Overlanding

Arkansas

Buffalo National River, Arkansas

Why Arkansas is two mountain ranges, one undammed river and a hundred lakeside campgrounds

Arkansas is a low state with two real mountain ranges inside it. The U.S. Geological Survey puts the high point at 2,753 feet on Magazine Mountain in Logan County and the low point at 55 feet on the Ouachita River in Ashley and Union counties, so everything you drive fits inside about 2,700 feet of relief. Federal agencies hold 3,174,549 acres, 9.4 percent of the state’s 33,599,360, and four fifths of that is national forest: 2,593,690 acres under the Forest Service.

Those acres come in two blocks with the Arkansas River between them. South of it the Ouachita National Forest covers nearly 1.8 million acres in central Arkansas and southeast Oklahoma, which the Forest Service calls the oldest and largest national forest in its Southern Region, carrying over 700 miles of trail. North of it the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests hold 1.2 million acres, and the Buffalo National River runs 135 miles through the Ozarks with no dam on it, one of the few rivers left in the lower 48 that can say so. The Army Corps of Engineers is the quiet giant here: its lakes account for 100 of the 130 federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach in this state.

What sets the calendar is water, not altitude. NOAA puts Arkansas’s long-term average precipitation at 50.1 inches a year and says heavy rains can produce totals above 10 inches. Both national forests give drivers the same instruction, in the same words: avoid driving on unpaved roads or trails when they are wet or muddy. The Wolf Pen Gap trail system near Mena writes it into its operating rules and can close when heavy rain occurs or is predicted. Plan around rain here the way a driver in the Rockies plans around snow.

Arkansas by the numbers

Acres of federal land 1: 3.17M; 9.4 percent of Arkansas’s 33.6 million acres. The Forest Service holds 2,593,690 of them
Acres in the Ouachita National Forest 5: 1.8M; Across central Arkansas and southeast Oklahoma. The oldest and largest national forest in the Forest Service’s Southern Region
Acres in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests 19: 1.2M; More than a million in the Ozark, over 20,000 in the St. Francis on Crowley’s Ridge
Acres of forest statewide 43: 18.8M; The Forestry Division’s figure for all Arkansas forest, of which only 2.6 million is national forest
Magazine Mountain, the highest point in Arkansas 2: 2,753 ft; Logan County. The lowest point is 55 feet, on the Ouachita River
Of free-flowing Buffalo National River 34: 135 miles; One of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states. Established in 1972
Federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 4: 130; 100 Army Corps of Engineers, 19 Forest Service, 11 National Park Service. 115 take reservations
Average annual precipitation 45: 50.1 in; NOAA’s long-term average for the state. Heavy rains can produce totals above 10 inches

The ground: two forests, one river, and a great deal of private timber

Arkansas’s 3,174,549 federal acres are split among five agencies: the Forest Service with 2,593,690, the Fish and Wildlife Service with 392,286, the National Park Service with 100,723, the Department of Defense with 85,118 and the BLM with 2,732. The BLM figure is the important one to read properly. There is effectively no BLM ground here, and the national BLM route layer holds no Arkansas records at all, so nothing on this page is a BLM road. If you have driven the West, drop that habit at the state line and read a Motor Vehicle Use Map instead.

The Ouachita National Forest runs through five district clusters: Caddo Womble at about 310,000 acres, Jessieville Winona Fourche at about 406,000, Mena Oden at about 400,000, Poteau Cold Springs at 334,000 and the Oklahoma district over the line. Its ranges run east and west, which is why the Talimena byway can follow one crest for 54 miles. North of the Arkansas River the Ozark-St. Francis works through six districts: Big Piney at Hector, Boston Mountain at Ozark, Mt. Magazine at Paris, Pleasant Hill at Clarksville, St. Francis at Marianna and Sylamore at Mountain View. Big Piney is the largest at roughly 496,000 acres across seven counties, with four wilderness areas and four wild and scenic rivers on it.

