Lose yourself in 1.2 million acres of caves, rivers, and bluffs in the Arkansas Ozarks

It’s the Ozarks’ best-kept secret

Northern Arkansas holds a forest that stretches across 1. 2 million acres, and most people outside the state have never heard of it.

The Ozark National Forest covers parts of the rugged Boston Mountains, the highest and wildest section of the Ozarks. You can hike, swim, float rivers, explore caves, ride horses, and drive some of the best scenic roads in the South.

Five wilderness areas, more than 400 miles of trails, and six National Scenic Byways run through it. The scale alone sets it apart, but what you find inside the forest is even better.

Centuries of history carved into the hills

The Ozark Mountains are not young peaks. They are ancient plateaus that rivers and weather have carved over millions of years into the deep hollows and bluffs you see today.

Native Americans used the rock shelters and caves throughout the forest as hunting camps long before Europeans arrived. In 1908, a Presidential Proclamation set the land aside as a national forest.

During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built cabins, trails, and recreation areas across it. Several of those CCC structures still stand and welcome you inside.

Walk through a cave that’s still alive

Blanchard Springs Caverns holds about 8.5 miles of explored passages, and the formations inside are still growing.

Water drips through limestone and deposits minerals that build stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and flowstone a fraction of an inch at a time.

Forest Service guides walk you through lit rooms on two main tours. The Dripstone Trail is paved and accessible.

The Discovery Trail runs longer and steeper, with close to 700 stairs. If you want more, a Wild Cave Tour lets you crawl through undeveloped sections.

The temperature stays a constant 58 degrees year-round, so bring a layer.

Stand on Hawksbill Crag and look straight down

Hawksbill Crag is the most photographed spot in Arkansas, and when you see it, you understand why.

A sandstone overhang juts out from a bluff like the beak of a hawk, and below it the Whitaker Creek valley drops away through the Upper Buffalo Wilderness.

The trail to reach it runs about three miles round trip and rates as moderate. In spring, wildflowers line the path.

In fall, the hardwoods go vivid orange and red around you. After a rain, small waterfalls appear along the route, and the whole forest drips.

Cross a 130-foot natural stone bridge

Alum Cove Natural Bridge ranks among the largest natural bridges in the southeastern United States.

The stone arch stretches 130 feet long and 20 feet wide, shaped over millions of years as wind, rain, and ice wore through a quartz sandstone cave.

Early settlers reportedly moved wagons and livestock across the bridge during wet weather to avoid the streambed below.

You can walk the whole loop trail in about 1.1 miles, passing caves, bluffs, and rock formations along the way. It sits near the town of Deer, Ark., and families with kids handle it just fine.

Waterfalls pour through holes in the rock

Hundreds of waterfalls run through the Ozark National Forest, and winter and spring are when they really come alive. Glory Hole Falls is one of the strangest.

Water does not pour over a ledge here. It drops straight through a hole in the rock ceiling into a cavern below.

The trail to reach it runs about two miles round trip near the community of Fallsville. Kings Bluff Falls ranks among the tallest in the Ozarks, spilling over a wide sandstone bluff.

If you want remote swimming holes, head to the Richland Creek Wilderness. If you want easy access, Haw Creek Falls Recreation Area puts cascades right near the parking area.

Mushroom-shaped rocks at Pedestal Rocks

Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area gives you some of the most unusual geology in Arkansas on two loop trails.

The Pedestal Rocks loop runs 2.2 miles and leads to mushroom-shaped columns that centuries of erosion carved from the surrounding rock.

The Kings Bluff loop covers 1.7 miles and ends on a broad, flat bluff top with valley views that stretch for miles.

The rock layers along both trails were laid down millions of years ago when an ancient sea covered the area. You can also poke through caves, natural bridges, and rock shelters.

The area sits near Pelsor off Highway 16.

Sleep in a 1930s cabin at White Rock Mountain

White Rock Mountain sits at 2,260 feet, and on a clear day you can see 40 miles over the Ozarks from the top.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built three stone cabins and a lodge here in the 1930s, and a volunteer group called Friends of White Rock restored them to their original condition in 1991.

Each cabin has a stone fireplace and original CCC-crafted wood furniture.

A two-mile rim trail loops around the mountaintop, passing four CCC-built stone shelters along the way. The mountain got its name from lichen on the sheer bluffs that looks white from a distance.

Hike 200 miles on the Ozark Highlands Trail

The Ozark Highlands Trail is one of the top long-distance hiking trails in the country, with more than 200 miles built so far.

It stretches from Lake Fort Smith State Park toward the Buffalo National River, passing through remote forests, along bluffs, over ridges, and beside clear streams.

The all-volunteer Ozark Highlands Trail Association has built and maintained it since 1981. Winter hikers know it well because the trail stays open when many others across the country close.

Road crossings along the route break the trail into shorter day-hike sections, so you do not have to tackle the whole thing at once.

Float the emerald Mulberry River

The Mulberry River runs about 56 miles through the Ozark National Forest before it joins the Arkansas River, and the federal government protects it as a National Wild and Scenic River.

In spring, you get Class I to III whitewater rapids cutting through narrow canyons and tree-lined bluffs. By summer, the river calms and turns into a favorite spot for swimming, wading, and fishing.

The water ranges from blue-green to emerald, flowing over sandstone and past boulders the size of houses. Keep your eyes on the banks, too.

Drive the Pig Trail and earn every curve

The Pig Trail Scenic Byway runs 19 miles along Highway 23 through the heart of the Boston Mountains. Steep climbs, sharp curves, and tunnels of overhanging trees make it one of the most famous drives in Arkansas.

The road crosses the Mulberry River and passes near waterfalls, rock formations, and mountain overlooks. Spring wildflowers and fall foliage turn the drive into something you pull over for again and again.

University of Arkansas fans gave it the name because they used the road as a shortcut to Fayetteville on game days. It became a National Forest Scenic Byway in 1989.

Arkansas’ highest peak rises from the forest floor

Mount Magazine stands at 2,753 feet, the highest point in the state, and it sits within the Ozark National Forest boundary.

The mountain is a flat-topped mesa rimmed by steep rock cliffs, with views of the surrounding valleys from almost every angle.

Temperatures on the summit run 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the valleys below, so summer days up top feel different.

You can hike to the summit on the 1.4-mile Signal Hill Trail. The mountain supports rare species like the Magazine Mountain shagreen snail and the rufous-crowned sparrow.

Mount Magazine State Park has a lodge, cabins, and trails on top.

Explore the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas

You can reach the forest from Interstate 40 to the south, Highway 7 running north-south, or Highway 23 through the Pig Trail. The main office sits at 605 W. Main St. in Russellville, Ark., and the visitor center is open Monday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Blanchard Springs Caverns opens seasonally, typically Thursday through Monday from March through October, with adult tickets running about $15 and child tickets about $10. Reserve cave tours in advance through the official website.

Cell service drops out across much of the forest, so download your maps and lock in your plans before you head in.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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