Last week, I got the chance to visit Eureka Springs again and take in the sights, sounds and flavors. Upon arriving and navigating the small streets nestled in the Ozark mountains, we made our way around a few shops and stopped by a wonderful Mexican restaurant for lunch (and birthday margaritas, of course!).
Deciding to walk off some of our lunch calories, we marveled at some of the city’s many gorgeous springs, scenic pathways, and Victorian architecture, while making sure not to trip on the mildly treacherous sidewalks. My favorite part was walking in a historic residential area where all the homes were painted candy-like colors and had tons of flowers around.
Plants and flowers grow near one of the many springs in the town
A colorful gazebo near a spring
Lovely flowers near a limestone outcropping
We checked in at the Basin Park Hotel, which was built in 1905. It’s built on and out of limestone, and is rumored to have its share of paranormal activity. While its ghostly inhabitants may not be as widely known as those of the Crescent Hotel, it’s thought that some of the ghosts reported on the fourth floor, including a Victorian young girl, may have been residents of the Perry House, a wooden hotel that burned to the ground before the Basin Park Hotel was built.
After purchasing our tickets for the evening ghost tour at Basin Park, we headed over to a lovely Italian restaurant for ravioli and fettuccine. It was delicious! Afterward, we strolled through downtown a bit more, then made our way back to the hotel for the ghost tour.
We congregated in the lobby, then were led into a back room that used to be an alleyway between the hotel and some gift shops that the hotel once owned. You could see part of the limestone mountain the hotel is built on, which was neat to look at. We learned about the town’s long history and its lore, dating back to the period when Osage Indians inhabited the area and considered the springs, especially what is now called Basin Spring, to be sacred. Later, others began noticing the supposed healing powers of the mineral-rich water, including a man named Dr. Jackson, who bottled it and sold it as “Dr. Jackson’s Eye Water” and made quite a fortune.
We hoofed it up to the sixth floor to really begin the tour (There is a small elevator, but with twenty-plus people on our tour, we figured taking the stairs was the path of least resistance). That floor contains an event space/ballroom where visitors have reported seeing ghostly Victorian figures dancing there long after it’s been locked up for the night. Next, we made our way down to the third and fourth floors, where apparitions of a Victorian women and young girl, a cowboy, and even a lion have been reported.
A hallway in the Basin Park Hotel
Overall, the hour-and-a-half-ish tour seemed a bit lacking, at least compared to the one I went on last fall at the Crescent Hotel. While there was great historical information up front, there just wasn’t an overwhelming amount of ghost stories or any sort of potential evidence presented (barring one photo that could in all likelihood be dismissed as lens flare). At the Crescent, the tour guide took time to provide prints of photos at nearly every haunted room or location in which we stopped (although many of those could be explained by natural or technological phenomena as well). Or maybe my paranormal investigation experience has just made me a little bit of a tough customer for this kind of ghost tour.
While the Basin Park Hotel is beautiful, it just doesn’t have quite the same charm and character as the Crescent, in my opinion. Nevertheless, it’s worth a stop if you find yourself in Eureka Springs! And don’t be afraid to wander the quaint and charming city streets to see some gorgeous Victorian architecture amidst natural Ozarks beauty–just make sure you have on comfy shoes!
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- Advertisement on the side of a brick building
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- View from a pedestrian bridge in Eureka Springs
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- View from a balcony at the Basin Park Hotel
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- Natural spring in downtown Eureka Springs
The Helpful Haunt 