The Park Service holds two places a driver plans around. Buffalo National River was established in 1972 and its enabling law caps the boundary at 95,730 acres; Hot Springs National Park protects what it calls the only nonvolcanic geothermal springs of such high quality in the United States and keeps six scenic overlooks you can drive to. The Fish and Wildlife Service runs the bottomland refuges in the south and east, among them the 76,000-acre Felsenthal on the Ouachita and Saline rivers. The Army Corps of Engineers holds no acreage in that federal table and still decides where most people sleep: its Arkansas projects run from Beaver, Bull Shoals, Norfork and Greers Ferry in the north to Dardanelle, Nimrod, Blue Mountain, Ouachita, DeGray, Greeson, Millwood, De Queen, Dierks and Gillham in the center and south, plus nine pools along the Arkansas River, out of the Little Rock, Memphis and Vicksburg districts.

Two kinds of ground catch visitors out. Game and Fish wildlife management areas look open on a map and are not: the commission restricts all-terrain vehicles, dune buggies and amphibious vehicles on WMAs, bars motor vehicles off open access roads and parking areas, and limits camping to 14 consecutive days in a designated camping area and 30 days in a calendar year. And most of the trees are somebody’s. The Forestry Division counts more than 18.8 million acres of forest and over 11.5 billion trees in Arkansas, against 2.6 million acres of national forest, so the green on your map is mostly private timber with a logging road on it.

Source 1

Rain, rock and the weeks a trail system is shut

NOAA puts Arkansas’s long-term average at 50.1 inches of precipitation a year and notes an upward trend in three-inch rain days, from a long-term average of 1.1 a year to 1.8 a year over 2015 to 2020. Heavy rains can produce totals above 10 inches. The state record for rain in a day is 16.17 inches, at Dierks in July 2019, and for a year 101.05 inches, at Big Fork in 2015. That is the number that decides your trip.

The agencies act on it. Wolf Pen Gap, the big OHV complex near Mena, runs a season rather than a year: designated routes are typically open from the first Friday of March through October 31, with extra access Thanksgiving week and from December 22 to January 2, and the system can close when heavy rain occurs or is predicted. On Huckleberry Mountain the Forest Service warns that the six crossings of Big Shoal Creek can be difficult in high water, and a stretch of Forest Service Road 1604 has been closed for good by a landslide. Beside the Buffalo, the Park Service notes that no road follows the river because it floods regularly.

Summer and winter each take their bite. NOAA lists severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, flood-producing rain and winter ice storms as Arkansas’s extreme weather; the Weather Service’s state record is 107 tornadoes in 1999. January average lows run from 23 to 26 degrees in the northwest down to 30 to 35 in the southwest, so a freeze in the Ozarks and rain in the south on the same night is normal. The record heat is 120 degrees at Ozark in 1936 and the record cold minus 29 at Gravette in 1905.

None of this means a season is published for most roads. Outside Wolf Pen Gap, the byways and trail systems here are described as open all year, and what closes them is the last few days of weather rather than a date. Call the district office before a long drive to a trailhead, and treat a forecast of heavy rain as a reason to change the plan.

Source 45

What Arkansas asks of a vehicle

The honest answer is traction and ground clearance, not a locker. Access roads to the Buffalo are the clearest statement any agency makes here: the Park Service says they may not be paved and in some cases are extremely rocky and may require a four-wheel drive or a high-clearance vehicle. The entrance road at Kyles Landing is gravel, steep and very rough; Erbie sits seven miles down a gravel road; Rush is paved until the park boundary and then graded gravel. The same page warns that GPS is very unreliable in this area and has sent numerous visitors onto dirt roads, so carry the park map or the state highway map.

Width and length matter more than most people expect. The Forest Service restricts vehicles to 72 inches on the Buckhorn OHV Trail, and the main Buckhorn trailhead is built for 16-foot trailers. Surfaces are clay, dirt, rock and natural ground, easy to most difficult, and the Mill Creek trail is described as gravel or unsurfaced and rough and rocky. A wide, long build does well on the byways and poorly on the trail systems, which is worth knowing before you buy a trailer.

