# Ozarks (Arkansas)

The Ozarks in Arkansas are part of the Ozarks mountains, as well as being considered a region in north-central Arkansas and southern Missouri.

## Cities

The major cities in the area are:
* 36.366667-94.2133331 Bentonville — home to the corporate headquarters of retail giant Walmart
* 36.403056-93.7383332 Eureka Springs — a quaint resort town with eclectic dining and shopping, art galleries and local crafts
* 36.076389-94.1608333 Fayetteville — a college town and a regional hub for live music and performances
* 36.089722-93.7354 Huntsville — a base for visiting the Withrow Springs State Park
* 36.329444-94.1413895 Rogers — home to the Rogers Commercial Historic District, and many properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places
* 36.183333-94.5394446 Siloam Springs — has an historic downtown district
* 36.181389-94.1458337 Springdale — a booming industrial city
Other smaller towns and communities in the area include:
* 36.293611-93.2961118 Alpena
* 35.773611-91.6413899 Batesville — a regional manufacturing and distribution hub for the Ozark Mountain region
* 36.468889-94.26861110 Bella Vista — a retirement community where recreational spaces are available for residents and their guests
* 36.364722-93.56805611 Berryville — home of the Saunders' Museum of outlaws' guns
* 36.380833-92.58555612 Bull Shoals — a resort town
* 35.601944-92.26416713 Fairfield Bay — a resort town
* 36.277222-92.59222214 Flippin
* 36.335-93.43277815 Green Forest
* 35.575556-92.16416716 Greers Ferry — has a few resorts
* 36.320556-91.48055617 Hardy — like stepping back in time
* 36.237222-93.11361118 Harrison — a good base for exploring the nearby Ozark Mountains and the Buffalo National River
* 35.494444-92.03916719 Heber Springs — the Frauenthal House is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
* 36.008611-93.18555620 Jasper — a scenic and quaint town with lots of outdoor opportunities
* 36.493333-91.54361121 Mammoth Spring — Mammoth Spring State Park has one of the word's largest freshwater springs
* 36.336111-92.38222222 Mountain Home — home 9f the annual Twin Lakes Thunder Rally
* 35.865-92.10861123 Mountain View — the "Folk Music Capital of the World" offers many outdoor activities
* 36.447778-94.11666724 Pea Ridge — it has one of the best preserved battle fields in the country
* 36.179167-94.24666725 Tontitown — a historic Italian-American community with well-known Italian restaurants
* 36.267778-93.94111126 War Eagle — the War Eagle Mill is an historic, working grist mill
* 35.935556-94.1827 West Fork — home of the Woolsey Bridge
* 35.798611-94.13138928 Winslow — home of the Winslow Museum
* 36.229722-92.68527829 Yellville — known for its Turkey Trot Festival

## Other destinations

* 36.178056-92.4261111 Buffalo National River In northern Arkansas is an unpolluted and free-flowing river in the heart of the Ozarks. It has both swift water and calm streaches.
* 35.7-93.42 Ozark National Forest In northern Arkansas is 1.2 million acres of land in Northern Arkansas.

## Understand

The Ozarks are largely rural, with hundreds of miles of pristine national forest and protected rivers. However, the area is also home to one of the fastest-growing areas in the mid-south. Under the influence of several large companies headquartered in the area, and good quality of life and cheap land, from 1993 to 2013 the Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers/Bentonville metropolitan area turned into one connected suburban and semi-urban area linked by a freeway, home to thousands of new residents and full of poorly planned strip malls and developments.
Fayetteville is home to the University of Arkansas, and as such is a regional center for cultural events as well as bars and restaurants; an hour or so away, the Victorian town of Eureka Springs has been a tourist destination for generations. Popular festivals drawing motorcycle riders to arts and crafts enthusiasts sweep the region every year.
But despite this development there are still plenty of small towns and wide spots in the road and isolated places to discover in the Ozarks, and there is still a strong mountain culture in rural areas. The Ozarks are noted for their natural beauty: the low but steep and tree-covered Ozark Mountains are green and alive with the sound of cicadas in summer, brilliantly colored in fall, and sometimes icy in winter.
Traditional Ozark culture is more closely akin to Appalachia than to the rest of the South, or even to the Delta-influenced areas of the rest of the state. There is a strong emphasis on traditional handicrafts, bluegrass music, and subsistence farming. The term "hillbilly" can refer to people from this part of Arkansas as well as parts of Appalachia; it is generally used as a derogative term referring to a poor, rural isolated lifestyle, but it may have positive cultural connotations as well in terms of traditional music and ways of life.

## Talk

This area of Arkansas is predominantly English-speaking, though migration to the area has meant many more Spanish speakers. Spanish is by far the second most common language.

## Get in

The Ozark region of Arkansas covers the northwestern corner of the state. Airport access is available through the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, or XNA. Further away, but possibly more convenient depending on your route and destination, are the airports at Tulsa, Oklahoma and Little Rock.
The area is crossed by the I-540 freeway, which connects to I-40 near Fort Smith and I-44 in Missouri. If coming from Tulsa, Highway 412 is your best bet.
The nearest Amtrak stop is in Little Rock.

## See

* Pea Ridge National Military Park. Civil War battlefield.

## Do

* Hiking and backpacking: The Ozark Highlands Trail is rated as one of the best backpacking trails in the United States. It reaches from Lake Fort Smith Park to the Buffalo national river, stretching 218 miles. It reaches some of the most remote areas of the Ozark Mountains, like the Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area.
* Go to craft fairs. On the third weekend of October -- known as "War Eagle Weekend" after the biggest of the fairs, at the historic War Eagle Mill -- there are arts and crafts fairs all over Northwest Arkansas. Thousands of people visit the Ozarks for this weekend, to see the fairs, buy handicrafts, and (if the weather cooperates) admire the fall foliage.