Ozark Mountain Driving & Riding Tours
Eastern Arkansas Region
Arkansas Highway 14
Ark. 14 is a wonderful highway, running through rural farm and wood lands, passing through primarily small-town Ozarks. The entire length of highway 14 is a nice ride. If you are coming from Branson, Mo., it would be a good choice for heading southeast into the region. The 67 mile stretch from U.S. 62 south to the community of Harriet offers a great combination of winding, twisty roads through very nice scenery. It crosses the Buffalo River south of Yellville, a nice place to take a break. This county seat town is the home of the famous/infamous (take your pick) Turkey Trot, where live turkeys are dropped from airplanes to crowds waiting below. Contrary to what a national tabloid reported, the turkeys do flutter down and land alive and safe with a good chance of evading the waiting captors.
Ark. 14 is fine, pleasurable ride through a varying Ozark country side.
Arkansas Highway 9
Ark. 9 runs from the middle of the state to the Mo. border. But for our purposes, only the portion from Clinton to Mammoth Spring will be considered.
Like Ark. 5, highway 9 runs through a rural landscape as well as a portion of the Ozark National Forest. It winds through Mountain View, home of the Ozark Folk Center and Blanchard Springs Caverns, along and across the White River, up to Mammoth Spring, site of the 10th largest spring in the world.
All things considered, this highway takes you through some of the most unique parts of the Ozarks.
Arkansas Highway 16
This is perhaps the best little known highway in the Ozarks. Except for short sections which run concurrent with highways 23, 21 & 7, this road is familiar mostly only to local riders. This is really too bad because the 110 miles of Ark. 16 between Fayetteville and Clinton is a fun, twisty and scenic ride.
The reason Highway 16 overlooked is that it really doesn't take you any place. It basically runs along the backbone of the Ozarks. It follows a route full of curves and wonderful scenery. If you start out on the eastern end, in Fayetteville, have breakfast at the Rolling Pin Cafe (at the intersection of highways 16 and 265). Head west, hang on and enjoy the ride. Most of the time traffic will be light and you'll have a great time discovering this fantastic road. Many visiting riders will not know to make this wonderful ride. That's their loss.
Arkansas 5
Ark. 5 runs from the Ark-Mo border through Mountain Home to such colorful places as Norfork, Calico Rock and Mountain View. It plays tag with the White River, once a Super highway of commerce in days gone by.
Ark. 5 runs through the mountains of the eastern Ozarks, a more rural part of the region. The road is winding and scenic and takes you to some unique and interesting places in the Ozarks. Plan on spending some time poking around the little towns mentioned earlier.
These route descriptions were generously provided, courtesy of Cruise The Ozarks.com
75 Prospect Ave
Eureka Springs AR
72632
877-342-9766