Location: Eastern Arkansas, from the Mississippi River at Helena to the Missouri border at St. Francis
Length: 212 miles (341 km)
Time To Allow: 5 hours, 30 minutes

Description/Highlights/Points of Interest

Along Crowley's Ridge, a mixture of plant communities and a diversity of species respond to abrupt changes in soil type, exposure, moisture, and slope. Dramatic views abound along the ridge and rolling hills and wildflowers proliferate throughout spring, summer and fall. Travel through natural and historical sites such as the Chalk Bluff Natural Area and Civil War Battlesite, five state parks and the St. Francis National Forest.

Suggested Itinerary

Begin your journey just off U.S. 62 at St. Francis, north of Piggott. Chalk Bluff Battlefield Park is located at a Civil War battlefield site where several skirmishes were fought. The history of the area is interpreted on plaques along a walking trail. Picnic tables are available as well. At Piggott, 14 miles (22.5 km) south of St. Francis on the byway, tour The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Conference Center. The home is where author Ernest Hemingway lived while visiting his second wife's family and writing A Farewell to Arms.

Approximately 12 miles (19.3 km) west of Paragould, Sloan Site, excavated in 1974, was both home and burial ground for a small group of Native Americans who lived here approximately 10,5000 years ago. The site is significant because it is the first documented cemetery in North America. Near the Sloan Site, tour Crowley's Ridge State Park. This natural land form, named after Benjamin Crowley, is believed to be the result of water, ice and wind action over a 50-million-year period. The only other similar land form is found in Siberia. The State Park is a popular outdoor recreation spot.

South of St. Francis, at Jonesboro, is Arkansas State University, the only comprehensive public university in the region. ASU was founded in 1909 by the Arkansas Legislature as a regional agricultural training school. Throughout the year, the university hosts a number of cultural and sporting events. The ASU Museum on campus provides information relating to the natural and cultural history and prehistory of the state. Approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Jonesboro is Lake Poinsett State Park, which provides a variety of outdoor recreation including fishing, camping, picnicking, hiking and boat rentals.

Take I-64 to the Parkin Archeological State Park, the former site of a Mississippi Period Native American village from A.D. 1000 to 1550 and visited by the Hernando de Soto exhibition in 1541. Visitors will enjoy the museum and interpretive center. Park staff provide site tours and other educational programs year-round. During fall and summer months, visitors can observe an archeological dig on guided tours. The visitor's center includes an archeological laboratory, gift shop and exhibit area.

At Helena, on the southern terminus of the byway, the Phillips County Museum contains a collection of artifacts which tell the history of this important Mississippi River port. Early paintings, a Thomas Edison Collection, Native American artifacts, and Civil War letters are part of the museum's eclectic collection. While in Helena, visit the Battle of Helena Battlefield, the location of four Union battery sites and The Delta Cultural Center, which was established to preserve the legacy of the land and its people. The Center is housed in a 1912 train station.