Holiday Island, a scenic community in the Ozark Mountains
Homes stretch along winding streets in Holiday Island, a community in the Ozark Mountains, close to Table Rock Lake. This mostly residential area is popular with older residents, but some younger families enjoy having access to the highly rated Eureka Springs School District.
The natural landscape here gives residents access to the mountains and rivers, making hiking and fishing easy activities. Other recreational amenities include a golf course and a recreation center. There are a couple of basic restaurants and markets in town. More options are found 10 miles south in Eureka Springs.
Forty-year resident Greg Davis, co-owner of Holiday Island Realty, says the scenery and peaceful atmosphere are the main factors attracting buyers. “Our motto in Holiday Island has always been that the quiet is beautiful,” he says.
Ranch-style and New Traditional homes on mountainous, winding streets
Ranch-style and New Traditional homes are common here, typically selling for between $200,000 and $600,000. The community has winding, mountainous residential streets, typically without sidewalks or curbs. Many buyers here purchase vacation homes for themselves or to rent to visitors. Davis says one unique aspect of Holiday Island is that it gets its water from deep wells rather than from Beaver Lake. “Back in the ‘80s, we used to bring a lot of tours in,” he says. “We had a Culligan water tank that people would empty quickly. We would fill it back up on the tap, and we got more compliments on our tap water than on the Culligan water.”
This community scores a 1 out of 10 CAP Index Crime Score, well below the national average of 4.
Learning in a top Arkansas school district
Eureka Springs School District scores an A-minus from Niche. Eureka Springs Elementary gets an A-minus. Eureka Springs Middle and Eureka Springs High earn B-pluses. High school students can take career and technical education courses in areas such as agriculture, aviation and business.
Outdoor recreation on Table Rock Lake and more
Located in the Ozark Mountains on Table Rock Lake with rivers flowing through the community, Holiday Island is filled with outdoor recreation opportunities. Davis says that Holiday Island’s marina on Table Rock Lake is a significant community attraction, with fishing and recreational boating being popular activities. The community’s amenities include an 18-hole golf course and a rec center with swimming pools, pickleball, tennis, mini golf and more. Hiking and biking trails are available throughout the community. Twenty miles away, Beaver Dam Site Park offers hiking, fishing, swimming and camping on Beaver Lake.
Shopping and dining in Holiday Island and Eureka Springs
A shopping center on the south end of Holiday Island provides access to the essentials: a gas station, hardware store, post office, Sun Fest Market for groceries and Dollar General. El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant and HotBoxx WoodFire pizza are casual, family-owned restaurants in the shopping strip. Ten miles south, Eureka Springs provides additional shopping and dining options. Davis recommends Mud Street Café for coffee and breakfast, Sparky’s Roadhouse Café for a casual lunch or dinner and Local Flavor Café for a more upscale option.
Along the Arkansas-Missouri border, surrounded by bigger cities
Holiday Island is located on the Arkansas-Missouri border, about 10 miles from Eureka Springs and 50 miles from Bentonville. Davis says that the town is surrounded by bigger cities – Rogers, Branson and Fayetteville, to name a few. “One of the things that I like about it here is we’re not that big, so we don’t have traffic, but you can live here and feel like you’re not out in the middle of the boondocks,” he says. Eureka Springs Hospital is 10 miles away, and Northwest Arkansas National Airport is about 60 miles away.
