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Places to Visit in Arkansas
Be sure to check out all the places to visit in Arkansas below
Going on vacation in Arkansas is like taking a geography lesson hands on and up close. Whether you climb the Ozarks and and the Ouachita mountains found in the north, or travel through the riverside towns and spaces along the Mississippi river, you'll see your country in all its splendor. You can fish for bass and trout or watch for eagles in any of the 52 parks that are definitely among the coolest places to visit in Arkansas.
Of these parks, you can visit three that are made up of actual historic towns, which preserve the history of the new frontier even in the 21st century. The Old Davidsonville state park was discovered three inches below the ground and its artifacts are currently being analyzed by archeology majors. The Historic Washington state park and the Powhatan Historic state park are both restored towns from the 1800s, with unpaved streets and reconstructed buildings standing on their original foundations.
Other parks are made up of towns that were put together by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to preserve the legacy of the era. These include Devil's Den state park and Crowley's Ridge state park, which feature the best of warm rustic architecture. Lake Catherine state park is the best place to visit in Arkansas to see examples of authentic log and stone lakeside cabins.
Mammoth Spring, the tenth biggest spring in the world, is the best place to visit in Arkansas to see the historic dam and its adjoining Frisco depot, which is restored complete with life-size mannequins of train crew and passengers dressed according to the era. The baggage room is also an exhibit space for found artifacts.
For breathtaking views, come to Petit Jean and Mount Nebo state parks. Petit Jean mountain is home to Mather Lodge, where you can see the gorgeous views of Cedar Creek Canyon, while Mount Nebo overlooks the beautiful sights of the Arkansas River Valley. From these majestic points, you can also view the Trail of Tears, where the Western Cherokee traveled as they were removed from the state. You can also walk this actual route within several of Arkansas' state parks.
The museums are abundant, not with paintings and sculptures, but with replications of old West life scenes, construction methods, and old operating equipment, such as the 1920s model oil rig in the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources. The Plantation Agricultural Museum has a demonstration of how cotton is made in its restored cotton gin, circa 1920. The BW Edwards Weapons Museum holds a huge and near-complete collection of guns and knives, while Hampson Archeological Museum is home to 18,000 pottery pieces from the Nodena people.
The Prairie Grove Battlefield boasts of its most intact Civil War battlefield, and holds a reenactment of the battle every December of each even-numbered year.
Other places to visit in Arkansas include the Blanchard Springs Caverns, with guided tours through its underground trails, the Arkansas Queen Riverboat, which is docked at Little Rock and takes visitors on pleasure cruises six days a week, and the Diamond Discovery Center in Crater of Diamonds state park, where visitors can dig for diamonds and even keep what they find! That's the best reason to come to Arkansas, so far. Return From Places to Visit in Arkansas to Places to Visit in America
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