Greenbrier park provides destination for ‘staycations’

By Sara Greene

LITTLE ROCK — Rising gas and food prices have produced a new word for the American lexicon: staycation, which means a vacation spent at home, or at least closer to home.

That’s good news for local parks.

Julie Lovett is an interpreter at Woolly Hollow State Park in Greenbrier. She estimates the number of visitors this spring has increased 15-20 percent over previous years.

“They’re coming here where last year they might of went to Florida, even if they just live an hour or so away, like Beebe or Lonoke,” Lovett said.

She pointed out that in addition to the cost of getting there, vacationers have to budget for food and lodging.

“Say you bought all the gear and spent $300-400. Once you go camping three or four times a year, the gear has paid for itself,” Lovett said.

At Woolly Hollow State Park, 20 of the campsites have water and electricity, fire pits and grills. The nearly 500-acre park also has two newly renovated bathhouses with hot showers.

Lovett said the swim beach on the shores of the 40-acre Lake Bennett has also been busy this year with families visiting for a day of swimming.

“More this year than ever young family groups are coming to the park. I think the environment is conducive to that. They can go swimming, paddle boating, and it’s a small enough area you don’t have to worry about traffic. We’re one way in and one way out. Some of those parks become like huge cities. This park never becomes really full. We’re centrally located, it’s convenient and close, and it’s so Walden Pond-ish,” Lovett said.

For people who want to get moving, Woolly Hollow State Park also has Huckleberry Trail, which is three miles long with several trails that lead off the main trial, like spurs on a railroad.

Lovett is passionate about getting people into the great outdoors. Two months ago she hosted a Women’s Outdoor Weekend. The group spent the weekend hiking, learning to kayak, setting up tents, learning about Dutch-oven cooking and bird watching.

“I think the ladies enjoyed the value and variety of what they got for their money. They got an opportunity to try things. Most introduction to kayaking classes take six hours. Ours was two hours,” Lovett said. Justine Baker, who works at Ozark Outdoor Supply in Little Rock, supplied the tents and kayaks, along with demonstrating some of the latest camping gear like hiking pants with built in bug spray.

“Some women don’t realize the importance of having someone to measure you for the correct fit when it comes to backpacks, especially if you’re going to be hiking long distances,” Lovett said.

Her favorite part of the park is Lake Bennett.

“I think the health of the lake is good. Biologists from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway test the lake, and it’s one of the healthiest ecosystems around. I’m proud of the cleanliness of the park. We do a really good job of keeping the park clean and neat,” Lovett said.

Lovett has been at Woolly Hollow for four years and has been working in the state parks for nearly a decade.

“This is a second career for me. It was something I had always dreamed about since I was young. The ’70s were a tough time because there was a freeze on the park jobs when I was looking for work. I got into jobs that offered money and climbing the ladder, but I got burned out. I thought ‘What’s really going to make me happy?’ so I started volunteering,” Lovett said.

Lovett will be helping children get back to nature with the Adventure Day Camp from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday for children 10-12. The camp is designed to introduce kids to the basic principles of biology, ecology and conservation through hiking, camping, kayaking, crafting and nature programming.The cost is $75 and all materials and meals are included.

At 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19, the Central Arkansas Astronomy Society will set up several telescopes along the beach and the public can view the cosmos with astronomers.

“This is a great place to view the night sky because it’s dark, and it’s going to be one of the few nights of the year when you can view the red spot on Jupiter with a telescope,” Lovett said.

This fall Lovett plans to host a fly-fishing clinic and the How to Raise a Wild Child weekend.

For more information about Woolly Hollow State Park, call (501) 679-2098.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 135 on 07/13/2008