Texarkana Spring Break Guide

It’s spring break season and it’s time to get out and enjoy the great weather! There are so many ways to enjoy a Texarkana spring break. whether you’re staying in town or exploring the ArkLaTex. I’ve put together a five day itinerary for you to have the best spring break with your family. Each day focuses on something a little different. One day is devoted to just a Texarkana spring break, and the rest of the days are within a two hour drive of Texarkana. Ready for your best spring break ever?! Let’s go! PS – here’s a FREE LIST of over 100 things to do in the ArkLaTex!

Why adventure on spring break?

In our family, we believe that adventures together help build stronger relationships. We also believe that loving where we live and exploring locally is lots of fun. Lucky for us here in the ArkLaTex, there are so many great things to do within a day trip. This year for your Texarkana spring break I’d like to invite you to explore home base and a little bit beyond. Maybe you’ll discover something you didn’t know or maybe you’ll find a new favorite place.

Things to do in Texarkana.

Texarkana, USA has something fun for everyone, on both sides of the state line. The weather will be perfect to enjoy some outdoor adventures (hopefully). Here are some things to do to enjoy your Texarkana spring break outdoors, indoors and downtown:

• Pack a picnic breakfast or lunch (or dinner) and head to a local park to enjoy some time outside. Check out this guide to the best parks in Texarkana.
• Bringle Lake East and West: play on the playgrounds, go geocaching, walk the nature trail to the spillway art park, enjoy the single track trails and look for the gnome homes, try out the pump track, enjoy the boardwalk, play volleyball, get a workout in, or go fishing! It’s also a great time of year to go birdwatching as birds are on the move!
• Spring Lake Park: try out the fitness court, walk the history trail, play disc golf, play on the playgrounds, go geocaching, or just enjoy some open space. Take a blanket and relax with a book and some sunshine (but wear your sunscreen!).
• Indoor fun: go play at G-Jump (check their Facebook for spring break hours), go to a movie at Cinemark, check out Toddler Town TXK with your littles, play board games at The Stained Page, Local Habit, Rabbit Hole, or Alley Cats.

Downtown Texarkana.

Enjoy your Texarkana spring break downtown and go on a mural scavenger hunt and see how many you can find. Grab coffee and a snack at Alley Cats, The Rabbit Hole, or The Stained Page. Enjoy the art at the 1894 Galleries, check out the window displays on Harts on Broad, snap a shot with the GoTXK letters at the ArtsSmart Park across from Cafe Lucille, by the Regional Arts Center. Enjoy the (free) art galleries at the TRAHC regional arts center. If you haven’t done it lately, snap a photo at the State Line post office photo op and then grab a photo with the brand new #txkview photo op for the upcoming Solarbration!

Check out this Texarkana Adventure Guide on my other blog.

Read about unique things to do in Texarkana and the best coffee shops in Texarkana.

A trip to New Boston.

New Boston is an easy, short drive and a fun Texarkana spring break excursion. Start your day by grabbing coffee at Local Habit on your way out of town, or at Coffee-o-logy in New Boston. Head over to Little Country Greenhouse and stroll the aisles for a bit. They have the best selection of house plants. It’s a fun place for kids too, they’ll love seeing the fairy garden, the parakeets, the fish pond, the ducks, the geese, and you might even spot Tom the cat. Be sure to make plans to go back in the summer time when the butterfly cottage is open.

More New Boston.

Other things to do in New Boston for your Texarkana spring break include:

• Play at the T & P park.
• Explore part of the Northeast Texas Trail, a multi-use trail that runs 130 miles between New Boston and Farmersville.
• Grab lunch and enjoy browsing at the old fashioned Boston General Store and Delicatessan.
• Browse the New Boston Public Library.
• Visit the 3 Bostons Museum.

Texarkana spring break day trip: Shreveport, LA.

Shreveport, Louisiana is one of our favorite day trips. There are so many fun and unique things to do in Shreveport, both indoors and outdoors. Plus, great food, coffee and shopping. We’ve taken trips there since our children were very young and now that they’re older we still find that it’s a great day trip. Here are some of our favorite things to do in Shreveport and Bossier City.

• Go climbing at Risen Rock Climbing Gym, and enjoy nearby Coffee on the Red.
• Browse the galleries and grounds at the (FREE) R.W. Norton Art Museum. Afterwards, enjoy coffee on the outdoor patio at Rhino Coffee Uptown.
• Check out the Shreveport Regional Arts Council galleries and snap a photo with ART the Dalmation. Bossier City also has an arts council gallery and their “art-0-matic” tiny art vending machine is really fun.
• Visit Sci Port.
• Visit the Shreveport Aquarium.
• Grab a snow cone at Streetcar Station and try out the nerf battle zone right next door.
• See if you can escape at Escape Shreveport Bossier City.
• Spend the day at Surge Entertainment.
• Stop by Gators and Friends.
• Check out the Thrifty Peanut used bookstore.
• Visit the Red River Wildlife Refuge – check out the hiking trails, the nature center, and the children’s garden.
• Go explore Lake Bistineau State Park.