On the pavement side, ARDOT maintains over 16,000 miles of road and publishes conditions through iDrive Arkansas. ARDOT publishes no traction or chain law, so nothing is required of your tires by rule; what the forests ask is simpler and stricter, which is not to drive their unpaved roads and trails when they are wet or muddy.

Carry water and expect to be on your own on the trail systems. Brock Creek has no water at the campground or day-use area and no trash service. Mill Creek allows no camping at the trailhead. The Ouachita’s own list of off-highway vehicle rules asks for a state-approved muffler or spark arrester, travel only on areas, roads and trails designated open, and no recreational riding inside developed campgrounds.

Source 44

Passes and routes

Talimena National Scenic BywayPaved

2,681 ft 54 miles

Mena, Arkansas and Talihina, Oklahoma

The Forest Service describes a curving drive that winds 54 miles west along the spine of Rich Mountain and Winding Stair Mountain, with panoramas of the east-west ranges of the Ouachitas. It passes Queen Wilhelmina State Park, visitor information stations and the Robert S. Kerr Memorial Arboretum. Rich Mountain, the high point of the whole national forest at 2,681 feet, is ten miles west of Mena on Arkansas 88, with vault toilets and picnic tables at the top; the lookout tower there is closed to the public. 15

Vehicle
Any car

Season
Open year round. No fee
Scenic 7 BywayPaved

60.6 miles

The Ouachita and Ozark national forests, by Hot Springs, Russellville and Jasper

The Forest Service counts 60.6 miles of Highway 7 as national forest scenic byway, on a road that runs the length of the state from Louisiana to Missouri. On the Ouachita end it passes Nimrod Reservoir, the Flatside Wilderness, the Ouachita National Recreation Trail, two Civilian Conservation Corps camps and many stream crossings including the Fourche LaFave River. It then drops into the Arkansas River valley near Russellville and climbs back into the Ozark highlands. 26

Vehicle
Any car

Season
Open year round
St. Francis Scenic Byway

Over 21 miles, about 14 of them gravel

Marianna and Helena, along the crest of Crowley’s Ridge

A Delta drive on the St. Francis, the small eastern half of the Ozark-St. Francis at over 20,000 acres. The byway follows the crest of Crowley’s Ridge for over 21 miles and is also signed as the Great River Road, with views over the Mississippi and St. Francis river valleys. About fourteen miles of it, Forest Service Road 1900 between the 625-acre Bear Creek Lake and the 420-acre Storm Creek Lake, are still gravel. 27

Vehicle
Any car in dry weather

Season
Open year round. No fee
Poteau Mountain Rustic Road Auto Tour

22 miles

Forest Road 158 along the crest of Poteau Mountain, on the Poteau-Cold Springs district

The Poteau-Cold Springs district describes a 22-mile auto tour on Forest Road 158 that runs the crest of Poteau Mountain, with pull-in and window vistas along it. The same district holds the 10,884-acre Poteau Mountain Wilderness, the Dry Creek Wilderness and the Lake Vista Overlook above the Petit Jean River valley toward Mount Magazine. No season or surface is published for the road, so ask the district office. 14

Vehicle
Forest road. Check the Motor Vehicle Use Map before you go
Wolf Pen Gap Trail Complex

Trailheads off Arkansas 375 south of Highway 8, east of Mena

The OHV system the Ouachita runs on a calendar, and the clearest example of how rain governs this state. The Forest Service says the system can close when heavy rain occurs or is predicted, and riding after sundown or before sunrise is prohibited. There is no permit and no fee. The west trailhead is reached from Mena by taking Highway 8 east one mile to Arkansas 375, then south eight miles toward County Road 277. 17

