This Overlooked Southern State Is One of America’s Hidden Gems

In the Natural State, you may even discover diamonds.

If you ’re looking for an soft way to fix the state of Arkansas , serious luck . Perhaps alternatively of the Natural State , the slogan should just be “ This position will probably surprise you . ” There ’s two mountain ranges , mesmerizing geological shaping , limestone caves , rhomb - meet craters , and nearly threemillionacres of protected forest snaking with river , lake , and hot springs .

Across this red Southern state you ’ll find out progressivesmall towns boasting huge LGBTQ+ scenes , of import Civil Rights landmark , and the depository library of a sure saxophone - flirt Democratic former president . Leather - garb rockers are drawn to Arkansas ’ open roads , bicycler to itsepic trail , road trippers to its wayside oddities — like agiant Budweiser can , and thelargest statue of Jesus Christin the area .

Arkansas is also an unexpected cradle for the cultural arts . Local artists transform wide open spaces intosculpture - filled art parksand luxuriant stone labyrinths , gleaning inspiration from the stunningCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art . That ’s all good manners of Walmart ; bear from humble beginnings in Bentonville ( the original computer storage is now a museum ) , the company has place billions into the area ’s infrastructure and arts — like theWalton Arts Centerin Fayetteville — and helped transmute Northwest Arkansas into one of themost desirable places to subsist in the US .

Crystal Bridges Art Museum

Not your average treehouse: Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs|Arkansas State Tourism

Before you pack up the Uhaul , go see what this underrated land has to bid . Here are the best urban center to claver in Arkansas , and other highlighting to strike on your tour through the Natural State .

Scope the sophisticated small towns of Northwest Arkansas

If you watched the third time of year of HBO’sTrue Detective , you ’re already familiar witha few spotsin Fayetteville , Arkansas . There were shot ofHerman ’s Ribhouse , a local icon that ’s been serve up hearty slabs of meat since 1964 . There was the attractive , flowered - fill business district square , the historicOld Mainbuilding at the University of Arkansas , and the subterranean restaurantHugo’s(if you go , get the Warren Earl Burger ) . Even the gorgeousDevil ’s Den State Parkmade an appearance .

Just 30 minutes up the road inBentonville , you could tour the originalWalton Five and Dime , then pay viewer to what billion of dollars of conglomerate money can do . The Walton money funded the world - classCrystal Bridges Museum , which houses an impressive , free - to - chitchat permanent collection of American art and also draws in nationally touring exhibitions . The futuristic adeptness is jaw - dropping , incorporate lush out-of-door trails which take you past immersive sculptures by artists like James Turrell . There ’s even a Frank Lloyd Wright - designed home , theBachman - Wilson House , which was brought in and reassemble on the museum land .

Intrigued ? This little corner of Arkansas is one of a few places in the US that willactually give you to move there . Included in the relocation deal is a bike , which will come up in handy on the200 miles of track , including a greenbelt that extend 37.6 mile from north Bentonville to south Fayetteville .

The Curious Cultural Rise of the Town That Gave Us Walmart

Spend a weekend in Eureka Springs

In this author ’s gamy school day , she ’d repel the hour or so from Fayetteville to the charming townsfolk of Eureka Springs to see herfavorite jewelry storefor some locally - made earring , and then run through some homemade fudge fromTwo Dumb Dames . ineluctably the line would smack of patchouli , and sounds of jazz would waft from business district ’s Basin Park . eld afterward , I returned when my variety - of goth ally got married at the1886 Crescent Hotel , a sprawl hilltop Victorian turning point that ’s reportedly the mosthaunted hotel in America .

HistoricEureka Springs has a universe just shy of 2,000 — over 30 % of which identifies as queer . It is both anLGBTQ havenwith a prominent drag panorama and year - round Pride parades , and a pilgrimage for Christians who come to see the last days of Jesus re - enacted in the annualPassion romp . It ’s an aesthetic haven cater to creatives of all type , and a address for bikers and antique car owners who get their thrills motoring on the twisty , parlous mass road .

Explore the orbit ’s lifelike springs at spots like theBlue Spring Heritage Center , and do n’t leave without admiring the accolade - winningThorncrown Chapeldesigned by E. Fay Jones , Arkansas aboriginal and Frank Lloyd Wright protege . Nestled in the woods and constructed of forty - eight foot of wood lattice and 6,000 square feet of ice , it blends attractively into the surrounding trees and is costless to visit .