The road to El Dorado (Arkansas).

El Dorado is a great day trip for your Texarkana spring break and there are plenty of fun things to do along the way. There are three cities involved in this day trip: Magnolia, El Dorado, and Smackover. Keep reading to see what there is to do at each stop.

Magnolia, Arkansas.

Enjoy breakfast and coffee at either JavaPrimo or Mule Kick Cafe. Stroll the downtown streets and check out the murals. Be sure to find the fun rainbow crystal mural! Head over to nearby Logoly State Park. The visitor center is also an education center and has some great learning opportunities. The park has a unique history with some fresh water springs and I recommend hiking both the Magnesia Spring trail and the Spring Branch trail. Don’t forget your state parks passport stamp!

El Dorado, Arkansas.

The Murphy Arts District is a must visit, especially the playscape! It’s a huge playground with something fun for kids of all ages. While you’re downtown, walk around and enjoy the public art and murals. I also recommend stopping for a photo op at the red phone booth turned little free library outside of PJ’s Coffee. A fun place to check out for breakfast or brunch if you time it right, is the Off the Rails cafe, a restaurant in a late 1800’s railroad car! For a sweet treat, check out the El Dorado Creamery. The South Arkansas Arboretum has a nice paved walking path and is a great interpretive trail.

Smackover, Arkansas.

Smackover, Arkansas. The main attraction here is the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources and it is free! This museum takes you through the history of the 1920’s oil boom in southwest Arkansas. It has a really fun and unique way of presenting the history with a mock up of a 1920’s town. You also take a step back in time to learn where the oil comes from and how it’s formed. It’s a fun and educational excursion.

Broken Bow and Hochatown.

Broken Bow and Hochatown are two of our favorite places to play. It’s a short drive from Texarkana and there are so many fun things to do, not too mention more Airbnb’s than you can ever stay at in your lifetime. Including places like this epic treehouse castle. A few of our favorite things to do include: visiting Beavers Bend State Park and hiking the Skyline Trail, checking out the Forest Heritage History Museum at the visitor center, the Broken Bow Wildlife Museum, mini golf at Chili Dippers and the Maze of Hochatown. Here is a post from my other blog with more ideas for things to do in Broken Bow and Hochatown. A tip: there is a fantastic (free) museum in Idabel with a dinosaur skeleton! The Museum of the Red River is a free cultural history museum that is well worth a visit!

Texarkana spring break day trip: Sulphur Springs, TX.

Sulphur Springs is a two hour drive west of Texarkana on Interstate 30. It’s a unique city that has a few really unique things to do too! One of our favorite things about Sulphur Springs are the mirrored bathrooms on the downtown square. They’re public bathrooms that are a mirrored cube. Once your inside, you can see everything on the outside but no one can see in! The downtown square also has checkers and chess and open space to play. There are lots of fun shops and restaurants downtown as well. Another must see spot is the castle park playground at Buford Park. The Southwest Dairy Museum is open weekdays as well as weekends and is a great learning opportunity. For coffee and sweet treats, check out The Magic Scoop.

A few more ideas.

This list is just a small sample of all that there is to do in the ArkLaTex. If you’re looking for even more ideas, here you go:

• Go digging for fossils at the Ladonia Fossil Park. Stay at the Ladonia AirCastle for a memorable experience.
• Stay in a missile silo.
• See if you’re brave enough for a selfie with the Boggy Creek Monster at the Monster Mart in Fouke, Arkansas.
• Go crystal digging. Don’t forget to join the ArkLaTex Adventure Club for a coupon to Ron Coleman!
• Take your RC cars to White Oak City Park (White Oak, TX) and test them out on the rc car park, it has ramps, tunnels, and different terrain and was built just for remote controlled vehicles.
• Here are three things to do in Paris, Texas.

Love where you live.

We love where we live and we hope that you do too. The ArkLaTex is a unique area with Texarkana at it’s heart. There are adventures to be had right here in Texarkana, and in many more within a short drive. Thanks for reading and I hope that you have a wonderful spring break with your family! If you take off on one of these adventures that I’ve shared, I’d love to hear about your experience! Just post about it in the ArkLaTex Adventure Club on Facebook and I’ll be sure to chime in.