Vehicle
Off-highway vehicles on designated routes. No tracked vehicles

Season
Typically the first Friday of March through October 31, plus Thanksgiving week and December 22 to January 2
Buckhorn OHV Trails

60 miles

Lee Creek Unit of the Boston Mountain Ranger District, near Chester

A 60-mile network in two loops with interconnecting shortcuts, rated easy to most difficult, on surfaces the Forest Service describes as clay and dirt rock through to natural ground, with very rocky sections. Vehicles are restricted to 72 inches wide. The main trailhead is off Highway 220, is graveled and is built for 16-foot trailers. 28

Vehicle
Off-highway vehicles up to 72 inches wide
Brock Creek Trails

Over 42 miles

Conway County Road 32 north from Jerusalem, on the Big Piney Ranger District

Two major loops and many interconnecting ones through oak and hickory with occasional pine and small streams. The trail system’s own page gives over 42 miles while the Big Piney district describes a 37-mile single and double-track motorized network; both figures are the agency’s. Cross-country travel is not permitted. There is no water at the campground or day-use area and no trash service, so pack it in and pack it out. 29

Vehicle
Off-highway vehicles, dirt bikes and horses on designated trails only

Season
Open year round. No fee
Moccasin Gap

28 miles

Arkansas 7, 25 miles north of Russellville

Four loop trails through hardwood and pine with numerous streams and small waterfalls, on the west side of Scenic 7. The Big Piney district calls it a 28-mile multi-use trail. Day use is $3 per vehicle or ATV unit, which includes one OHV trail pass, and camping is $15 a site. It is also one of the areas covered by the forests’ $30 annual day use pass. 30

Vehicle
Portions open to off-highway vehicles and high-clearance vehicles

Season
Open year round
Huckleberry Mountain

37.3 miles

Between Paris and Mount Magazine, on the Mt. Magazine Ranger District

A 37.3-mile system built first for horses: the Huckleberry Mountain Trail runs 18.8 miles with the Bell Springs Loop at 6.6 and the Apple Loop at 12.2, over old logging roads, open forest roads and gravel. Six trail crossings of Big Shoal Creek can be difficult in high water, and a portion of Forest Service Road 1604, the Shoal Creek road, has been permanently closed by a landslide. 31

Vehicle
Open to off-highway vehicles, horses, bikes and walkers
Mill Creek Trail

Forest Service Road 1007 south of Combs, reached on Arkansas 16 east of Fayetteville

Gravel or unsurfaced and made of rough and rocky terrain, through mountainous country with rock outcrops, rated easy to very difficult. The fee is $3 per vehicle per day per unit. No camping is allowed at the trailhead and ATVs are not allowed inside designated campgrounds. The Forest Service adds on this page that state law on helmets, spark arresters and mufflers will be enforced. 32

Vehicle
ATVs and OHVs. State helmet, spark arrester and muffler law is enforced

Season
Open year round
White Rock Mountain road

2,260 ft 8 miles on Forest Service Road 1505, then 2.5 on Road 1003

Mulberry to the White Rock Mountain Recreation Area

A climb to a 2,260-foot bluff-top with Civilian Conservation Corps cabins and a lodge from the 1930s, eight family camping units, water and vault toilets. The Forest Service route is Arkansas 215 north from Mulberry for 15 miles, then Forest Service Road 1505 for 8 miles, paved for the first half mile and gravel after that, then Forest Service Road 1003 west for 2.5 miles on gravel. Road 1003 has been under closure and reopened in part, which is the usual pattern up here. 33

Vehicle
Gravel forest road. Check current closures before you commit

Season
Open all year
Buffalo National River access roads

Highways 7, 43, 65, 62/412 and 14 down to the river landings, measured from Harrison

The park has no road along the river, because it floods regularly, so every visit is a descent and a climb back out. The Park Service says access roads may not be paved and in some cases are extremely rocky and may require a four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicle. Kyles Landing’s entrance road is gravel, steep and very rough. Erbie is seven miles down gravel. Rush is paved to the park boundary, then graded gravel. Tyler Bend has 27 drive-in sites and Buffalo Point 80, which are the two places a large vehicle is comfortable. GPS is very unreliable here and has sent visitors onto dirt roads in the wrong direction. 35

