8 Picturesque Small Towns in The Ozarks for a Weekend Retreat

Eight scenic small towns in the Ozarks make for a weekend retreat. Sandstone bluffs rise over the Buffalo River near Jasper. Victorian rooftops stack up the hills of Eureka Springs. A steel-and-glass chapel catches the light in Bella Vista. Across three states, the same pattern repeats, with small downtowns wrapped in big Ozark scenery.

Jasper, Arkansas

Green ridges fold around Jasper on every side. The Buffalo National River runs clear through the valley below. Congress protected it first under that title in 1972. Jasper is the seat of Newton County in north-central Arkansas. The Ponca elk herd returned in 1981 and now grazes the Boxley Valley meadows 15 miles west.

The Buffalo River Elk Festival packs the courthouse square each June. Live music and ranger talks mark the herd's recovery. Hawksbill Crag, or Whitaker Point, lies 30 minutes southwest. The trail runs 1.5 miles each way to a much-photographed overlook. The Ozark Cafe has fed the square since 1909, with catfish and pie.

Batesville, Arkansas

Old Batesville is all brick storefronts and shaded streets. Settlers founded the town in 1812 on the White River, the second-oldest town site in Arkansas. The river runs cold below Bull Shoals Dam. It feeds a top trout fishery upstream of town, with rainbow, brown, and brook trout.

The Old Independence Regional Museum covers the 12-county region. Exhibits trace the Quapaw and Osage, the Trail of Tears, and steamboat commerce. The Melba Theater opened in 1940 and still shows films today. Lyon College adds campus life and a Scottish heritage program with bagpipes. Pioneer Cemetery holds settler graves from the 1820s.

El Dorado Springs, Missouri

A leafy park and a mineral spring make up the center of El Dorado Springs. A prospector found the artesian spring in 1881. Settlers came for the mineral water and its supposed cures. The Spring Park gazebo still covers the original spring, open to the public for bottling.

The El Dorado Springs Picnic has run every summer since 1882. It ranks among the oldest community festivals in the state. The Opera House Theatre on Main Street seats about 350. Stockton Lake spreads across 24,900 acres 25 minutes east. Its 298 miles of shoreline hold some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in Missouri.

Bella Vista, Arkansas

The hills of Bella Vista hold pine woods, quiet lakes, and a glass chapel. E. Fay Jones finished the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel here in 1988. It rises 50 feet on 15 Gothic arches of steel and glass. The design echoes Jones' Thorncrown Chapel an hour southeast.

The town began in 1915 as a summer resort on the Missouri line. Tanyard Creek Nature Trail runs 1.4 miles past a waterfall and around Lake Avalon. The Bella Vista Historical Museum covers the resort years and the 1838 Cherokee removal. The community now spreads across 36,000 acres with seven lakes and seven golf courses.

Poteau, Oklahoma

Cavanal Hill rises green over the rooftops of Poteau. Promoters call it the world's tallest hill at 1,999 feet, one foot short of a mountain. A 4.5-mile paved road climbs to the summit. The view reaches across the Poteau valley.

Poteau lies in LeFlore County on the western edge of the Ouachita Mountains. The Ouachita National Forest is the oldest national forest in the South, designated in 1907. It covers 1.8 million acres of pine and hardwood. The Old Frisco Trail follows an old rail grade for 4 paved miles. Heavener Runestone Park, 10 miles south, guards a disputed Norse runestone first reported in 1923.

Branson, Missouri

Wooded hills and three lakes ring Branson. More than 50 theaters line the town. The 76 Country Boulevard strip holds most of them, and Presleys' Country Jubilee has played there since 1967. Branson lies near Table Rock, Lake Taneycomo, and Bull Shoals.

Silver Dollar City spreads across 100 acres themed to the 1880s. The Marvel Cave system runs below the park. Table Rock Lake covers 43,100 acres with 800 miles of shoreline. Lake Taneycomo stays cold and holds trout year-round. The Showboat Branson Belle runs dinner cruises with a working paddlewheel.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Eureka Springs winds its steep streets past stacked Victorian porches. More than 60 natural springs run beneath the town. The whole downtown holds National Register Historic District status. Few streets in the center meet at a right angle. The 1886 Crescent Hotel crowns the upper town and runs ghost tours tied to its years as a college and Norman Baker's cancer-cure hospital.

Thorncrown Chapel stands just west of town. E. Fay Jones designed it, and it opened in 1980. The chapel rises 48 feet with 425 windows. Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge keeps 459 acres for rescued big cats. Tigers, lions, and bears live in open enclosures. The Eureka Springs and North Arkansas Railway runs heritage trains from downtown each summer.

Russellville, Arkansas

Mountains and broad water frame Russellville on the Arkansas River. The town marks the southern edge of the Ozark Plateau, with the Ouachita Mountains across the river to the south. Arkansas Tech University keeps downtown busy with about 10,000 students. Lake Dardanelle State Park covers more than 34,000 acres of reservoir, with five access points onto a top crappie fishery.

Mount Nebo State Park rises 1,350 feet above the river valley, 25 minutes southwest. Hang gliders launch from the rim, and the level Bench Trail circles it. Petit Jean State Park lies 25 miles southeast. It became the first state park in Arkansas in 1923. A 2-mile trail reaches 95-foot Cedar Falls. The Bona Dea Trails wind 6 miles through bottomland forest, where birders have logged over 200 species.

Where the Ozarks Show Off

Each town frames the Ozarks a little differently. Cavanal Hill rises over Poteau, one foot short of a mountain. Stockton Lake stretches 298 miles of shoreline near El Dorado Springs. Trout hold in the cold White River below Batesville. Mount Nebo drops 1,350 feet to the river at Russellville. Branson lights up its theater strip after dark. The hills shift with every county line, and the small towns set into them keep earning the view.