War Eagle Mill — Attraction in Lowell

How long can you hold your breath while you are peeing? No, seriously, how long?

It is all about the drive not the destination. Whether you come in from the north or south, if you are a biker or sports car enthusiast, you will enjoy the winding curves. As a bonus the scenery is amazing. Right now, after all the rain the Arkansas hills are lush, green and decorated with Ozark life, past and present. Rusty trucks, tractors, chickens and ducks. Big red barns, fields of hay, cows and white tail bucks. Pristine streams, roadside fruit stands, rickety old bridges and littered road sides, where lazy folks dump their broken washers and fridges. And then you arrive at the famous, but disappointing War Eagle Mill.

A three-story hull of an old grist mill that has been gutted of all of the historical significance. Not a visible grind stone spinning. No bolter, screens, chutes or hoppers. All gone. On the top floor beans and cornbread for sale. The second floor, candy and the first-floor souvenirs for the tourist. Lots of stuff, much having nothing to do with the historical mill. On the first floor is a modern corn grinder, that may be powered by the still turning water wheel. That’s it, that’s the mill. The mill is very well known for its annual craft fair. I am not sure how they handle all of the people.

And that brings us back to the strange question. How long can you hold your breath while peeing? Unless you are a very experienced Japanese pearl diver the answer is, “not long enough.”

For your convenience and relief, at the gravel parking area there is a homemade outhouse, a pit toilet. It is a very poorly designed outhouse pit toilet. In the 90-degree temp today it was the worst, most rank, malodorous steaming closet I have ever used. The flies that were lured into the outhouse in hopes for a tasty meal, misjudged the conditions. They couldn’t take it either. Hundreds were lined up on the inside of the outhouse door, desperately waiting to escape when the door was opened. Hold your breath and try to keep that beans and corn bread from spewing out through your nose.

If you are going, start practice holding your breath now. And….Remember it’s the drive not the...

This place is so neat! My dad brought me out in December, and watching the patches of ice float down the river under the old wooden bridge as the water wheel rolled with the current was amazingly peaceful. Absolutely beautiful.

Inside is great! You can watch the mill in action as it grinds the grain, and the staff will gladly explain the process and answer any questions you have about their products. They have the ground grain products, but they also carry kitchen items (believe I saw dish towels, cooking utensils, and cutting boards when I was there last.). There is an upstairs section, but I haven't gone, so I can't shed any light on that.

Now, I'm on an extremely strict medical diet, and I can't have the premade mixes for biscuits and bread and whatnot. War Eagle Mill, however, uses simple ingredients, and I can have most of the mixes they carry! I haven't been able to say that about a place in nearly 10 years, and I can't tell you how exciting that is for me! If you're someone who prefers products without preservatives or a laundry list of unrecognizable ingredients, definitely look into this place. They also ship, so no worries if you're only here...

Beautiful setting! The river and bridge and surrounding atmosphere are beautiful. Didn’t have our poles but looks like a good spot to fish (several locals had lines in the water) Restaurant: on third floor, up 3 flights of stairs The Rubin was the highlight. Very good sandwich. The homemade cornbread was good as well. Club sandwich was ok. Sides were a little disappointing, expected more of the “home cooking” flair there. Taco salad was good but could have used some beef on it. Dominique our server was young and learning but she had a lot of “try “ and she was as sweet as could be. She kept our drinks full and even gave our young boys plenty of “yes sir ... thank you sir-s”. :) The mill is an obvious rebuild with the primary focus being on the gift shops and restaurant. But is technically a working mill But the overall natural beauty and historic story are worth the stop. The bathrooms are a forest service, campground “outhouse” like experience. Tuff up a little troopers you’ll get through it. Glad we made this part of...