Be prepared to see Eureka Springs featured again! I’m not exactly sure when we’ll be able to find our way back, but this adorable little town quickly became one of our favorite destinations.

This time, Holly Checks In takes us to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and after all of the traveling we’ve done, this has to be one of the most dog-friendly places we’ve visited yet. Almost everywhere we went welcomed the dogs in some capacity, from restaurants and coffee shops to downtown stores, hiking trails and even some of the excursions we wanted to do. There were very few moments where having two dogs with us actually limited what we could do, which is honestly pretty rare when you’re traveling with them.

Small spoiler for the full review that follows, but our stay at The Woodsman Lodge isn’t necessarily one that I would classify as being designed for dogs, and I think that’s actually what made this stay a little different for us. With Eureka Springs itself being SO dog-friendly, it showed us for the first time that your accommodations don’t necessarily have to be designed around your dogs for you to still have a really enjoyable experience traveling with them.

The entirety of Eureka Springs gave me early 2000s family road trip vibes, and The Woodsman Lodge fit right into it. Dad’s tired of driving, everyone’s been in the car for entirely too long, and he finally pulls off somewhere to stay for the night. I don’t know how else to explain it, but I mean that in the absolute best way.

The Boogie Breakdown

Every stay in the Holly Checks In series is scored using our Boogie Breakdown rating system. Each category receives a score from 1–5 Boogies based on both the human, and dog experience.

Because there's a huge difference between simply allowing dogs, and creating an experience that truly welcomes them.

Service & Hospitality — 4 Boogies

Everyone we interacted with during our stay was incredibly friendly and kind, but communication was probably the one area where things felt a little off. It was a little difficult to get in touch with someone before our stay, and while we were there we had a couple of people knock on our door for service requests that we never actually made, so there were definitely a few moments where it seemed like everyone wasn’t quite on the same page.

None of it was anything that negatively impacted our trip, and everyone we spoke to was genuinely wonderful, but there’s definitely a little room for improvement when it comes to communication, so for Service & Hospitality we’re giving The Woodsman Lodge 4 Boogies.

Designed for Dogs — 1 Boogie

This is probably the best example we’ve had so far of the difference between being pet-friendly and actually being designed for dogs. The Woodsman Lodge genuinely welcomes dogs, and we never once felt like bringing two large dogs with us was an inconvenience or something they would rather we didn’t do, but there really isn’t anything on the property that was specifically designed with them in mind.

There were no dog beds, bowls, treats, poop bags or designated areas for them, so you’ll definitely want to bring everything your dog needs with you. The rooms themselves are spacious and made traveling with two big dogs incredibly easy, but that falls more under having a great Room Experience than something intentionally provided for the dogs.

For that reason, Designed for Dogs gets 1 Boogie. This definitely isn’t a bad place to bring your dogs, it just isn’t a place that was designed around them, and I think that distinction is important when we’re giving extra credit to the properties that really do go out of their way to think about our pets.

Gone Walkies — 4 Boogies

There really isn’t anywhere on the property itself that’s specifically meant for walking or exploring with your dogs. Normally this would cost a property quite a few points here, but Eureka Springs made this category a little different for us because there is quite literally somewhere to go with your dogs in almost every direction.

We spent our trip swimming, hiking, exploring around the lake, riding the train and just wandering around town, and there were very few things we wanted to do where having the dogs with us became an issue. You’ll definitely need to leave the property to really get out and explore, but once you do, you’re surrounded by options and we never felt like we were running out of places to take them.

One of our favorite parts about Eureka Springs was honestly just how much there was to do outside. We personally ended up at Beaver Lake, but there are lakes, rivers and swimming areas all around Eureka Springs. Lake Leatherwood, the Kings River and White River are all also close by, so you definitely don’t need to go exactly where we went to have the same experience!
We spent two days with the bulk of the day just hanging out at Beaver Lake with the dogs and genuinely, that was probably the highlight of our trip. We did excursions like the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway train ride and War Eagle Cavern, which were insanely unique and really fun. But somehow, the completely free activity of finding somewhere by the water and hanging out all afternoon was still our favorite.

Since we aren’t from the area and really didn’t know where we were going, we basically just drove around looking for public access points and boat ramps until we found somewhere we liked. A lot of the signs were old and worn out, so keep an eye out and honestly, be okay with spending an hour just driving around looking. Eventually you’ll find somewhere, and once you do, you can literally spend the entire day there.

