Arkansas is located at the South of Missouri, surrounded by Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. It is a inner land state where Lake Ouachita is the largest lake and the highest mountain is Mount Magazine. The best time to visit Arkansas is during spring and autumn, when there are colorful flower blossoms, beautiful mountains and landscapes views. There are many events and celebrations such as the music festivals and food festivals both attracted more than thousands of visitors during Autumn season.
The major economy in Arkansas are made of agriculture and aerospace. Agricultural is rank at the top contribution in Arkansas state income, it is more than $16 billion annually. Rice is the biggest export crops of Arkansas that brings almost 50% of rice production in United States. Aerospace industry is the number one Arkansas export which created around 10,000 jobs and added about $1.8 billion to the state economy. These production is including the aircraft, rockets, defense systems, aircraft-related parts and services.
Travel in Arkansas is easy with preplanned itinerary.
Day 1:
Upon arrival at the Arkansas International Airport, the journey can start with a three hours drive to the West and begins with the South Korean culture in Little Rock. The Haeng Ung Lee Gate and Garden is honored by ATA or namely American Taekwondo Association towards the Grand Master Lee, with his achievement in martial arts in the modern-day. The architecture design of the building is the combination in colors and materials of Arkansas and South Korea. The wall of the gate is made up of metal rock of the Arkansas River, while the clay is imported from South Korea to build up the roof. Korean believes in the five cardinal elements, each color represents different elements such as fire is red, wood is blue, earth is yellow, metal is white and water is black. This is a great opportunity for visitors to understand South Korea culture with statue displays in the garden. Also, there are significant statues such as Harubang statues display at the garden which is from Cheju Island and the Nine Turtles Statues. After visit the garden, it is almost evening and visitors can enjoy the dinner at the town.
Day 2:
Start the next day off with a visit to the oldmill park which located at Little Rock, which is just 10 minutes away from the H.U. Lee Garden. It is also best-known as TR Pugh Memorial Park with the grain mill was built in the nineteenth-century. Together with the beautiful views, the surroundings were used as background in several famous movies. Besides the grain mill, the park is a great backdrop for photo shooting and video making.
To the next destination at Pinaccle Mountain, is about 30 minutes drives, it is worth to visit in the afternoon after lunch. To catch the sunset views, this is the reason why the itinerary should be planned this way. The journey has to move up more than 1,000 feet from Arkansas River to arrive at the mountain. For the best views, visitors have to walk through the hiking trails to reach to the top of the mountain. No doubt, there will be no regrets for making that trip.
Day 3:
To go to the Hot Springs Mountain, the journey is about 60 miles from Pinnacle Mountain. Visitors can spend the morning session at the top of the mountain, to a wonderful views of the national park and the Ouachita Mountains. There is a man-made tower standing at 1,256 ft above sea level at the peak with the unique views of Arkansas forest.
Next, go to the popular Wax Museum – Josephine Tussaud is situated in the township of Hot Springs. There are more than 100 wax statues in the museum which is owned by the Robert’s family. Until today, they do add the new statues occasionally to make the museum more attractive. The itinerary can be a little relax at the resort and have a little fun time at the casino. As for dinner, there will be about two hours journey to the famous State Park call Petit Jean. Spend the night recharge is a great idea.
Day 4:
Petit Jean is a significant stop to have the unforgettable Arkansas vacation. It is the first state park of Arkansas with the combination of natural appearance and historical geology attractions. There are three historic territories including bridges and trails, and more than 80 artifacts. The main attraction of the park is the historic Mather Lodge with unique landscapes and beautiful Cedar Creek Canyon. There are some other facilities nearby such as swimming pool, picnic area, campsites, boathouse which creates fun along the visit to Petit Jean. For nature lovers, try hiking through the canyons and forest to observe sheer bluffs, the Seven Hollows and the Cedar Falls. The distance between Petit Jean and Lake Ouachita is about 2 hours, visitors can start the journey around 4pm and enjoy a lovely dinner at Lake Ouachita.
Day 5:
Lake Ouachita is capital for visitors who loves fishing and anything water sports related. With 40,000 acres of clear water; highly recommended for diving, water skiing, and boating. Visitors have a great time spending their day with beautiful forest and clear air. There is an option where visitors can choose to spend a full day or they can proceed a short trip to next destination such as Flatside Pinnacle which is about 50 miles away from Lake Ouachita. The Flatside Pinaccle is located at the north-east region of Lake Ouachita. It is a 1,550 feet mountain peak. Visitors can hike to the top on a short but steep trail. Ouachita Mountains has a wonderful stunning sunset view once arrived.
