7 Most Underrated Towns In the Ozarks

Ponca is a scatter of cabins at the wild upper end of the Buffalo River, with wild elk grazing the fields at the edge of town. It is exactly the kind of Ozark town that flies under the radar, small and quiet, known mostly to the people who live nearby. Down along the White River, Calico Rock has guarded a whole ghost-town block since the 1830s. Tontitown throws an Italian grape festival its settlers started in 1898. Across the Ozark hills of Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, places like these offer more than their size suggests, which is what makes them so underrated.

Ponca, Arkansas

Ponca barely counts as a town. About a hundred people live here, at the wild upper end of the Buffalo National River, the first river in the country to win national protection, in 1972. The Buffalo flows clear and undammed past tall limestone bluffs, and the spring floats out of Ponca rank among the best in Arkansas. At dawn and dusk, elk graze the open fields along the water.

The elk are Rocky Mountain elk, brought in decades ago after the native Eastern elk died out, and Boxley Valley has the only wild herd in the state. Trails climb in every direction. Lost Valley follows a side creek past bluff shelters and a waterfall, and the longer hike to Hemmed-In Hollow reaches the tallest waterfall between the Appalachians and the Rockies, a drop of about 210 feet. Outfitters in town rent canoes and set up shuttles, so a weekend here takes almost no planning.

Mountainburg, Arkansas

The Boston Mountains Scenic Loop climbs the highest part of the Arkansas Ozarks along US 71, and Mountainburg lines the route. The town park has two enormous concrete dinosaurs and an old fire engine, the kind of roadside stop that gets kids demanding a photo. The drive itself twists along an old stagecoach route with pull-offs for the views.

A couple of miles off the highway, Lake Fort Smith State Park spreads along a 1,400-acre reservoir with cabins, a marina, and a swimming pool. It also marks the western end of the Ozark Highlands Trail, which stretches more than 200 miles east across the mountains. Artist Point, a longtime overlook on US 71, takes in Saddle Canyon and White Rock Mountain beyond.

Calico Rock, Arkansas

Named for the streaked Calico Bluffs above the water, Calico Rock climbs the bank of the White River in north-central Arkansas. It rose as a steamboat landing in the early 1800s and a railroad boomtown by 1902, then froze in place when the trains left. The old downtown still has its 1920s brick and stone storefronts. Just east, Peppersauce is a preserved six-block ghost town from the original 1830s settlement, open for a self-guided walk.

The White River below town is serious trout water, and anglers come from across the country for the rainbow and brown trout. The Calico Rock Museum spreads through four downtown buildings. Blanchard Springs Caverns and Norfork Lake are both about 15 miles away, and the Ozark National Forest starts at the edge of town.

Heber Springs, Arkansas

Heber Springs gathers along the south shore of Greers Ferry Lake, a clear reservoir ringed by Ozark hills. Out in the water rises Sugar Loaf Mountain, an island that boaters reach for a short, steep climb to the top. A few blocks back, the downtown square has antique shops and galleries.

Below the dam, the Little Red River is a cold tailwater known for big brown and rainbow trout. Every summer, the town hosts the World Championship Cardboard Boat Races, where homemade cardboard boats race across the water until most of them sink. The pace the rest of the year is slow, which is the point.

Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas

Horseshoe Bend began in the 1960s as a planned retirement and resort community in the hills of northern Arkansas, and it grew into the largest town in Izard County. Developers dammed creeks off the Strawberry River to make its lakes. The biggest of them, Crown Lake, spreads across 640 acres, with Diamond, Pioneer, and North rounding out the smaller fishing waters.

The lakes carry the town's calendar, with fishing, boating, and a sandy swimming beach through the summer. Two golf courses wind between the water and the woods. The Strawberry River, one of the state's designated scenic rivers, curves through the hills nearby for canoeing and smallmouth fishing.

Tontitown, Arkansas

Tontitown was settled in 1898 by Italian families who followed a priest, Father Pietro Bandini, out of a failed Delta plantation and up into the Ozark foothills. They named it for the explorer Henri de Tonti and planted grapes. St. Joseph Catholic Church became the heart of the community and still is. Every August, its grounds host the Tontitown Grape Festival. The event is one of the oldest in the state, famous for parish spaghetti dinners cooked by the thousands of pounds.

The winemaking tradition the settlers started never fully died out. Tontitown Winery, owned by a family that has made wine here since 1923, pours reds, whites, and sweet fruit wines from local grapes. The small historical museum shows the settlers' tools and photographs, and family-owned Italian restaurants nearby still serve the pasta and fried chicken the town is known for.

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Tahlequah lies in the Ozark foothills of northeastern Oklahoma, just across the line from Arkansas. It is the capital of the Cherokee Nation and the end point of the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee National History Museum occupies the 1869 Cherokee National Capitol on the downtown square and tells the Cherokee story through the removal and into the present.

The Illinois River bends right past town, and float season starts in May, with outfitters renting rafts and kayaks by the mile. Downtown, the historic Capitol Square gathers the old brick tribal buildings into one walkable block. Northeastern State University, on a campus that began as the Cherokee National Female Seminary, brings students to town through the school year.

The Quiet Side Of The Ozarks

The Ozarks are best known for a few big names, but the quiet towns are where a weekend actually unwinds. Heber Springs offers a clear lake and a river full of trout. Horseshoe Bend hands over four lakes and two golf courses with room to spare. Mountainburg puts a scenic drive and a state park within a few miles of each other. Tahlequah carries the living history of the Cherokee Nation. None of these asks for more than a tank of gas and a free Friday.