Vehicle
Four-wheel drive or high clearance may be needed on some entrances
Hot Springs Mountain Drive and West Mountain DrivePaved

Loops off Central Avenue in Hot Springs

Short paved mountain roads inside the national park, laid out to reach six scenic overlooks above the bathhouses. The Park Service names Hot Springs Mountain Drive with its North Mountain Loop and West Mountain Drive with its Summit Loop. No lengths, grades or vehicle limits are published for them, so nothing more is stated here. The park protects what it calls the only nonvolcanic geothermal springs of such high quality in the United States. 39

Vehicle
Any car

Season
Open year round

Rules worth knowing

The Mena-Oden district is 400,000 acres and two wildernesses: The Mena-Oden Ranger District covers approximately 400,000 acres of the western Ouachitas, holding the 14,460-acre Caney Creek Wilderness and the 13,579-acre Black Fork Mountain Wilderness. It is the district the Talimena byway runs along, and the wilderness boundaries either side of it are why the road network thins so quickly off the crest. 11
The Caddo and Womble districts are 310,000 acres: The Caddo and Womble Ranger District covers approximately 310,000 acres in the Ouachita Mountains, the country between Mount Ida and the Caddo River. It is the middle of the forest and the part most often reached from Hot Springs. 12
Jessieville, Winona and Fourche cover 406,000 acres: The Jessieville Winona Fourche Ranger District holds approximately 406,000 acres on the north and east end of the Ouachita National Forest, including the 9,507-acre Flatside Wilderness and 71 miles of the Ouachita National Recreation Trail. It is the district closest to Little Rock and the busiest of the three. 13
The Ozark-St. Francis is 1.2 million acres in two pieces: The Ozark-St. Francis National Forests offer 1.2 million acres of hardwood and pine, mountain streams and scenic drives. The Ozark National Forest covers more than a million acres, mostly in northwestern Arkansas; the St. Francis covers over 20,000 on the east central edge of the state. The Ozarks themselves are plateaus, uplifted as a unit and cut into narrow V-shaped valleys, which is why the roads follow ridges rather than contours. 18
Seven motor vehicle use maps, and a summary of changes: The Ozark-St. Francis publishes seven motor vehicle use maps, for Big Piney, Boston Mountain, Mount Magazine, Pleasant Hill, St. Francis, Sylamore and Wedington, along with a 2026 summary of changes. Printed forest maps are 14 dollars each. The summary of changes is the document to read if you have driven here before: it says what moved. 20
Ask the district, not the forest: The Ozark-St. Francis publishes its ranger district offices as the contact points for conditions and closures. With seven districts across two separate forests and a two-state administration, the district office is the only level at which a question about a specific road gets a specific answer. 22
Thirty days dispersed, then five road miles: The forest defines dispersed camping as camping anywhere on national forest land outside a designated campground, and sets the terms plainly: you may camp in a dispersed area for up to 30 days, after which you must move at least five road miles to camp in another, and you may not return to the same campsite within the calendar year. That 30-day allowance is among the most generous in this guide. 23
The forest publishes its own safety and ethics guidance: The Ozark-St. Francis sets out safety and outdoor ethics as a page of its own, covering weather, water and leaving no trace. In a forest where the dispersed camping rule is this open, that guidance is what keeps it open, and it is worth reading once rather than assuming. 24
Big Piney is the largest district, at 496,000 acres: The Big Piney Ranger District encompasses approximately 496,000 acres across Van Buren, Conway, Searcy, Newton, Johnson, Madison and Pope counties, with four wilderness areas, a research natural area, four wild and scenic rivers, nearly 60 miles of the Ozark Highlands Trail, two scenic byways, the 28-mile Moccasin Gap multi-use trail and a 37-mile motorised trail network at Brock Creek. It is the single richest district in the state for a vehicle. 25
On the Buffalo, vehicles stay on maintained roads: The park’s camping rules state that vehicles must stay on maintained roads and parking areas, that ATV use is prohibited, that generators may only run between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and that quiet hours are 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. with a maximum of six people per individual campsite. Drive-in camping is at Tyler Bend, with 27 sites, and Buffalo Point, with 80 across five loops. 36
The Buffalo’s size is set by statute: Public Law 92-237 states that the total acreage within the park’s boundaries shall not exceed ninety-five thousand seven hundred and thirty acres, and the river flows freely for 135 miles, one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48. A ceiling written into the act is unusual, and it is why the park has not grown. 38
Sixteen Corps projects and nine river pools: The Corps of Engineers lists Arkansas projects across its Little Rock, Memphis and Vicksburg districts: Beaver, Blue Mountain, Bull Shoals, Dardanelle, DeGray, De Queen, Dierks, Gillham, Greers Ferry, Greeson, John Paul Hammerschmidt, Millwood, Nimrod, Norfork, Ouachita and Ozark, plus nine Arkansas River pools. In a state with two national forests, that is still where a great deal of the developed camping sits. 40
