9 Of The Friendliest Towns In The Ozarks
The Ozarks are home to some of the friendliest communities you'll be fortunate enough to find. The region's heritage runs deep in folk music and pioneer history, and annual festivals bring people together to celebrate it. Bluegrass jam sessions fill the courthouse square in Mountain View. Heritage festivals and pioneer demonstrations roll through small towns across the region each season. These nine towns in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma are ready to welcome you.
Mountain View, Arkansas
Mountain View is known as the Folk Music Capital of the World. The proud tradition of pickin' and playing mountain music around this town dates back to the 1960s when The Rackensack Society was formed here by Jimmy Driftwood, known for singing "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Tennessee Stud." Today, when the weather is fine through spring to late fall, locals and visitors gather to listen to informal jam sessions around the courthouse square or in Pickin' Park, where you are free and encouraged to bring your own instrument and join in.
Multiple stages around town showcase more formal jam sessions and concerts, including those at the Ozark Highlands Theater, a premier indoor music venue that has become a top spot for Americana, bluegrass, and traditional folk music. Legends play here. This stage is located in the heart of Ozark Folk Center State Park, which is dedicated to preserving and sharing the music, crafts, and culture of the Ozarks. That is why this park is also home to a craft village where more than 20 working artisans demonstrate, create, and sell handmade items from Tuesday through Saturday in season.
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Eureka Springs is known for many things, but the first image that comes to most people's minds is that of unusual step-filled streets winding through the steep hills of town and beautifully preserved Victorian architecture. The entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places. Bringing block after block of 19th-century buildings to life are curious shops, eateries, and fine art galleries. The artistry spills into the streets. You'll find Humpty Dumpty sitting on a brick wall downtown, rainbow steps brightening a narrow alleyway, and some truly remarkable statues.
Art and history are irrepressible in Eureka Springs. In fact, sitting at the highest point of town, there's a place where the past refuses to stay buried. The Crescent Hotel was built in 1886, and besides providing nothing but the best accommodations for the living, it's also one of America's most haunted hotels. Stop by for a ghost tour or spend the night, and see for yourself what spirits still linger. More than 60 natural springs are what first drew visitors in the late 1800s, and the Palace Hotel and Bath House is the last of its kind in Eureka Springs. The spa offers all the modern services and amenities you would expect in one of the town's most historic locales.
Branson, Missouri
Branson is all about bringing people and families together every day of the year, morning, noon, and night. Take, for example, Silver Dollar City. This 1880s-themed amusement park offers unique attractions like the "Time Traveler," the world's fastest, steepest, and tallest spinning roller coaster. Branson also hosts more than 100 live shows throughout the year, including comedy shows, dinner shows, shows for kids, and even shows on boats. A family favorite is the dinner theater at Dolly Parton's Stampede. You will be entertained by 32 horses and a large cast of talented trick riders while you enjoy some incredible country-style food. Before and after the show, you can visit the outdoor "Horse Walk" and meet the four-legged stars up close.
For another unforgettable adventure, let the Branson Scenic Railway sweep you away through the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. You will climb aboard a vintage passenger car and have a front row seat to the expansive wilderness. It is easy to reserve a daily excursion, a dinner train, and even the seasonal Polar Express, and make memories you will never forget.
Rolla, Missouri
Ever since it was a railhead during the Civil War, Rolla has been a hub of transportation and activity. The historic Route 66 had a ribbon-cutting ceremony right here, and today, it still sits at the intersection of major highways and acts as a gateway to the Ozarks' natural parks and quirky attractions. In town, Broadway-level talent can be found at the Ozark Actors Theatre (OAT), with performances in the Cedar Street Playhouse, which has been a community gathering place since construction was completed in 1944.
Missouri's most unique water park can be found here as well. Fugitive Beach is a former rock quarry meets waterpark where you can swim in clear blue water, ride the waterslide, take a leap of faith off cliff jumping towers, or simply relax in a tube and soak up the sun. Rolla is also the steward of the Audubon Trails Nature Center, a 70-acre reserve dedicated to community education and the preservation of five distinct habitats. The beautiful preserve is free and open for all to enjoy.
Calico Rock, Arkansas
Many world-class wonders can be found in and around Calico Rock. The only Andy Warhol collection on display in small-town America is here in The Calico Rock Museum & Visitor Center. The Museum spans four historic buildings in the heart of Calico Rock's downtown and contains some incredible exhibits like the deck of the Ozark Queen steamboat, works by Warhol, Dale Chihuly, and Alice Neel, and displays that tell the story of the people who have lived in this beautiful corner of the Ozarks over time. While you are there, pick up a map and take a trip to Peppersauce, also known as East Calico, the oldest part of Calico Rock, to see a ghost town that is located entirely within the living, active city of Calico Rock. It was once a booming river port and railroad hub in the early 1900s, not to mention a hot spot for contraband moonshine. Today, the former main street and over 20 abandoned, vine-covered buildings can still be explored year-round without leaving town.
