The Story in Van Winkle Hollow
A quiet place along Highway 12 between Rogers and Eureka Springs holds...
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There are places in Arkansas that seem to belong to a particular season. Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs might be best known for the thousands of tulips that welcome spring or for the millions of lights that brighten the gardens during the holidays, but my favorite time to explore this Arkansas treasure is somewhere in between.
Fall is made for wandering through Garvan Woodland Gardens. Cooler days invite you to linger outside a little longer. Pumpkins and chrysanthemums join the seasonal displays as the hardwood forest turns gold, amber, and red. Japanese maples add their own brilliant color, and fallen leaves begin to scatter along pathways winding beneath the trees.
Garvan Woodland Gardens is one of Hot Springs’ signature attractions, but it is also a place that invites you to slow down and explore.
The Story Behind Garvan Woodland Gardens
Long before Garvan Woodland Gardens became a public attraction, the property served as the personal garden of Verna Cook Garvan, who inherited the land from her dad, Arthur Cook.
Garvan began developing the Lake Hamilton property as a garden and private retreat in the 1950s, personally selecting plants and helping determine where they would thrive. Over several decades, she planted thousands of specimens, creating a woodland garden that blended native Arkansas beauty with ornamental plants from around the world.
In 1985, Garvan donated the 210-acre property to the University of Arkansas. After her death in 1993, her vision continued to evolve through the university, culminating in what is now the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. The school officially opened to the public in April 2002.
Today, the University of Arkansas botanical garden welcomes more than 200,000 visitors each year. Even as new gardens, architectural features, and educational spaces have been added, the property retains an essential element of Garvan’s original vision: it is a garden designed within the woodland rather than one that replaces it.
Understanding Garvan Gardens
If you have never visited Garvan Woodland Gardens, don’t picture one enormous flower bed; think bigger.
The gardens span 210 acres on a wooded peninsula on Lake Hamilton, featuring 4.5 miles of shoreline. Paths guide visitors through formal gardens, woodland landscapes, waterfalls, bridges, architectural spaces, and overlooks.
You might find yourself beneath a canopy of trees, beside a waterfall, or looking through the woods toward Lake Hamilton. In fall, especially, those in-between spaces are part of what makes Garvan worth exploring.
This is a walking garden, so give yourself time. You don’t have to see every corner on your first visit.
Explore the Gardens
Garvan Woodland Gardens offers far more than a single visit can encompass. But if you’re exploring for the first time, these areas offer a good introduction to how varied the property can be.
Garden of the Pine Wind
One of the best places to appreciate fall at Garvan is the Garden of the Pine Wind, a four-acre Asian rock garden designed by nationally recognized Japanese garden designer David Slawson.
Japanese maples, rocks, streams, waterfalls, and carefully designed plantings create a landscape that rewards visitors for noticing the finer details. The Bridge of the Full Moon has become one of Garvan’s most recognizable landmarks, but don’t hurry across it just to reach the next stop.
Fall changes this garden.
The Japanese maples bring brilliant seasonal color, while reflections, stone, water, and changing leaves create an entirely different experience from the garden you’ll see in spring or summer.
Evans Children’s Adventure Garden
The 1.5-acre Evans Children’s Adventure Garden was designed for kids to interact with the natural environment through caves, bridges, rocks, water, and climbing and exploring areas. If you are visiting Garvan Woodland Gardens with children, give yourself plenty of time here.
And then there is the Bob and Sunny Evans Tree House. Opened in 2018, the three-level tree house features more than 600 square feet of interpretive space dedicated to dendrology, the study of trees. Kids can explore from the Root Plaza below and throughout the structure while learning how trees grow and function in the environment.
This is one reason Garvan works so well for families. Children don’t have to spend the entire day being told not to touch anything. There are spaces designed for them to move, investigate, and discover.
Weyerhaeuser Bonsai Garden
After experiencing Garvan on such a grand scale, with enormous trees, sweeping lake views, and sprawling woodland gardens, the bonsai collection invites you to look closely.
