritual practices. The Three Sisters Garden demonstrates native ingenuity via a traditional interdependent community of plants. The Woodland Gardens features plantings among the native timber.

Other attractions at the center include a monument to President Bill Clinton and the ruins of a historic Blue Spring Mill. The mill, located some 300 feet downstream from the spring, was built in the early 1840’s to grind corn. A newer mill replaced it in 1903, only to be taken back down in 1943. Today, only the turbine remains.

Spend an hour or two walking the trails and taking in the beauty at Blue Spring, then it’s only 15 minutes to the comforts of your accommodations at Sugar Ridge Resort. Fantastic!

Blue Spring Heritage Center is open daily, 9am to 6pm, from March 15th through November 29. Learn more at bluespringheritage.com. You can also find the Center on Facebook.