Weekend Arkansas Trip

[Sil3nt611]

On April 24-26 I'm planning to take a weekend trip to Arkansas from Ft. Worth, TX. I've never been to Arkansas before but I got interested in going when I saw a post on Facebook about the Arkansas Pig Trail (Arkansas hwy 23 near Fayetteville). I live in Ft. Worth where there's literally no hilly/curvy roads but I love driving on them.

Depending on what happens I may or may not take off work Friday the 24th. If I don't I'll probably take off early and at least drive up to the Little Rock area that evening. I'll have to be back in Ft. Worth by Sunday evening. Hot Springs National Park and the Pig Trail are the two things I really want to go to.

I'm just looking for any suggestions on other places to stop or different roads to drive. It will be somewhat of a spontaneous trip so I won't really have a set schedule. Just want a list of things to check out and decide what I have time to do and see when I get there. I'm more interested in natural parks/attractions rather than shopping in the city or stuff like that. Even in the Eastern side of Oklahoma if there's something interesting there.

[Lifemagician]

If you like driving 'hilly/curvy roads', look at the road between Mountain Home and Melbourne AR. I drove it in a blinding rainstorm right on dusk, some years ago when I was heading west out of Melbourne. Now that was a challenge. I imagine it would be a wonderful drive in fine weather.

Have a great trip.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

There are, in fact, any number of great scenic routes through the Ozarks and other 'mountains' of Arkansas. None of them, however, go through Little Rock. In any event, 350 miles is a bit much to try to do after work on a Friday evening, so your goal for that day should just be to get yourself into position to start the scenic driving the next day after a good night's sleep. If you were to get even to the Texarkana area, a much more manageable 200 miles from Fort Worth, on Friday then you could have yourself a great Saturday and early Sunday, finishing up on Sunday early afternoon within reasonable distance of getting home by bedtime.

So what roads could you string together on Saturday and Sunday? Start with US-71 north out of Texarkana, a relatively scenic road in its own right it will serve as the main connecting route for the other more 'back roads' scenic byways such as the Pig Trail (AR-23 in northwestern Arkansas), the roughly parallel Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway (AR-21), the Mount Magazine Scenic Byway (AR-309 out of Paris AR and up the mountain), and for the way home the Talimena Scenic Byway westward into Oklahoma.

AZBuck

[Sil3nt611]

I just said Little Rock area because it's close-ish to Hot Springs National Park, not that I'd drive all the way to the city and back track to the park in the morning. I do know my driving limits though and if I start the drive after work I know I'll probably get tired quicker. I'm not going to make any hotel reservations so if I have to pull over earlier that's not an issue. I'll definitely see if I can either have a full or half day off though so I have a little more time on my trip.

I'll look into those suggestions and see what I come up with on a general plan and post back here later.

[Bairey]

Off the Pig Trail there are a number of things to do in Ozark, which is at the southern end of the trail, and in Fayetteville that is in the northwest. Another place that could be worth a visit is the Victorian Village with lots of shops and restaurants which is in Eureka. The White Rock Mountain Recreation Area has some fantastic views if you are able to stop off for a little bit there.

[Lifemagician]

Hi Bairey, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

Thank you for jumping in with your suggestions on your first post. We always appreciate it when members jump in with what appears to be local knowledge. I feel confident that it will help in this member's trip planning.

Anytime you are planning a trip, and need a little help, feel free to start your own thread.

Lifey

[Sil3nt611]

Thanks for the suggestions. I wasn't able to do the trip on the dates I originally said, but I'm still planning on taking the trip. They are supposed to be doing a remodel at one of the places where I work and that was the week it was supposed to happen but they postponed it to who knows when at this point...

At any rate I do have a little more time to plan now. Looks like it will be a summer trip now. If they don't do the remodel by the end of June I'm just going to go ahead and plan the trip for late June/early July and take some much needed days off to get away from this city... I've been thinking about all the places I'm looking to try and fit in and I might stretch it to a 4 day trip so I can enjoy stuff a little more.