Arkansas Fact Sheet

Geography

Arkansas is bounded on the north by Missouri, on the east by the Mississippi River (which divides it from Mississippi and Tennessee), on the south by Louisiana and on the west by Texas and Oklahoma. Ranking 26th in size among the 50 states, with 53,187 square miles, Arkansas is a compact, multi-faceted vacation land. The state is noted for the beauty of its extensive forests (more than 60% of it is wooded) and for an abundance of water (more than 600,000 acres of lakes, 9,700 miles of streams and rivers, and numerous natural springs).

Elevations in the state range from 54 feet above sea level in the southeast corner to 2,753 feet above sea level at the state’s highest point, Mount Magazine in the Arkansas River Valley. The limestone hills of the Ozark Mountains rumple the northern reaches of the state, while the east-west running, sandstone Ouachita Mountains cover the west central portion. To the east is the fertile Delta country and to the south lies the rolling Gulf Coastal Plain, also known as the Timberlands region.

Climate

Arkansas is blessed with a moderate to warm climate, generally without extremes of heat or cold. In the spring and fall, mild temperatures are just about perfect for outdoor activities. Spring is bright and welcoming with wildflowers and blossoming trees and shrubs. Summer is warm with long daylight hours. Fall is vivid with bright colors as the winter season nears. And Arkansas winters are normally mild, with many temperate days suitable for golfing, tennis, hiking, fishing and touring. Temperatures range from the 30s in the winter to 80s and 90s in the summer. Precipitation averages 44 to 48 inches per year in the northwest, with more than 54 inches annually in the southeast.

Population

Arkansas is home to 2.67 million people. Much of the state is rural, with population centers in Little Rock-North Little Rock, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff and Jonesboro. The towns of Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville form an almost unbroken complex of development in the northwest corner of the state. Texarkana, an important city to the southwest, straddles the state’s border with Texas.

Transportation

Located near the state’s center, Little Rock is the hub for all forms of transport in Arkansas. It is served by Interstates 30 and 40, by the Little Rock National Airport (regularly scheduled flights by national and regional carriers), by daily AMTRAK service, and by the Arkansas River, a major tributary of the Mississippi, which offers access by water for pleasure cruisers. The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at Highfill provides air access to that region of the state via national and regional airlines.

Year-round sports for active vacationers

There’s so much to see and do in Arkansas. The year gets off to a rousing start with thoroughbred racing at Oaklawn Jockey Club in Hot Springs which is now in its second century. There’s also greyhound racing at Southland Park Gaming and Racing in West Memphis year-round. There are more than 150 golf courses in Arkansas for all-seasons play and abundant tennis courts as well. There’s no season on fishing, and tales of sizable trout, bass, bream, crappie, catfish, striped bass and walleye are enough to make any fisherman envious. Numerous hiking trails -- including the 225-mile-long Ouachita Trail and the 168-mile-long Ozark Highlands Trail -- lead to close-up views of nature’s beauty and sweeping vistas overlooking rolling hills and hidden valleys. Canoeing is thrilling on 19 major streams, including the country’s first national river park, the Buffalo. Four streams -- the White, North Fork, Little Red and Spring -- offer exceptional trout fishing. Almost 10,000 public use campsites are available throughout the state. Spectacular highways include Ark. 7, named in 1994 the state’s first scenic byway, Crowley’s Ridge Parkway and Great River Road, two national scenic byways in eastern Arkansas and the Talimena Scenic Drive, now boasting a federal scenic designation. Six national park sites and 52 state parks preserve natural, historic and cultural aspects of Arkansas’s heritage.

