Explore Arkansas’s Attractions
Arkansas Post National Memorial at Gillet
Arkansas Post National Memorial is a 757-acre protected area in Arkansas County. Arkansas Post was the first European settlement in present-day Arkansas, established in 1686. The memorial commemorates several different things, including the history of European-American settlers who inhabited the small trading post as the first Arkansans, an American Revolutionary War skirmish in 1783, the first territorial capital of Arkansas, and a Civil War battle in 1863.
Buffalo National River
Buffalo River is America’s first National River and one of the last un-dammed rivers in the United States. The National River boasts many outdoor activities including canoeing, hiking, horseback riding, and fishing. World-class wildlife viewing is also possible along the Buffalo River, including trumpeter swans and elk.
Fort Smith National Historic Site
At Fort Smith National Historic Site you can walk where soldiers drilled, pause along the Trail of Tears, and stand where justic was served. The park includes the remains of two frontier forts and the Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas. The stories told at Fort Smith National Historic Site span through 1817-1896. Soldiers, laundresses, Native Americans, civilians, federal judges and marshalls, deputy marshals, jail guards, lawyers, and outlaws all played a role in the history that unfolded at Fort Smith.
Hot Springs National Park
Hot Springs is the smallest and oldest of the parks in the National Park System, dating back to 1832, when Congress established – 40 years ahead of Yellowstone – the first federally protected area in the nation’s history. Hot Springs Reservation – which was renamed Hot Springs National Park in 1921 – originally was created by Congress to protect the 47 naturally flowing thermal springs on the southwestern slope of Hot Springs Mountain.
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Little Rock Central High School is recognized for the role it played in the desegregation of public shcools in the United States. The admission of nine African-American students to the formerly all-white Central High School was the most prominent national example of the implementation of Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Pea Ridge National Military Park
On March 7-8, 1862, 26,000 soldiers fought here to deide the fate of Missouri and the West. The 4,300 acre battlefield honors those who fought for their beliefs. Pea Ridge was one of the most pivotal Civil War battles and is the msot intact Civil War battlefield in the United States.
President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site
On August 19, 1946, Virginia Blythe gave birth to her son, William Jefferson Blythe, III. Named for his father who died before he was born, he grew up to become William jeffereson Clinton – the 42nd president of the United States. In his childhood home, he learned many of the early lessons that defined his life and his presidency.