Bonsai brings together horticulture and artistry, using careful cultivation and training to create miniature representations of mature trees and landscapes. It is another example of the variety found throughout Garvan and a good stop for visitors who enjoy discovering something unexpected.
Anthony Chapel and Garden Architecture
You don’t need to be planning a wedding to appreciate Anthony Chapel. The soaring glass-and-wood chapel has become one of Garvan Woodland Gardens’ most recognizable structures. Surrounded by trees, the chapel’s architecture seems to extend the woodland vertically, drawing your eyes toward the canopy.
Fall gives the chapel an especially beautiful setting as the changing foliage becomes part of the view from its glass walls.
And Anthony Chapel isn’t Garvan’s only architectural story. Arkansas architects Fay Jones and Maurice Jennings designed the Verna Cook Garvan Pavilion, and throughout the gardens, you’ll find bridges, pavilions, and structures designed to complement the surrounding landscape.
Southern Inspiration Garden and Perry Wildflower Overlook
Garvan’s more formal garden spaces offer another change of scenery but keep walking toward the western side of the gardens, and you’ll eventually reach one of its great rewards.
Perry Wildflower Overlook, sometimes called Perry Point, overlooks Lake Hamilton from the gardens’ westernmost point. It is roughly a half-mile walk from the main entrance, making the journey part of the experience.
The overlook is especially worth seeking out when you want to appreciate Garvan as more than a botanical garden. Lake Hamilton, the Ouachita landscape, and the surrounding woodland are all part of the view. You came to explore. Don’t rush this area or the walk back!
Choose Your Garvan Garden Adventure
One of the best things about Garvan Woodland Gardens is that your visit doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.
- Visiting with kids? Make the Evans Children’s Adventure Garden and Tree House your priority, then let curiosity determine where you wander next.
- Love plants? Spend more time in the Garden of the Pine Wind, bonsai collection and seasonal displays.
- Interested in architecture? Start with Anthony Chapel and look for the bridges, pavilion and other structures incorporated throughout the property.
- Need a walk and some quiet? Follow the woodland paths toward Lake Hamilton and Perry Wildflower Overlook.
- Visiting in fall? Give yourself time for the Japanese maples, hardwood canopy, chrysanthemums and seasonal decorations. Garvan has celebrated autumn through the years with pumpkins, mums and other fall displays, making October and November particularly photogenic months to wander the grounds.
There isn’t a wrong way to explore.
Tips for Your First Visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens
Garvan Woodland Gardens is a walking destination, so comfortable shoes are probably the most important thing to bring. Many paths and garden areas are paved, while others use packed gravel. The natural terrain includes some inclines.
Wheelchairs, motorized wheelchairs, and strollers are permitted. The gardens note that many areas are accessible, though the entire property is not barrier-free, and some packed-gravel paths can be difficult to navigate with a wheelchair. A limited number of wheelchairs and umbrella strollers are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and golf cart tours are another option for visitors with limited mobility.
For a first visit, don’t worry about checking off every garden on the map. Decide what you most want to see, then leave room to wander.
And if Garvan is part of a larger Hot Springs getaway, it doesn’t have to take your whole day. Spend a morning or afternoon exploring the gardens, then head into Hot Springs for dinner, shopping, Bathhouse Row, or another adventure.
Also note that an on-site cafe makes it easy to tackle part of the park, then rest before venturing to the western end and the gardens. Or visit those areas first, then come back before looking at the bonsai gardens. This is a place where you can bring a picnic in the stroller and let the kids play in the green spaces – more “yeses,” less “don’t touch.”
For more questions about visiting the gardens, holiday light experiences, or photo passes, check out the garden website.
Maybe that’s what I like most about Garvan Woodland Gardens: finding your own path.
You can come for the flowers and find yourself fascinated by the architecture. Bring the kids to the Tree House to discover a Japanese garden. Plan a quick walk through Daffodil Hill and end up sitting by Lake Hamilton longer than expected. Then come back in another season to discover a garden that looks completely different.
Garvan Woodland Gardens certainly belongs on a Hot Springs itinerary. Choose a path and follow your curiosity.
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