Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Eddie Brady/Getty Images
The US state of Arkansas lies at a geographic crossroads, straddling the pancake flatlands of the Mississippi Delta and the rugged Ozarks. Yet the hybrid character of this state is revealed in more than its topography.
Culturally, Arkansas has elements of both the American South and the prairie Midwest. Arkansans can be loud about their faith and rejecting what they perceive as elitism. The state’s natural beauty, and the remoteness of many of its mountain towns, give its people a sturdy individualism, and traces of a rich folk culture manifest at often unexpected times. It’s also a place where an almost overwhelmingly warm sense of hospitality is typically extended to guests.
As you look forward to your next trip, here are nine of the best things to do in Arkansas.
1. Take in the history and quirkiness of Eureka Springs
Eureka Springs is a charming, only–in–the USA town, where a pack of guys in black motorcycle leathers on Harleys will post up a few yards from a lady selling healing crystals and handmade jewelry out of a 100-year-old converted storage barn. There’s a glut of historic buildings here, and you’ll do yourself a favor by taking a self-guided tour of the Historic Loop. As you wander past the many Victorian mansions, you’ll be immersing yourself in one of the most eclectic and vibrant places in the South – and, really, in all of the USA.
2. Relive the 1990s in Little Rock
One of Arkansas’ best-known sons took his experience as state governor all the way to the White House. Exploring the journey in great deal is Little Rock’s William J Clinton Presidential Center. This institution feels a bit like a time capsule of the 1990s and its geopolitics – the good, the bad and the scandalous.
Some 80 million documents are archived here. In the public exhibits, you can consider daily presidential schedules that begin with coffee, followed by a meeting about the war in the former Yugoslavia. The center is also a museum for kids, and its hyper-modern building – a gleaming box cantilevered over the river – is an attraction all its own.
3. See American masterpieces at Crystal Bridges
Founded by an heir to the Walmart fortune (Sam Walton being another member of the Arkansas hall of fame) and not far from the global headquarters of the giant retailer, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is an extraordinary institution. Its founder and curators have carefully amassed a collection that emphasizes quality over quantity, with key masterpieces by such seminal artists as Norman Rockwell, Gilbert Stuart, John Singer Sargent and Andy Warhol. Architecturally, the museum features a series of gallery spaces all connected by soaring bridges, creating an effect of floating islands of creativity – all in the middle of the Northwest Arkansas mountains.
4. Hit the mountain-bike trails of Northwest Arkansas
You can get a lot of adventure mileage out of two wheels in the Natural State. Three Arkansas cities – Fayetteville, Bentonville and Hot Springs – have earned the designation from the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) – and the wider region of Northwest Arkansas was the first IMBA Regional Ride Center in the country. The acronyms may sound silly, but the honor is real.
The Arkansas highlands are a world-class mountain biking destination that combine two crucial qualities: four seasons, with long swathes of moderate weather (especially in the fall); and, well, lots of mountains. Riders will enjoy lots of shady leaf cover, a plethora of dirt trails and relatively easy access from larger towns. Take Lake Leatherwood in Eureka Springs, for example: this municipal park has a top-tier infrastructure and trails designed just for mountain bikers.
5. Learn about the civil rights site of Little Rock Central High School
In the middle of the state capital, Little Rock Central High School is a still-functioning school that, in the mid-20th century, bore witness to one of the civil rights movement’s most notorious showdowns.
In 1954, the Supreme Court’s Brown v Board of Education decision ordered the integration of public schools – yet that effort did not come to a head segregated Arkansas until 1957, at this school, when nine students had to be escorted past a jeering crowd by National Guard soldiers. Today, a stands at the sight.
In the next chapter of the story, in response to government-mandated integration, many white families either left Little Rock or sent their children to private schools. Alas, far from being the end of segregation, Little Rock Central High was merely an important moment in an ongoing story.
6. Float down the Buffalo River
Another user-friendly Arkansas adventure is a float down the . The country’s first designated national river (there still ) cuts through the state’s flinty heart, swerving through high canyon walls and around sandy beaches, the latter adjacent to grassy campsites perfect for a night of sleeping under the stars.
Planning tip: A float trip on the Buffalo can be as adventurous or as casual as you choose. Make sure to contact the right outdoor center before plotting your expedition.
7. Jam out in Mountain View
Smack in the middle of the state, Mountain View sits at the crossroads of the folk traditions of the Ozarks. The Europeans who settled this area were adept at living off the land, far removed from urban centers of power and wealth. In the absence of outside influences, they thrived, creating a distinctive Ozark folk culture that lives on through music.
To listen to those tunes, head to Ozark Folk Center State Park, where shows pop off regularly, or just wander into Mountain View’s town square, which hosts weekly jam sessions led by local musicians.
8. Soak up the views in Petit Jean State Park
Petit Jean State Park is the oldest state park in Arkansas. It might be the prettiest one, too, encompassing a wonderful range of gorgeous scenery, from canyons to woodlands to upland forests.
Eight official trails pierce the green heart of the park. We recommend , which passes through a series of forested canyons; and , marked by enormous, surreally compelling sandstone boulders. If you need a nice view to show off to your family at home, catch a sunrise from the 1120ft-high peak of Petit Jean Mtn, which overlooks the rolling beauty of the Arkansas River Valley.
9. Have a soak in Hot Springs
In addition to scoring the first federally designated national river, Arkansas can lay claim to the first-ever federally protected space, Hot Springs National Park, which was designated for public use in the 19th century (it became an official national park in 1921). Such recognition generated attention and drew visitors, who flocked to the public baths and casinos that sprang up – and turned the small town of Hot Springs into one of the richest in the country.
Indeed, gangsters like Al Capone were regulars on the Hot Springs circuit during the days of Prohibition, and the money brought from mass tourism helped fund the construction of gorgeous early-20th-century architectural landmarks in the busy downtown district. You can actually stay in some of these spas now – a nice way to soothe the muscles after a big hike.