Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area, located next to Beaver Lake in the Ozark Mountains ecoregion of northwest Arkansas, is the largest State Park in Arkansas with over 12,000 acres. Our mission is to provide enriching educational and recreational experiences in harmony with resource stewardship.

With care, the balance of nature in the forest can provide opportunities for inspiration and wonder today, just as it has for people in the past.

In this photo essay are images of wildflowers that grow here—where their habitat is protected—and that you might see along our many miles of trails. We hope that the quotes from famous writers and artists accompanying these photos inspire you to appreciate the diversity of life found at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area.

Plant: hepatica

“Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.” - Henry David Thoreau

Plant: buttercup

“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.” - Leo Buscaglia

Plant: columbine (image credit S. Chyrchel)

“How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom bold.” - William Wordsworth

Plant: dwarf dandelion

“I wanted to know the name of every stone and flower and insect and bird and beast. I wanted to know where it got its color, where it got its life - but there was no one to tell me.” - George Washington Carver

Plant: goldenseal

“It's so clear that you have to cherish everyone. I think that's what I get from these older black women, that every soul is to be cherished, that every flower is to bloom.” - Alice Walker

Plant: orange puccoon

“For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive.” - D.H. Lawrence

Plant: Robin’s plantain

“When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.” - Georgia O’Keeffe

Plant: rue anemone

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.” – Buddha

Plant: violet wood sorrel

“Flowers don’t tell, they show.” – Stephanie Skeem

Plant: Virginia waterleaf

“Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth’s lips spoken without sound.” – Edwin Curran

Plant: widow’s cross

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson

Plants: yellow violet and woolly blue violet

“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank

Whatever wildflowers mean to you, we’d love for you share your thoughts with us by sending an email to the following address: [email protected].

With care, the balance of nature in the forest can provide opportunities for inspiration and wonder today, just as it has for people in the past. Remember to help us protect these beauties by using “Leave No Trace” ethics and leaving flowers growing in the forest for other visitors to experience.