# The Arkansas Delta *the other side of the river* The Arkansas Delta is a ~150-mile back-roads route from Helena to Lake Village on AR 44, US 165 and AR 1, driven in 1–2 days, that stays off I-40 / I-55 through the Ozarks, Ouachitas & the Bootheel. - **Drive:** Helena → Lake Village - **Distance:** ~150 mi - **Days:** 1–2 - **Highways:** AR 44, US 165, AR 1 - **Avoids:** I-40 / I-55 - **Region:** Ozarks, Ouachitas & the Bootheel - **Themes:** History & Markers, Civil Rights, Natural Beauty, Eats & Institutions Mississippi's Delta gets the songs; Arkansas's side holds just as much weight. This run stitches together the Elaine massacre of 1919, the oldest European settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley, a WWII Japanese American incarceration camp, the last great antebellum river house in the state, and the biggest oxbow lake in North America, with hot tamales at the end. Heavy miles, worth carrying. Markers: Arkansas Post and the McGehee museum anchor the interpretation; Elaine's memorial stands on Helena's courthouse square. ## The drive, segment by segment ### Elaine & the Post *Helena → Arkansas Post · ~60 mi* South through the 1919 massacre country to the Grand Prairie's edge and the old French post on the Arkansas River. Stops: - **Elaine Massacre Memorial** (Helena) · Civil Rights — A 2019 memorial to the 1919 massacre of Black sharecroppers who organized for fair cotton prices; among the deadliest episodes of racial violence in US history, suppressed for a century. - **Arkansas Post National Memorial** (Gillett) · National Parks — Founded 1686, the first lasting European settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley: French, Spanish, a Revolutionary skirmish and a Civil War bombardment, all on one quiet point. ### Camp & Colony *Arkansas Post → McGehee · ~55 mi* Dumas and the incarceration-camp story at McGehee and Rohwer, where a future Star Trek actor spent his childhood behind wire. Stops: - **WWII Japanese American Internment Museum** (McGehee) · History & Markers — The depot museum interpreting Rohwer and Jerome, the two Arkansas camps that held 16,000 incarcerated Japanese Americans. Small building, national-scale reckoning. - **Rohwer Memorial Cemetery** (Rohwer) · History & Markers — Camp-built monuments stand where Rohwer's barracks did; George Takei was imprisoned here as a boy and narrates the audio tour. The tank memorial honors Nisei soldiers who died for the country that jailed their families. ### The Oxbow *McGehee → Lake Village · ~35 mi* Lakeport's preserved big house and the long crescent of Lake Chicot, pelicans in season. Stops: - **Lakeport Plantation** (Lake Village) · History & Markers — An 1859 cotton mansion, the last Arkansas antebellum big house still standing on the Mississippi, restored as a museum that tells the enslaved community's story alongside the planter's. - **Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales** (Lake Village) · Eats & Institutions — Delta tamale royalty from a small kitchen on the oxbow, with pies that end arguments. The correct final stop on this side of the river. ## Tips and best time to go - Lakeport tours run on weekday schedules; check hours before building the day around it. - White pelicans raft on Lake Chicot in migration months; bring the binoculars. ## Worth a detour - **Louisiana Purchase State Park** — A boardwalk into a headwater swamp ending at the initial-point marker from which the entire Louisiana Purchase was surveyed. The whole American West starts at this stone. - **Wings Over the Prairie** — Stuttgart's Thanksgiving-week duck festival, home of the World Championship Duck Calling Contest since 1936. Rice country's high holy days. ## Spurs & side-roads - Stuttgart & the Grand Prairie (US 165 N) ## Frequently asked questions ### How long is The Arkansas Delta and how many days does it take? The Arkansas Delta is about 150 miles and takes 1–2 days at a back-roads pace. ### Where does The Arkansas Delta start and end? It runs from Helena to Lake Village. ### Which highways does The Arkansas Delta follow? It follows AR 44, US 165 and AR 1. ### Which interstate does The Arkansas Delta replace? It avoids I-40 / I-55, using AR 44, US 165 and AR 1 instead. ### How many stops are on The Arkansas Delta, and what are the highlights? 6 stops are mapped, including Elaine Massacre Memorial, Arkansas Post National Memorial, WWII Japanese American Internment Museum, Rohwer Memorial Cemetery and Lakeport Plantation. ### Which ready-made itineraries include The Arkansas Delta? Crowley's Ridge & the Arkansas Delta (3 days). ## Ready-made itineraries using this route - [Crowley's Ridge & the Arkansas Delta](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/ark-delta-ridge) — 3 days, ~420 mi ## Connects with - [Crowley's Ridge Parkway](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/crowleys-ridge) — Piggott → Helena - [Poverty Point & the Delta Parishes](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/poverty-point-delta) — Vidalia → Lake Providence - [The Blues Highway](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/blues-61) — Memphis → Natchez --- Canonical URL: https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/arkansas-delta Publisher: Dixie Media (Dixie Road Trip, https://dixieroadtrip.com/) Last updated: 2026-10-05