Arkansas Delta Attractions

Arkansas Post National Memorial/Arkansas Post Museum State Park – The memorial, a National Park Service unit, commemorates the first permanent European settlement (1686) in the lower Mississippi River valley. In 1819, Arkansas Post became Arkansas’s first territorial capital and it was the scene of a major Civil War engagement in 1863. A walking tour with informational panels and a short film and exhibits in the memorial’s visitors center interpret the site. The nearby state museum houses a broad collection of artifacts and materials relating to the Post and to agricultural and pioneer life in the surrounding area. The museum is located six miles south of Gillett at the junction of U.S. 165 and Ark. 169, and the memorial lies two miles to the east at the end of Ark. 169. National memorial: 870- 548-2207; http://www.nps.gov/arpo/. State museum 870-548-2634; http://www.ArkansasStateParks.com.

Great River Road – The Great River Road shadows the Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Arkansas’s portion of the route, which was designated a National Scenic Byway in 2002, travels the flat terrain of the nation’s largest alluvial plain as well as portions of its extraordinary strip of elevated ground known as Crowley’s Ridge. At stops on and near Arkansas’s GRR, travelers can explore the rich heritage of eastern Arkansas’s Delta region, including remnants of its original hardwood-forest landscape, Native Americans, the Civil War and more. The Arkansas Delta Byways tourism Web site, www.deltabyways.com, provides comprehensive GRR information. Free brochures can be ordered via the Web site and by phone at 870-972-2803.

Helena/West Helena/Delta Cultural Center – Exhibits at the Delta Cultural Center in the historic Mississippi River port town interpret the natural and human history of Arkansas’s Delta region. Included are interactive audio and video exhibits chronicling the rise of Delta blues and gospel music. Other Helena/West Helena highlights include the Phillips County Museum (established in 1929 with fundraising help from Mark Twain) and the Pillow-Thompson House, one of the South’s finest examples of Queen Anne architecture. Delta Cultural Center: 141Cherry St., 1-800-358-0972, www.deltaculturalcenter.com. Phillips County Museum: 623 Pecan St., 870-338-7790. Pillow-Thompson House: Perry and Beech Sts., 870-338-8535, www.pccua.edu/pillowthompson.

Lake Chicot/Lake Chicot State Park – A former main channel of the Mississippi River, Lake Chicot is Arkansas’s largest natural lake and the largest oxbow lake in North America. The lake and its environs are among the state’s top-rated birding areas. Lake Chicot State Park, located on the northeastern shore of the 20-mile lake, offers cabins, campsites, boat rentals and barge tours of the lake for sunset and wildlife viewing. On Ark. 144, eight miles northeast of Lake Village. 870-265-5480; www.ArkansasStateParks.com.

Lakeport Plantation – Considered one of Arkansas’s foremost historic house sites, Lakeport Plantation near Lake Village is the last remaining antebellum home on the Mississippi River in Arkansas that has not been destroyed or altered significantly. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the home was donated to Arkansas State University in 2001 and has been researched and carefully restored as a museum focusing on the people and cultures that shaped life in the Mississippi River Delta. Located off U.S. 82 on Ark. 142 near Lake Village. 870-265-6031. http://lakeport.astate.edu.

Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park – This small state park preserves a rare headwater swamp and a granite marker denoting the initial point, designated a National Historic Landmark, from which land surveys of U.S. territory acquired from France via the 1803 Louisiana Purchase were measured. Designated a National Recreation Trail, the park’s 950-foot boardwalk features panels relating the story of the purchase, the survey and the swamp. The park is located at the end of Ark. 362 two miles east from U.S. 49 about 19 miles southeast of Brinkley and about 30 miles northwest of Helena. To request a free park brochure, phone 1-888-AT-PARKS (toll-free). www.ArkansasStateParks.com.

Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie – At the time of pioneer settlement, Arkansas’s largest tall-grass prairie covered most of two counties and parts of two others. Starting in the early 20th century, it was converted into the nation’s most productive rice-growing region and its waterfowl hunting became nationally renowned. The Museum of the Arkansas Grand Prairie in Stuttgart, a town founded by German immigrants in the late 1870s, presents the heritage of the region and town. Fourth and Park Sts. 870-673-7001; www.stuttgartmuseum.org.

Northern Ohio School – The historic structure, located on the grounds of Parkin Archeological State Park, was once an African American school built in the early 1900s for the children of mill workers at the Northern Ohio Lumber and Cooperage Company. The restoration of the school was based largely on oral history interviews with formers students. The story of the Northern Ohio School, along with its preservation and interpretation, will provide an essential experience and a lasting cultural legacy for visitors to Parkin Archeological State Park and the Delta region. The park is located at U.S. 64 & Ark.184 North. 870-755-2500; www.ArkansasStateParks.com

Randolph County Heritage Museum – located on the Historic Pocahontas Court Square, the museum tells the story of the Randolph County area from its earliest history to the present. Using permanent and transitory exhibits, lecture presentations, interactive exhibits and other informational programs, the museum is a living forum linking the present day to Randolph County's rich and varied past. Includes extensive exhibits on button and pearling industry and a room dedicated to the history of the Black and Current Rivers. 106 East Everett Street. 870-892-4056; www.randolphcomuseum.org

St. Francis National Forest – located on the east central edge of the state, the forest derives its name from the St. Francis River. Most of the forest is situated on Crowley's Ridge, but some is in the low, flat lands along the Mississippi and St. Francis Rivers. The St. Francis National Forest is the only place in the National Forest System where the public can experience the awesome grandeur of the mighty Mississippi River from the shoreline. The forest covers over 22,000 acres and has a variety of the finest bottomland hardwoods in the country. The St. Francis provides ideal habitat for a large variety of wildlife including whitetail deer, wild turkey, squirrel, raccoon, rabbit and waterfowl. There are also two Scenic Byways that pass through the forest. Remodeling of the facilities at Bear Creek Lake is expected to begin in summer of 2007. Plans are under way for a Mississippi River State Park to be located within the forest. Southeast of Marianna. 870-295-5278; www.fs.fed.us/oonf/ozark.

Southern Tenant Farmers Museum – Located in Tyronza, the museum offers visitors the opportunity to explore the history of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. The museum exhibits focus on the story of tenant farming and sharecropping and the movement to remove abuses from the widely used system. The museum is located in the building that housed H.L. Mitchell’s dry cleaner and the service station owned by Clay East, two of the original organizers of the Union. The building also served as the unofficial headquarters of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU). Main Street at Chicago and Frisco Streets in downtown Tyronza. 870-487-2909; http://asunews.astate.edu/STFUlabor.htm

Southland Park – One of the largest greyhound racing facilities in the world. Southland offers a simulcast room for greyhound and thoroughbred races. Featuring over 800 electronic games of skill. 1550 N. Ingram Blvd. 870-735-3670, 800-467-6182. www.southlandgreyhound.com

White River National Wildlife Refuge – This 160,000-acre refuge in east-central Arkansas includes the nation’s largest contiguous block of bottomland-hardwood forest under a single ownership. A new visitors center opened in 2003 in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the nation’s refuge system. Exhibits cover such topics as an historic timeline of the area, fish and wildlife, bottomland hardwood forests and forest management, soil composition, hydrology and birds and migratory flyways.