Arkansas

Big Dam Bridge across the Arkansas River at Little Rock
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_Dam_Bridge_3.jpg
Author: Kmerckx


Arkansas (pronounced ar-kern-saw) is a landlocked state on the southern region of the United States. The Mississippi River forms much of the eastern border of the state, across which are the states of Tennessee and Misssissippi. To the south is Louisiana, to the southwest Texas, to the west is Oklahoma and to the north is Missouri. The state capital, Little Rock, is located at the heart of Arkansas.

Arkansas State Capitol
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arkansas_State_Capitol,_Little_Rock.jpg
Author: jglazer75


The name Arkansas comes from the same word that we get Kansas. The name Arkansas comes from the French spelling of the Quapaw Native American word "akakaze," which means "land of downriver people," in reference to the Quapaw tribe that used to live in the Arkansas area. There was a disagreement in 1881 over how the name Arkansas should be pronounced, with one senator proposing that it should be "ar-kairn-ses". However, the pronunciation "ar-kern-saw" eventually prevailed.

Railroad Bridge at Fort Smith, Arkansas
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Railroad_Bridge_In_Fort_Smith.jpg
Author: Doug Wertman


The terrain of Arkansas covers mountains, valleys and plains. In general, the state can be classified under two regions, the Delta and the Grand Prairie. The Arkansas Delta is a flat alluvial plain created by the repeated flooding of the Mississippi River. The Grand Prairie, which is farther away from the river, has a more undulating landscape. Both, however, are fertile land ideal for agriculture.

Visitors to Arkansas delight in its varied landscape, though the mountains here are not as tall as those in the Rockies. The Ozark Mountains are the main range, and the highest point is Mount Magazine, standing at a height of 2,753 feet (839 meters).

There are also a number of caves, the most famous of which is Blanchard Spring Caverns. There are also a number of archaeological sites dating back to pre-Columbian times, including Native American burial mounds and cairns. Arkansas is the only U.S. state where tourists can try their hand prospecting for diamonds.

Confederate Monument honoring James H. Berry and the Southern Soldier
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:09-02-06-BentonvilleConfed-monument.jpg
Author: Bobak Ha'Eri

Travel to Arkansas

The Little Rock National Airport (LIT), located a mere two miles from downtown Little Rock, is the main airport in Arkansas. It is not an international airport, but if coming from outside the U.S., you can easily transfer from any major U.S. airports to Little Rock. It is a pretty young airport which began operations only in 1997.

Your transport options out of the airport includes the taxis, shuttles, limousines, rental cars and city buses.

Travel within Arkansas

The most practical form of transport for exploring Arkansas is by car. The main highway in Arkansas is Interstate-40, which crosses through the state from Fort Smith to Memphis, passing through Little Rock, and Interstate-30, which heads south to Texarkana.

Walton's Five and Dime, now the Wal-Mart Visitors Center
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:09-02-06-OriginalWaltons.jpg
Author: Bobak

Cities in Arkansas

Places of Interest in Arkansas

National Parks of Arkansas

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.