Mount IdaQuartz Crystal Capital of the World on Lake Ouachita's western shore — Mountain Harbor Resort, the Crystal Loop scenic byway, and the cleanest large lake in North America at the edge of the Ouachita National Forest

Mount Ida is a small Montgomery County town on the western half of Lake Ouachita — the largest body of water entirely within Arkansas at 40,000 surface acres, ranked one of the cleanest large lakes in North America. Mountain Harbor Resort, founded by the Wright family in the 1950s, is the lakefront anchor — a marina, a lodge restaurant open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, the Turtle Cove Spa, and a working seaplane pad. Downtown Mount Ida on Highway 270 marks itself as the Quartz Crystals Capital of the World; the Crystal Loop scenic byway runs through Owley Road and the Coleman, Ron Coleman, and Wegner mining sites where visitors can dig raw quartz crystals out of pay-to-dig pits. The 1.8-million-acre Ouachita National Forest wraps the entire region with the 223-mile Ouachita National Recreation Trail and dozens of mountain-to-lake-cove trail loops.

Our rentals run from Mountain Harbor Lodge studios on the marina dock to the signature log-sided Harbor North cottages along the lake's western coves, multi-bedroom condos at Mountain Harbor's East Cove, three-bedroom cabins on the lake with private decks and hot tubs, four-bedroom condos with two-car garages in Mountain Harbor's village, and the East Cove pool-view two-bedroom condos that book early for July and Labor Day weekends.