Felsenthal is a 76,000-acre refuge in the south: Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge covers 76,000 acres in south Arkansas, on bottomland where the Ouachita and Saline rivers meet. It is the largest refuge figure this guide could source for the state, and the country around it is the flattest, wettest driving in Arkansas. 41
The state’s weather records are worth knowing: The Weather Service’s Arkansas records include 16.17 inches of rain in a day at Dierks in Howard County on 16 July 2019, 101.05 inches in a year at Big Fork in Polk County in 2015, and 107 tornadoes in 1999. Those are the outer edges of a climate that turns forest roads to clay, and they explain why the dispersed camping rule here is written around moving on. 46
Dispersed camping: 30 days, then five road miles: Both Arkansas national forests publish the same rule. You may camp in a dispersed area for up to 30 days, after which you must move at least five road miles to camp in another dispersed area, and you may not return to the same campsite within the calendar year. Camp at least 100 feet from any stream or water source, stay within 150 feet of a roadway, and keep away from developed recreation areas. Nothing is provided: no water, no restrooms, no trash cans. Groups over 75 people need a special use permit. 8
The Motor Vehicle Use Map is the law, and it changes every year: The Ouachita publishes five Motor Vehicle Use Maps, one per district cluster, each with a special designation table; the Ozark-St. Francis publishes seven, plus a summary of what changed this year. The Forest Service calls them the most up-to-date resource for OHV riding and says it is the responsibility of motor vehicle users to acquire the current map. Download this year’s map for every district you plan to cross, not last year’s, and not a third-party layer. 6
What the forests require of an off-highway vehicle: The Ouachita lists the rules plainly: operate only on areas, roads and trails designated open to OHVs; meet state vehicle and operator requirements on roads open to large vehicles; carry a state-approved muffler or spark arrester; do not ride recreationally inside developed campgrounds, which you may only enter and leave; and do not operate in a way that damages land, wildlife or vegetation. Neither forest states an Arkansas OHV sticker or permit requirement on top of that, so the current map and the right equipment are what you are asked for. 7
Wet ground closes trails, and the agencies say so in writing: Both forests tell visitors, in the same words, to avoid driving on unpaved roads or trails when they are wet or muddy. Wolf Pen Gap goes further and runs a season: designated routes are typically open from the first Friday of March through October 31, with added access Thanksgiving week and from December 22 to January 2, and the trail system can close when heavy rain occurs or is predicted. Check with the district office before you tow a trailer to a trailhead after a storm. 10
Fees and passes on the Ozark-St. Francis: Several trail systems charge a small day use fee: Mill Creek is $3 per vehicle per day per unit, and Moccasin Gap is $3 per vehicle or ATV unit for day use with camping at $15 a site. The forests also sell a $30 annual Forest Day Use Pass that covers day use at Barkshed, Blanchard Springs, Horsehead Lake, Lake Wedington, Long Pool, Mill Creek, Moccasin Gap, Redding, Shores Lake, Sorgum Hollow, Spring Lake, the Syllamo bike trail and Wolf Pen. Printed forest maps are $14 each. 21
Burn bans are set county by county: Neither national forest posts burn bans itself. Both send you to the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Forestry Division, which has a presence in all 75 counties and publishes the wildfire danger and burn ban map for the state, and to Oklahoma Forestry Services for the district over the line. Check that map for the county you will camp in, not the one you set out from, and carry a stove with a shut-off valve so a ban does not decide whether you eat. 9
Inside Buffalo National River, stay on the maintained road: The Park Service requires vehicles to stay on maintained roads and parking areas, and prohibits ATV use in the park outright. Generators may only run between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., quiet hours are 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and an individual campsite takes a maximum of six people. Fires belong in the provided rings. The park publishes no stay limit and no backcountry driving, so treat the campgrounds and the landings as the whole of your vehicle access. 37
Game and Fish land has its own vehicle and camping rules: On wildlife management areas the commission restricts all-terrain vehicles, dune buggies and amphibious vehicles, and bars motor vehicles from operating off any open access road or parking area, behind gated, cabled or earthen barriers, or on levees, dams, food plots, fire lanes and roads built for wildlife. Camping is limited to 14 consecutive days and must be in a designated camping area, and no campsite may be used for more than 30 days in a calendar year. Campers aged 16 and over need a hunting or fishing license or a WMA permit. 42