But the White River is the heartbeat of Calico Rock, and its clear, cold water and misty mornings create the perfect conditions for world-class trout fishing. There are several spots to try, but whether you are a pro or not an angler at all, you may want to stop by the Calico Rock Trout Dock to rent a boat or take a guided tour for some of the prettiest river scenery in all of Arkansas. Groups of all sizes are welcome here.
Eminence, Missouri
Eminence is arguably Missouri's top town for outdoor sports. Whether you love biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, canoeing, golfing, or horseback riding, you will find outdoor delights to enjoy here. Eminence is also home to the only two wild horse herds in the Midwest. The Missouri Wild Horse League was formed to protect and maintain these beautiful creatures, so be sure to get in touch with them before or during your visit here to learn more.
There are several remarkable springs in town, including Alley Spring, famous for its impossibly turquoise waters and historic Alley Mill. One of the Ozarks' best-known landmarks, the site preserves the home, farm, and school of a century-old community. The world beneath Eminence also offers some dazzlingly rare sights. The Jam Up Cave boasts an entrance that is a staggering eight stories tall and more than 1,000 feet across. The cave is only accessible by boat, and inside, you will find plant species that have not been seen elsewhere in the Ozarks since the last Ice Age.
Hardy, Arkansas
The town of Hardy was established in the 1800s as the railroad was being built. The downtown area is on the National Registry of Historic Places, and it is famous in particular for its outstanding antique shops. It is easy to spend an afternoon on Main Street browsing 19th-century storefronts and goods. Spend another fine afternoon outside on the Spring River. The south fork of the river here is considered to be one of the finest float streams in the country. Whether you are in a kayak or canoe, or just lazing along in a tube, you are in for a real treat as you bask in the cool waters and spectacular scenery.
Just a short distance from downtown Hardy is Loberg Park, a 15-acre oasis that is a welcome sight in every season and provides a beautiful river walk, a hiking trail, a basketball court, two pavilions, a soccer field, and a children's playground. Loberg is called the jewel of the Hardy park system and serves as the gathering place for many events and festivals throughout the year, including the annual Hardy Homesteaders Day held in September.
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah is the capital of the Cherokee Nation and is older than the state of Oklahoma. The Cherokee Supreme Court Building, now the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum, is the oldest public building in the state. You can visit this remarkable landmark along with dozens of others along the Tahlequah History Trail, which winds through the original historic district and features bilingual signs in English and Cherokee, a mix of 19th-century buildings, and kiosks explaining the history of Tahlequah and the Cherokee Nation.
The Cherokee National History Museum offers another exceptional way to experience and interact with the history of this place. Tahlequah has been known for its strong educational traditions since the 1850s, when the Cherokee Nation's male and female seminaries taught subjects like Greek, Latin, and science at a level rarely found in frontier towns of the era. Today, even visitors to this town are no exception to the rule when it comes to being offered an outstanding education on the history and heritage of Tahlequah.
Doniphan, Missouri
Start your visit in Doniphan at the Current River Heritage Museum, where you will be guided through two stories of exhibits, artifacts, and photographs, and where you will be helped to find other heritage sites to meet your interests around town. For instance, the Heritage Homestead in downtown Doniphan welcomes you into an 1860s restored log cabin where you can sample the rural lifestyle of early settlers. There is even a fully operational traditional blacksmith shop that is open every Saturday morning for forging demonstrations. The Homestead property also adjoins the original Doniphan Cemetery, where Civil War soldiers were buried.
The Homestead really comes to life during Heritage Days each September. Formerly known as Civil War Days, the annual two-day festival fills Doniphan with live music, storytelling, and living history exhibits, as well as pioneer and early 20th-century demonstrations, including rail splitting, fiddle-making, blacksmithing, quilting, and other vintage crafts. Military history, classic cars, and period costumes round out the event.
Get Ready to See Some of the Friendliest Towns in the Ozarks
The friendliness of the Ozarks comes in part from its wonderful gathering places, where people share music, stories, festivals, and good food. It also grows from a rich history that still inspires resilience and self-reliance, along with diverse heritages that have blended into a deep sense of community. Add in the region's rugged natural beauty, and it is easy to see why visitors feel so welcome here. Hospitality may be common in the Ozarks, but that does not make it any less special. Grab your outdoor gear and good cheer, and get ready to discover some of the friendliest towns in the Ozarks.
