I love leaving the house early and seeing the sun rise as I ride up the very scenic Hwy 7 and then having breakfast at the Ozark Cafe in Jasper where a great meal is still five bucks. A few miles south of Jasper on Hwy 7 you will find the Clift House - for $65 a night you can stay in a room on the mountain side with a balcony overlooking the entire valley - the sunrise is amazing! Take the hwy west through 15 miles of mountain hugging roads with fantastic views to Ponca. There you will find a small sleepy tourist friendly town that makes it's living outfitting kayakers and canoeist for trips down the famous Buffalo River. There are places to stay and transport if you want to try your hand on the river's white water shoals - I did and saw a goodly part of the river from the fish's perspective! Spring and early summer is best as the water gets low when it heats up. Just outside Ponca early in the morning and late in the evening you can see heards of elk feeding in the valley.

The road to Harrison also has lots of curves and views down into valleys - you will pass Crystal Caverns and the now closed Dog Patch USA theme part - both interesting sites. There are lots of hotels and other stops on this route - look at the map - Harrison is only a few minutes from Branson, Mo and some world class performers! There are also several interesting stops on Hwy 65 back down to Little Rock. Beware, lots of smokies hunting around the small towns - speed limit plus five seems to work fine. If you look at the map you will see lots of smaller state and county roads around Jasper over to Huntsville and the areas south - I have riden many of them - all good condition with beautiful scenery and just the right amount of places to stop - it is paradise for hill country riders!

For me this area is the best Arkansas has to offer - world class rural riding - friendly people - good food at low prices. In fact the whole northern third of the state is worth seeing!