Any Members in Arkansas?

I work for state government and have participated in several workshops and exercises for the eclipse and been a part of months of planning and preparedness efforts. I can tell you Arkansas is a premier and nationally advertised destination for the event, especially the Ozarks and Ouachitas, and we are expecting 1.5 to 3 million additional people in the state for the event. Every privately owned greenspace and many public ones are booked (including War Memorial Golf Course in Little Rock); every cabin, hotel room and reserved campsite at federal and state parks has been booked for months. NASA is setting up shop in Russellville. LOTS of people are thinking the same thing you are. Unless you know of a super secret hard to get to camp site, regardless how far off the beaten path it is, you will be lucky to find a spot. Not trying to discourage you, it is possible you'll find the perfect spot, but just painting a picture of reality. Arkansas will be packed with artisans, campers and festival goers, many of those setting up shop in the mountains. Forest Service will be putting up gates and check points to minimize over use in areas like White Rock Mountain, and will even be turning people away, so prepare accordingly.

 

This is the best advice you’ll get. Do not just show up thinking you’ll be able to find a spot. I’d be willing to bet there are tons of private land owners advertising campsites looking to capitalize on the opportunity. Maybe hit up some Arkansas camping FB groups or something.

 

It's crazytown. Every farmer and landowner out there is renting camping spots in their back forty. Not a porta potty is available for lease within 500 miles. Cell carriers are mobilizing COWS and SOWS (cell and sites on wheels) to assist with cell phone infrastructure. Civil Air Patrol will be flying with transmitters to help shoulder the radio traffic load. All of I-30 is in the path of totality. Schools are shutting down. Traffic will be a nightmare. 600 State Troopers will be in the field...the list goes on.

 

Yeah, I work for the FedGov, and we’ve been getting briefed on what to expect. It’s gonna be wild for sure.


A friend of mine was talking about having some RV pads poured on part of his property, but I think we waited too long.

 

A buddy from church manages several USACE parks. He said their campsites have been fully booked for a year. They started doing unofficial registration for their overflow spaces to get an idea of head count and said their primary and secondary overflow areas are full. School district in our city is closing and grocery stores and restaurants are bringing in reefer trucks to maintain inventory. Supposedly the population of the state is expected to increase 150% over that weekend.

 

Well, I'm glad someone else chimed in. I had no idea it was that big of a thing. I'll go back to my cave now, lol . . .

 

Don't remember it being this nuts for the last solar eclipse

 

The 2017 eclipse wasn't a total eclipse in AR so people weren't flocking to the area (~95-80% depending on what part of the state based on the chart in the article below). It looks like this will be the first total eclipse for AR in the last 150 years but we're due for another in 2045.

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/historical-perspective-total-solar-eclipses-us

I think the state tourism division has also latched onto this one more with it being a total eclipse so it has gotten more publicity.

 

Right, but it was total up in STL.... It wasn't this nuts lol

 

Maybe no one wants to go to St. Louis. LOL.

Seriously though I have wondered though if it's going to be everything they're saying it will be or if it's being hyped up by the media to bring in more tourism dollars.

 

2017 was not a total eclipse anywhere. It was an annular eclipse. Still very cool, but totality is incredible if you’ve never experienced it.

 

Not total? Stuff went dark for minutes, noticably cooler, special glasses, all the frogs and crickets started chirping and making noise..... Got the whole visible corona thing....

Seemed pretty total to me

 

Well damn. I really wanted to explore the Ozarks and watch the eclipse. With me not being familiar with the area it seems like my odds of finding a campsite are not good. I appreciate all the comments though.

The last thing I want to do is drive 9 hours and be SOL... Ugh. I wonder if Southeast Missouri would be any better. This group seems to think 1M visitors to Arkansas is unlikely.



https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/arkansas-2024-eclipse

 

I mean, it could just be a weird time to be in the woods. If all the improved/paid camping areas are full, you might have a lot of folks wandering around in places they probably shouldn't go. You may be able to find primitive camping easily, or you may see a ton of people shitting on the side of the road.

 

Sooo...Gaia is increasing their subscription cost to 60 bucks a year up from $40? I could do 40, not sure it's worth 60 to me. I'll never use all the extra crap they're offering as basically a streaming service to watch chit I can see on youtube and 90% of their map layers are useless to me. I'm gonna see if I can just use legacy or move on to an opensource or something else.

 

Preparing for numbers and how many actually show up numbers could be so far off, no way to be sure except counting reservations and estimating attendances at scheduled events. There is only a 49% chance skies will be clear based on climatology data. It's a crap shoot. I just know this kid is staying home.

 

Yeah, I’m an idiot. It was just a way more narrow path of totality than the one coming up.

 

That's probably the best guess as to why this one seems to be a much bigger deal, lot more people will be able to see it.

 

For the eclipse, I'm thinking about putting my jon boat in the white river near Batesville or so. There's going to be a lot fewer people up the rivers than there will be in the hills and all the other common places.

 

I'm one of those guys that doesn't wanna pay the $150+ for HipCamp sites lol.

Anyone familiar w/ the forest service roads and/or trailheads just north of Mountain View?

I'm planning to hit a mountain bike race on the way down (saturday) drive sunday and get there super early monday am. Hang out for the day then camp at Buffalo River Monday/tuesday night before going to Bentonville area for some mountain biking. Hitting another mtb race in VA on the way home.

Anyway....if anyone wants to join, LMK.