The Thorncrown Chapel outside of Eureka Springs|Thorncrown Chapel

This Small Town in Arkansas Celebrates Pride All Year Round

If it’s a drag show you’re after, head to Eureka Springs, population 2,000.

Soak it all up in Hot Springs

From one Springs city to another , you ’ll receive the town of Hot Springs inside a interior park of the same name . site in the Ouachita mountains , Hot Springs National Parkis both the smallest national park in the United States and the oldest , dating back to 1832 . Historically known as “ America ’s Spa ” for its 47 flowing caloric spring , the area has drawn MLB players and mobsters alike for a good soak , such as Al Capone , Lucky Luciano , and Owney “ The Killer ” Madden ( a account all documented inthe Gangster Museum of Americaon Central Avenue ) .

Today , the city of Hot Springs is home to adocumentary film fete , thoroughbred racing , the 210 - acreGarvan Woodland Gardens , theMid - America Science Museumand wad of graphics galleries to reboot . And of course , you’re able to still visit mineral fountain - fed bathhouses historic and modern , with two of the original — BuckstaffandQuapaw — still manoeuvre on Bathhouse Row .

Delve into history in Little Rock

Nation - changing history resides in Arkansas ’ capital . Do n’t overleap theClinton Presidential Center , a stunning methamphetamine building that cantilevers over the Arkansas River and search specially nerveless lit up at night . Inside at the Clinton Library and Museum , find out out a replication of the Oval Office , a presidential limo , and all the archival paper of the 42nd Chief Executive . Plus , a saxophone showing .

Little Rock is also home to theLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site , where , in 1957 following the opinion of Brown v. the Board of Education , nine bleak student were prevented from entering the school , sparking a national crisis that served as catalyst for the Civil Rights movement . you’re able to take a innocent ranger - ledguided tourof the still - go high school , though they ’re presently on interruption due to the pandemic .

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$10,000 plus a bike? Don’t mind if we do.

Pay homage to the Man in Black in Dyess Colony

This one ’s for the Johnny Cash stans . In 1935 , when the Man in Black was just a shaver in … probably bootleg , his parent move toDyess Colonyin northeast Arkansas . The largest husbandry relocation community in the commonwealth , Dyess was make under the New Deal to provide struggling farmers with fertile farmland and a five - room farmhouse , for no money down . Today you’re able to tour the whitewashed clapboard home where Cash lived out his high school days , which also briefly appears inWalk the Line . The townspeople also holds an annualthree - day music and heritage festivalin his name .

Make it a mini term of enlistment of guiding light : About an time of day away in the town of Piggott you ’ll encounter thefamily home of Ernest Hemingway ’s second wife , where the author penned several myopic taradiddle , and a portion ofA Farewell to Arms . It ’s now a museum and educational center .

Explore the outdoors already!

Hey , they do n’t call Arkansas the Natural State for nothing . It ’s a veritable outside resort area : domicile to 52state park , seven NPS sites , and three national forest covering more than 2.9 million acres . In the Ozark National Forest , a hike throughDevil ’s Den State Parkwill run you past falls , cool rock organization , deep caverns , and historical cabins date stamp back to the thirties . Or take in the vistas ofPetit Jean State Park , in the shadow of Petit Jean Mountain , the first state park in Arkansas . It houses one of the largest four flush shelter in the state , dwelling house to endemic Americans over a thousand years ago and where you could still see pictograph on the wall .

Crater of Diamonds State Parkis the only space in the world where the general public can tear apart for diamonds in their original volcanic author . $ 10 start out you admittance to 37 estate of grease mounds — and any rocks , mineral , or gemstones you find are yours to keep . Since the park was make in 1972 , more than 33,100 diamonds have been claimed .

There ’s swimming , skiing , scuba dive , boating , and kayak to be done onLake Ouachita , and historic reenactments to be seen atPrairie Grove Battlefield . And meandering for 135 mile through the Ozarks is the mightyBuffalo National River , the country ’s first National River , ideal for both raft in its rapids and faineant float in its placid pools . Just remember to pack a cooler .