I am working on planning a road trip to somewhere in Arkansas from Houston in October. It would be me and my 3 kids (5 to 11). We would stop in Denton to see family, want to check out the crater of diamonds since kids. But I need to add some easy hikes. My friend had talked about Ouachita Forest. Not sure what to do in Hot Springs. I only like to drive about 4 hours a day with the kids.

So what parks do we need to hit that are 4 to 8 hours from Dallas?

plenty of easy hikes in/around Hot Springs. You can drive to the top of any "mountains" in the national park and just hike up high if you are worried about steeper trails. There's a great science museum in hot springs we took the kids to. Hot Springs isn't Yellowstone, but it was a great park to take the kids too with plenty of things to do in town. They also loved the Alligator Farm.

You might consider Broken Bow OK. It's easier to get to and there is a lot of hiking, trout fishing etc….

I highly recommend Petit Jean for hiking and the lodge is really cool. I also love the lodge at Mt Magazine and it has an indoor pool.

We just did Hot Springs for Labor Day weekend. It was great. The Mid American Science Museum is very interactive and my four kids (9-11) loved it. We spent way more time there than I was expecting. Several easy hikes in and around the area. We did the hike to Balanced Rock, which was only about 1 mile out and 1 mile back. We rented a pontoon on Lake Hamilton for the afternoon and my kids loved the tubing.

Another vote for Mid America Science Museum. It's REALLY well done.

Hit up Razorback Stadium on Oct 18th!

You may want to consider the Alberts Pike area for hiking. Its kind of in between Crater of Diamonds and Hot Springs. Its a beautiful area with a lot of different difficulty trails. Its also far enough into the woods to feel like you are actually in nature.

Running out of time, but here is the plan for next week.
Sunday We are seeing some family in Denton
Monday Drive to Hot Springs, Garvan Woodland Gardens that afternoon.
Tuesday is Ron Coleman Crystal Mining north of hot springs, Mid America Science museum in the afternoon
Wednesday is hiking to balanced rock in Hot springs national park then drive through Mena and stay at Queen Wilhelmina State Park more hiking and the mini train.
Thursday, drive to Caddo Lake State Park, hiking and maybe a boat trip or canoeing or something.
Friday - one more hike then head back to Houston

You might consider learning about Pea Ridge and the battle that took place there. 25,000 Union and Confederate troops working for two days to keep the South out of Missouri. Very interesting story. About 25 minutes from Bentonville.

Graham Gardens is very nice