The sky's the limit

The 2024 total solar eclipse is a big-dollar tourism deal

Locales fortunate enough to be in the right heavenly path are busily planning for a once-in-a-lifetime Arkansas event on April 8.

That day, for the first time in 106 years, a swath of daytime sky across the Natural State will go dark during a total solar eclipse. With Arkansas solidly on its route, the eclipse shapes up as a bonanza for the state’s important tourism industry.

The awesome phenomenon — sometimes viewed as supernatural in centuries past — will create eerie afternoon darkness for as long as 4 minutes and 20 seconds as the moon’s shadow blocks out the sun. The potential audience includes the 1.8 million Arkansans living within the 115-mile-wide zone of totality. The rest of the state can at least view a partial solar eclipse.

Although the celestial event is still some 225 days away, Arkansas cities and other sites within its path are already touting their locations for visiting. Many well-situated lodgings are already fully booked, often at astronomical (no pun intended) prices. Out-of-state visitors are predicted to number as many as 200,000.

“A total solar eclipse is a mustsee item, and none has crossed Arkansas since 1918,” says Carl Freyaldenhoven, eclipse resource coordinator for the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society. “Eclipses are a display of nature in action. You can experience this eclipse with your fellow humans as a commonality, not a dividing factor but a uniting event.”

Having viewed four previous total eclipses, Freyaldenhoven says that “my most vivid memory is the feeling of true awe on seeing the sun blocked out from view in the middle of the day by another heavenly body.”

P. Clay Sherrod, director of Arkansas Sky Observatories on Petit

Jean Mountain, compares enthusiasm for next year’s eclipse favorably with interest in the 2017 totality that crossed Missouri and southern Illinois, not far north of the Natural State:

“I am hearing that every person who saw the 2017 eclipse wants to see this one, which will be twice the length with much more darkness. A total eclipse is the experience of a lifetime, so those who did not see the 2017 event have vowed not to miss this one.”

Shealyn Sowers, chief of communications for the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage & Tourism, believes that “the 2024 eclipse puts Arkansas on the world stage. We want to make sure that all tourists have a safe and amazing Arkansas adventure. We want to make sure that firsttime visitors make Arkansas a repeat destination.”

TOO LATE TO BOOK?

A story last month in the Wall Street Journal was headlined: “You’re Already Too Late If You Want to Book a Room for the 2024 Eclipse.”

The first paragraph was set in Arkansas: “The top tourist draws in Dardanelle, Ark., most years include hiking nearby Mount Nebo and splashing in the Arkansas River. Neither of which explains why next April the town’s ballfields will host a pop-up RV lot charging $300 a night, with a two-night minimum stay.”

The Journal’s headline was an exaggeration. Some lodging for the nights just before and after the eclipse is still available in Arkansas’ totality zone. But the example of flabbergasting prices seems right on target.

Twelve of the 13 motels in Russellville, very close to the eclipse path’s center, were listed recently on the Expedia booking site as fully reserved for April 7 and April 8. Motel 6, the one property posted as available in the Pope County seat, was asking $500 per night (plus tax).

Available 11 miles from Russellville was “The Farm Cottage — close to two state parks,” with two bedrooms, for $1,000 a night plus tax and fees. The price was $1,500 a night for a three-bedroom “Secluded A-Frame Cabin in the Tri-Peak Area.”

In Little Rock and North Little Rock, Expedia reported dozens of hotels and motels as fully booked for April 7 and April 8. They included the city’s largest, the 418-room Little Rock Marriott, as well as the 288-room DoubleTree by Hilton Little Rock and the prestigious 88-room Capital. Among properties with rooms still available, the Embassy Suites in Little Rock’s rate was $429. North Little Rock’s Hilton Garden Inn sought $505.

Fully booked for the two nights in Hot Springs was the state’s largest hotel, the 484-room Arlington. Among available Spa City’s motels, the Red Roof Inn’s rate was $352 per night. Among the many rental homes and condominiums on lakes near Hot Springs, a “Stunning Lake Hamilton Getaway With Pool and Dock” offered its five-bedroom layout at $6,907 per night.

As eye-popping as those prices may be, astronomer Sherrod says they are no surprise: “This happens during every eclipse, rare as they are. It’s simply supply and demand. People in the eclipse zone are renting out their driveways, backyards, farms, ranches.”

