About a Week
6 days · ~780 miles · from Hot Springs, AR
Arkansas's high country in one loop: the Ouachitas' crest drive, the Scenic Seven over the Buffalo River, the Pig Trail to Eureka Springs, and a run down Crowley's Ridge with Johnny Cash and the blues at the end.
This trip chains: Arkansas 7: The Scenic Seven · Talimena & the Ouachitas · The Pig Trail & Eureka · Crowley's Ridge Parkway
Bathhouse Row and the Gangster Museum, then west to the Talimena Scenic Drive — the Ouachita ridgeline to Queen Wilhelmina's lodge, crystal country all around. Overnight on Rich Mountain.
North across the Arkansas River valley to the Pig Trail's canopy curves and up to Eureka Springs: Thorncrown Chapel, the Christ of the Ozarks, Victorian switchbacks. Overnight Eureka.
East to Arkansas 7: the Grand Canyon of the Ozarks, pie at the Ozark Café in Jasper, and the Buffalo National River at Pruitt. Overnight Harrison or Jasper.
Across the state to the loess ridge: the Hemingway-Pfeiffer barn at Piggott and the parkway's odd high spine above the flatlands. Overnight Jonesboro.
Johnny Cash's boyhood home at Dyess, Parkin's archeology, Village Creek's woods and Jones Bar-B-Q at Marianna. Overnight Helena.
The Delta Cultural Center and King Biscuit legacy in Helena, the levee, and the long two-lane home — the highlands behind you, the river in front.