How high is Arkansas?

From Marianna at 227 feet to Magazine Mountain at 2,753. Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.

Towns

Fayetteville The largest town in the northwest and the best place up here for parts and service. Mill Creek is reached from here on Arkansas 16 through Combs. 1,407 ft
Mena The east end of the Talimena National Scenic Byway and the town for Wolf Pen Gap, whose west trailhead is nine miles out on Highway 8 and Arkansas 375. The Mena-Oden Ranger District office is here. 1,173 ft
Harrison The headquarters town for Buffalo National River and the hub the park measures its driving directions from. 1,046 ft
Jasper On Scenic 7 in Newton County, in the middle of the upper Buffalo country, with one of the Big Piney district offices in town. 848 ft
Mountain Home Services between Bull Shoals and Norfork, two of the Corps of Engineers lakes that carry most of the federal camping in north Arkansas. 816 ft
Mountain View The Sylamore Ranger District office and the town for Blanchard Springs, in the eastern Ozarks above the White River. 764 ft
Mount Ida On US 270 between Mena and Hot Springs, with the Caddo-Womble Ranger District office in town and Lake Ouachita just to the east. 661 ft
Yellville On US 62/412 in Marion County, the turn for the lower Buffalo district down Arkansas 14 and the road to Rush. 627 ft
Hot Springs The Ouachita National Forest supervisor’s office and Hot Springs National Park are both here, along with the last full services before the forest roads west of town. 590 ft
Paris Services below Mount Magazine and the Mt. Magazine Ranger District office, on the road to Arkansas’s highest ground. 405 ft
Ozark On the Arkansas River at the foot of the Boston Mountains, with the Boston Mountain Ranger District office in town. 402 ft
Clarksville An I-40 exit onto Arkansas 21 into the Ozarks, and the Pleasant Hill Ranger District office. 370 ft
Russellville Where I-40 meets Scenic 7. Moccasin Gap is 25 miles north up Arkansas 7, and Lake Dardanelle sits on the edge of town. 348 ft
Little Rock State capital where I-30 meets I-40, the natural place to fit tires or have work done before heading into either forest. 337 ft
Arkadelphia On I-30 south of the Ouachitas, the highway town for DeGray and the southern Corps of Engineers lakes. 244 ft
Marianna The St. Francis Ranger District office and the north end of the St. Francis Scenic Byway along Crowley’s Ridge, in the Delta. 227 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