Sowers concurs, pointing out that “the lodging industry operates on a supply-and-demand model that determines the price of accommodations.”

CITIES GOING DARK

Besides Russellville, cities going dark for four minutes or so near the path’s center include De Queen, Morrilton, Heber Springs, Batesville and Pocahontas. Little Rock — toward totality’s southern edge — will be in the totality zone for 2 minutes and 29 seconds, starting over midtown at 24 seconds after 1:51 p.m.

Also in totality will be 26 of Arkansas’ 51 state parks. Cossatot, Petit Jean and Ozark Folk Center are very close to the center line. Park lodges, cabins and campsites in the eclipse area are heavily booked.

Of the 21 totality-zone state parks with accommodations of some kind, 15 are fully booked for the eclipse period, according to Sowers. Of the reservations, 77% are for camping, 12% for lodges and 11% for cabins.

Some cities are planning special events to mark the eclipse. Information on April 8 celebrations can be found at tinyurl.com/3rve9adu.

Little Rock’s public festivities will be focused on War Memorial Park. Total Eclipse in the Park will take place April 6-8 in War Memorial Stadium and the surrounding grounds. Events will include music, movies, vendors, arts and crafts, food trucks, children’s fun and a five-kilometer race. The main event will be April 8 eclipse viewing inside the 54,000-seat stadium, with an admission fee.

To mark the eclipse, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has scheduled April 6-7 concerts at Robinson Center Performance Hall featuring Gustav Holst’s massive “The Planets.” According to Artistic Director Geoffrey Robson, “There will be a lot of things solar and universe-related going on in Little Rock that weekend. We thought this would fit right in.”

In North Little Rock, Solar Eclipse Watch Weekend will take place on April 6-8 at Downtown Riverside RV Park. An eclipse viewing party will happen on April 8 at Argenta Plaza.

Hot Springs will see a hybrid event “combining the cosmic wonder of the 2024 total solar eclipse and the 20th annual Valley of the Vapors Music Festival.” The April 5-8 festival at Cedar Glades Park is selling an Early Bird Standard Camping Pass for $800. It includes four nights of camping for up to four people, a parking spot and a $100 festival pass.

Among visitors to Arkansas are sure to be some umbraphiles — the proper word for eclipse chasers who travel for this rare spectacle to locations around the world, including Indonesia in 2016 and Antarctica in 2021.

They’ll be present not only for the brief span of total darkness, but also for the sidelights, starting with first contact. That’s the moment when the lunar shadow begins to cover the sun. First contact will arrive in Arkansas at 12:29 p.m. near the Little River County town of Foreman. Partiality will end there 1 hour and 38 minutes later when the sun fully emerges from the last sliver of lunar shadow.

VIEW WITH CAUTION

Even this early, some websites are including a reminder about the vital importance of having properly certified eclipse viewing glasses on

April 8. The briefest look at the eclipse without this protection can cause permanent eye damage and even blindness.

Other warnings for viewers are noted by astronomer Sherrod and the astronomical society’s Freyaldenhoven.

“First and foremost in planning your viewing is accessibility,” Sherrod says. “If people outside the totality zone wait until the morning of April 8 to head into the eclipse path, they are not going to make it. The roads will be backed up in every direction.

“So plan early, reserve a room or campsite somewhere and get there Saturday before the eclipse. When choosing a location, make sure you have a good highway plan to get out. It will be a daylong traffic jam.”

Freyaldenhoven points out that “you do not need to go to a high place such as Pinnacle Mountain or Petit Jean. But you do need to be away from automatic streetlights. The electric eye will turn them on during the eclipse darkness and ruin your view.”

Regarding the viewing location, he says: “As to the benefit of finding a rural observation point, it depends on the person. Some people like the enjoyment of the crowd experience. Others want to be amazed without the disturbance of many people.”

One factor will remain beyond human control on April 8, as it did when the previous total eclipse crossed Arkansas on June 8, 1918. That killjoy was cloudy weather, which obscured the rare phenomenon.

The Arkansas Gazette’s headline the next morning read: “Clouds Obstruct View of Eclipse.” A similar fate is not beyond contemplation for next April 8.