Day 6:
The journey to Alma takes about 3 hours, all visitors must depart early to visit Popeye Park. The town is very well-known as the spinach capital. There is a giant bronze Popeye statue display on top of the water fountain inside the park. The Popeye town hosts an yearly spinach festival during the month of April, which attracts many visitors to town. Many visitors are attracted to the water tower which has been designed to appear like the biggest spinach can in the world.
After lunch, a visit to Terra Studios is along the way to the next destination, visitors can stop-by for an hour or two to this glass and pottery gallery which is run by Leo and Rita. Leo is master in glass craftsman while Rita is the potter and sculptor. Nowadays there are extra activities available such as Bluebirds making, pottery classes and local music players during weekends.
Then, the journey continues to North to visit Saint Catherine’s Church which is just 30 minutes away from Terra Studios. Unlike others, this church is so unique on the bases of architecture design. The inspiration is from churches in United Kingdom. The engineer named Lowell Boynton started the constructions in the year 1986 with no plan. The church was completed in twelve years period and now become an attraction at Bell Gable.
Day 7:
From St. Catherine’s Church to Rogues Castle is about 55 miles. The Rogues Castle is a amazing setting for many gala dinner, weddings, parties and other party events. It is located on Ozark Forest and at the side of Tablerock Lake and White River. Smith Treuer was the designer and this castle was built for more than 20 years. Nowadays, the castle is open for public visits and private tours for individuals and now group visits are available as well.
Next, drive about 20 minutes South to Pivot Rock Park. Pivot Rock Park is formed by unbelievable natural rock formations as an attraction. The main attraction is the oddly shaped natural rock which looks like a upside down pyramid. It is a great visit on the way to Christ statue at Ozarks.
The giant Jesus statue at Ozarks was erected in year 1966 with the idea of building the religious theme park. The statue is built at the altitude of 1,500 ft and with the weights of more than two million pounds. The designer, Emmet Sullivan is one of the sculptors of this project. The entire statue is about seven-stories height and the open arms width of 65 feet. Every single parts of the statue were made by hand and the foundation of the statue is built on mountain rock with concrete and steel.
The journey continue heading to South, to visit Hawksbill Crag and Whitaker Point. These are great points that are not to be missed. Whitaker Point is a popular scene in Disney movie, also the famous place for many photographers for photo shooting activities. The landscape is beautiful but have to be very cautious on the climb as it is dangerous with steeper edge of the rocks. Along the way, Hawksbill Crag is great for outdoor climbing and walking. At the peak of Hawksbill Crag, visitors can enjoy picnic session with beautiful scenery of Ozarks forest and enjoys wonderful fall colors.
Day 8:
The Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls with the height of 250 Feet. It is the highest waterfall between Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. It is the most famous natural attraction annually during spring and early summer season especially at the time of after rainfall. During Winter, the spray turns into ice dome, visitors can have a total different views on the scenery. However, visitors must have good stamina to hike on the mountain, as the trail gets steeper and it requires up to five hours to finish the hike. Visitors can have two options to go to the Buffalo River. The driving journey is roughly about 90 minutes but there are alternative route which is about 20-minute to walk down from the waterfalls. Along the way, the visitors can pass through Sneeds Creek and historical wood house.
There are many activities available in Buffalo River, visitors can spend a little longer day here to enjoy a relax session with family. There are romantic gateways available for couples who love some private time over the weekend and enjoy themselves over beautiful scenery. Also, flowers and gifts can be prepared upon request.
For family vacations, Buffalo Outdoor Center (BOC) has the list of activities such as river fun for the young kids, family canoeing and zip line adventure just to name a few. Apart from there, take the opportunity to visit Ponca. Watch the elks starting from the month of September and horse riding tour around the Ozark Mountain countryside.
Take a 30 minutes drive journey to Mystic Caverns, which is the last destination before heading back to Arkansas International Airport. The visitors can see amazing rocks formations at the underground caves. The scenery is simply gorgeous which is the main attraction of the area. This activity is great for summer season because it is cooler temperatures inside the caves.
This entire itinerary for Arkansas is planned based on an idea for visitors who wants relaxation that covers more popular tourists spots all over Arkansas. Visitors must rent a vehicle to travel around the cities and enjoy the abilities to have flexible route. Have fun in Arkansas and bon voyage!