Cicuta’s Lake Day Checklist
What we’d bring again:
Seating
Shade
Lunch + plenty of water
Portable dog bowls
Long lead for the dogs
A quick-dry dog bed
Something for the dogs to chew or work on

Bring a quick-dry dog bed
Our dog bed ended up being one of the most useful things we brought. It’s from Veehoo, but the important part here is really just having something that you don’t mind getting wet and gross and that dries FAST. Ours got muddy, wet, covered in lake water, the whole nine yards, but about an hour before we were ready to leave I literally rinsed it off in the lake, threw it on top of the truck in the sun and by the time we were packing up it was dry enough to put right back inside.

Bring something to do

Especially if you’re traveling with a puppy! We brought collagen sticks for the dogs to work on while we were hanging out, and having something Cicuta could focus on gave her a chance to actually settle down and relax for a little while. Younger dogs especially can need some help learning that not every second of an adventure needs to be go, go, go, and giving her something to focus on made it so much easier for her to regulate and just hang out with us.

Give them some room

Shiloh, my sister-in-laws dog that we love to steal has great recall! Cicuta on the other hand… not so much. So, a long lead was another thing I was really glad we brought. It gave the puppy enough room to swim, explore and wander around without needing to be completely off leash, and meant we didn’t have to spend the entire afternoon following two dogs around every time they wanted to investigate something.

While The Woodsman Lodge itself isn’t earning these points for having walking trails or dedicated dog spaces on the property, the location absolutely is. If we go back to Eureka Springs, I’d plan another day exactly like this in a heartbeat. Maybe we’d end up at Beaver Lake again, maybe we’d find somewhere completely different, but I’d leave at least one day open to pack up the dogs, find some water and see where we end up.

Taste of the Stay — Off the Menu

There isn’t really a Taste of the Stay to review here! The Woodsman Lodge doesn’t offer breakfast, room service or any other food options on the property, so rather than taking points away for something they simply don’t offer, we’re leaving this category Off the Menu for this stay.

Luckily, Eureka Springs has plenty of places to grab something to eat, so we never felt like we were missing anything by not having food available at the lodge.

Room Experience — 5 Boogies

On this trip, we had more heartbeats than ever. Of course myself, my husband and Cicuta, but we also had our 9 year old, Belle AND our stolen dog, Shiloh, a 60 pound senior German Shepherd.

We stayed in The Huntsman Suite, and I was really impressed with how much space we had. There was a large bed, a separate little living room area with a couch, and more than enough room for all of us without ever feeling like we were piled on top of each other.

One of the biggest things I pay attention to when we’re traveling with the dogs is whether or not we can actually set up their kennels without completely losing the room, especially when we’re traveling with two large dogs. We set up one large kennel, but there was plenty of space to set up two if needed. None of the furniture needed to be rearranged to accommodate the kennel, and there was plenty of space to continue using the room functionally which we REALLY appreciated.

The fireplace did not work. There was a remote for it that did absolutely nothing, but considering it was August in Arkansas and approximately the temperature of the sun outside, I didn’t deduct any points. Had it been December and I was hoping for a little aesthetic ambience, I might've been a little more critical.

Everything was comfortable, we had plenty of space for our stuff, and then there was the patio, which was easily one of my favorite parts of the room. Honestly, 10 out of 10. It gave us somewhere to sit outside and hang out without having to actually leave the room, and with the dogs that’s always such a nice thing to have.

The Huntsman Suite worked perfectly for us, but they do have larger suites available if you’re traveling with more people or just want even more room. For us though, I really don’t have anything I would’ve changed about the room itself.

Final Score & Thoughts — 3.5 Boogies

The Woodsman Lodge finishes with an overall score of 3.5 Boogies!

I think this stay ended up being a really good example of why we make the distinction between somewhere being pet-friendly and somewhere actually being designed for dogs. The Woodsman Lodge definitely isn’t designed around dogs, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great place to bring them. We felt completely welcome having two large dogs with us, had plenty of space for everyone, and being right in the middle of such a dog-friendly destination meant there was almost always something we could go do with them.

Would I love to see a few more things specifically for the dogs? Absolutely. Even something as simple as bowls, poop bags or a designated area for them would make a difference here, but I also don’t think you need to cross The Woodsman Lodge off your list just because those things aren’t available. Bring what your dogs need, plan on getting out and exploring Eureka Springs, and I think you can have a really great stay here with them.

The Woodsman Lodge