Magazine Mountain The highest point in Arkansas, in Logan County. The USGS publishes 2,753 feet; our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 2,747 2,753 ft
Rich Mountain The highest point on the Ouachita National Forest, on the Talimena byway west of Mena. The Forest Service publishes 2,681 feet; the elevation surface reads 2,678 2,681 ft
Rich Mountain Talimena National Scenic Byway: Mena, Arkansas and Talihina, Oklahoma 2,681 ft
White Rock Mountain A gravel-road summit on the Boston Mountain district. The Forest Service publishes 2,260 feet; the elevation surface reads 2,313 2,260 ft
White Rock Mountain White Rock Mountain road: Mulberry to the White Rock Mountain Recreation Area 2,260 ft
Petit Jean Mountain The mesa between the Ouachitas and the Arkansas River valley. Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point 1,194 ft
Crowleys Ridge The wind-blown ridge that the St. Francis Scenic Byway follows across the Delta. Our own reading of the elevation surface 544 ft

Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates), retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.

Sources for this page

Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Geographic Names Information System and 3D Elevation Program point query. Elevation of the 3DEP surface at the GNIS coordinates of the named place, rounded to the nearest foot.. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. About the Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Maps and Guides, including the five district Motor Vehicle Use Maps. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Camping and Cabins, including the dispersed camping guidelines. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Fire. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Safety and Outdoor Ethics. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Mena-Oden Ranger District. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Caddo/Womble Ranger District. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Jessieville Winona Fourche Ranger District. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Poteau/Cold Springs Ranger District. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Talimena National Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Rich Mountain. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest. Wolf Pen Gap Trail Complex. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. About the Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Maps and Guides, including the seven district Motor Vehicle Use Maps and the 2026 summary of changes. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Passes and Permits. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Offices. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Camping and Cabins, including the dispersed camping guidelines. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Safety and Outdoor Ethics. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Big Piney Ranger District. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Ozark National Forest Scenic Byway (Scenic 7 Byway). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. St. Francis Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Buckhorn OHV Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Brock Creek Trails. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Moccasin Gap. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Huckleberry Mountain. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Mill Creek Trail. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. White Rock Mountain Recreation Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Buffalo National River. Buffalo National River. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Buffalo National River. Basic Information, Directions and Camping. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Buffalo National River. Camping. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Buffalo National River. Camping Rules. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Buffalo National River. Management, quoting Public Law 92-237. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Hot Springs National Park. Scenic Drives and Overlooks, and Basic Information. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center. Corps Lakes Gateway: Arkansas projects. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. 2026-27 General WMA Regulations. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Forestry Division. Forestry Division, and its Wildfire Danger and Burn Bans map. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Arkansas Department of Transportation. Arkansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. State Climate Summaries 2022: Arkansas (NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 150-AR). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Weather Service, Little Rock. Arkansas Weather Records and Climate Information. Retrieved September 19, 2026.

Reviewed September 19, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

Who manages Arkansas

The agency on the sign decides where you can drive and where you can sleep. Choose one to see how much of the state it holds and what that means for a trip.

Arkansas
9.4% 3,174,549 acres

Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Table 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Federal land here means the five agencies shown; state, tribal and private land make up the rest of each bar.

The public land map of Arkansas

Agency boundaries, the BLM and Forest Service roads and trails open to vehicles, wilderness, and BLM campgrounds. Select any point for who manages it.

Map layers

Find a place

Layers

Federal land Who manages the ground, by agency

State and local land State forests, parks and wildlife areas, county and city land, nationwide

BLM roads and trails Routes managed for public motorized use

Forest roads and trails Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map

Wilderness BLM Wilderness and study areas, closed to vehicles

Camping and trailheads BLM campgrounds, OHV areas and trailheads

Base map

Map Topo Satellite

Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

State land
County and city land
Regional agency or district
Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Open the full map