Where to find the fun

1. Situated in a park-like setting on the banks of the Arkansas River, Arkansas’s capital city, Little Rock, is the state’s center of education, finance, government and medicine. The Clinton Presidential Center and Park anchors the River Market entertainment district downtown which boasts numerous eateries, bars, shops and offices. The Historic Arkansas Museum, Old State House, Arkansas Arts Center, Museum of Discovery, Aerospace Education Center/IMAX Theatre, Central High School National Historic Site and Museum Visitors Center, and Little Rock Zoo with its one-of-a-kind historic Over the Jumps carousel are important visitor attractions.
2. Across the river, North Little Rock offers Burns Park, one of the nation’s larger municipal parks; Wild River Country, a water theme park; the USS Razorback submarine; the Arkansas Queen riverboat, and the Old Mill, which appeared in the opening sequences of "Gone With the Wind.
3. To the southwest, Hot Springs is both a popular resort city and the nation’s oldest federal preserve, predating Yellowstone by some 40 years. Thoroughbred racing from winter into spring (followed by simulcast racing), thermal spa bathing, three lakes, two state parks, numerous art galleries, the Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs Mountain Tower, Belle of Hot Springs excursion boat and a wide range of other visitor attractions make this one of the state’s most complete vacation destinations. Magic Springs/Crystal Falls theme and water parks form a recreational complex offering fun for the entire family. Hot Springs is the boyhood home of former President Bill Clinton with a number of sites relating to his formative years. Garvan Woodland Gardens on the shores of Lake Hamilton is a 210-acre, eye-catching addition to the Hot Springs’ roster of attractions.
4. Eureka Springs is "America’s Victorian Village" with an active artists and writers colony and a treasure trove of Victorian architecture that can be found clinging to steep mountainsides. The quaint, quirky town was named one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2002. Its entire downtown shopping district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A passion play, musical theaters, two lakes, museums, a heritage center with gardens, a steam train, big cat sanctuary and numerous other things to do make this town a "must-see" for visitors.
5. Mountain View has been called the "Folk Music Capital of the World." Each evening, when the weather is mild, the town square fills with guitar pickers, banjo players and fiddlers, who play old-time mountain music. Ozark pioneer ways are preserved and displayed for visitors at the Ozark Folk Center State Park from April through October. During the day, more than 20 artisans demonstrate homestead skills such as quilting, preserving, pottery making, woodcarving, and basket making and weaving. Each evening, musicians and dancers take stage in the center’s theater for nostalgic musical variety shows of authentic Ozark music and dancing. Nearby, the underground splendor, Blanchard Springs Caverns, has been called "the cave find of the 20th Century." A popular addition to the regular tours at the caverns is the "Wild Cave Tours" where the more adventuresome can explore the undeveloped areas of the cave.
6. The Great River Road is a series of marked routes paralleling the Mississippi River in eastern Arkansas and a designated national scenic byway. The Great River Road will celebrate its 70th Anniversary in 2008. This is Arkansas’s "bread basket" where farmlands stretch to the horizon and the latest agricultural techniques are employed in the planting and harvesting of cotton, soybeans, rice and wheat. Fine museums, stately antebellum homes, Civil War battlefields, old river lakes, national wildlife refuges, a greyhound race track, several state parks, a national forest and the Arkansas Post National Memorial lie along its route. Helena-West Helena, Arkansas’s principal Mississippi Riverport, is a highlight of the Great River Road, featuring the Delta Cultural Center, restored antebellum and Victorian homes, and a great tradition of blues music.
7. Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only site in the world where visitors can play "finders keepers" as they search for these precious gems. Diamonds were first discovered at this site in 1906 and, since then, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed here. Notable diamonds include the 40.23-carat "Uncle Sam," [the largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States]; the 16.37-carat "Amarillo Starlight," and the 15.33-carat "Star of Arkansas.” The 3.03-carat "Strawn-Wagner Diamond," was cut to a 1.09-carat gem graded "D" flawless O/O/O, the highest grade a diamond can achieve by the American Gem Society, and is on permanent display at the park. The park staff provides free identification and certification of diamonds and interpreters present programs about diamonds, the geology of the gem-bearing diamond pipe, the park's history, and its diversity of plant and animal species. Diamond Springs Water Playground, a 14,700-square-foot mining-themed aquatic playground, features a 4,166-square-foot wading pool with spray geysers, sprayers, water jets, animated waterspouts, cascades, two water slides and waterfall hideaways along with a spacious deck and pool furniture.
8. Fort Smith is a booming city where a Wild West legacy is evident. The Fort Smith National Historic Site preserves the frontier courtroom of Judge" Isaac Parker and a recreation of his gallows. Numerous interactive exhibits explain what life was like on the border that stood between civilization and the raucous unsettled territory. The Park at West End, an old-fashioned amusement park, includes an original late 1930s Ferris Wheel now restored, Italian hand-painted carousel plus a Pullman dining car converted into a diner. The Belle Grove Historic District here and Old Main Street in sister city, Van Buren across the Arkansas River, contain many 19th century structures.
9. Pine Bluff is Old South in outlook and feeling. It is home to a convention center, the Delta Rivers Nature Center, the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, the Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Historical Museum, the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, the Band Museum and many renovated homes. Engine 819 is a restored steam engine which, along with a complement of rolling stock, may be visited at the Arkansas Railroad Museum. Downtown are 13 colorful murals depicting the city’s past.
10. Jonesboro is a major trade center for Northeast Arkansas. On the campus of Arkansas State University are the multimillion-dollar Convocation Center, a versatile sports and meeting complex, the ASU Museum, the ASU Fine Arts Center and the Fowler Performing Arts Center. And in downtown Jonesboro, the Forum Civic Center and Theatre, housed in a restored movie theater, hosts touring companies and special productions plus features art galleries, classes in dance, music and drama. Just north of town, Lake Frierson State Park offers excellent fishing and recreational opportunities.
11. Major Lakes, created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are located throughout the northern and western regions of the state. They offer all forms of water sports and outstanding fishing opportunities. In the Ozarks, Beaver, Bull Shoals, Norfork and Greers Ferry provide thousands of acres of water surface for sportsmen. In the Ouachitas, the big lakes are Ouachita, DeGray, Greeson, Millwood, Nimrod and Blue Mountain. Lake Dardanelle, an impoundment of the Arkansas River, lies between the two mountain regions. At Hot Springs, Hamilton and Catherine are lakes developed in the 1920s and ‘30s by Arkansas Power and Light Company. Little Rock’s water supply, Lake Maumelle, just west of Little Rock, is noted for its sailing regattas.
12. Festivals, fairs and other special events abound in Arkansas. There’s hardly a weekend in the year when there isn’t a festival in full swing. A few of the most popular include the Arkansas Folk Festival at Mountain View, third weekend in April; Riverfest in Little Rock, Memorial Day Weekend; Pink Tomato Festival at Warren, early June; Independence Day celebrations all over the state, July 4; Hope Watermelon Festival in mid August; the National Championship Chuck Wagon Races on Labor Day Weekend in Clinton; Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival in Helena-West Helena in early October; Arkansas Oktoberfest and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival both held in mid-October in Hot Springs; the Original War Eagle Crafts Fair at War Eagle Mills Farm, third weekend in October; and the World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest in Stuttgart, Thanksgiving Week. And throughout December, Arkansas glows with holiday lights from border to border during the Trail of Holiday Lights campaign.