My prior experience in Arkansas was limited to a stop at the Clinton Library in Little Rock on an I-40 drive across the U.S. On a 2020 cross-country trip I took a detour off I-44 to spend a night in Branson and then take the next day to wind through northwest Arkansas—a drive through the Ozarks, a stop at Christ of the Ozarks, a stop in Eureka Springs, a coffee break in Rogers, and a butter pecan ice cream in Bentonville.
The Ozarks National Forest spans across northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. As we crossed from Missouri into Arkansas the winding forest drive in Missouri gave way to farms in Arkansas. With apologies to Arkansas, the Missouri side of the Ozarks seemed to be much more beautiful. In fairness to Arkansas, the Missouri Ozarks is simply a beautiful area and any next stop would be a bit of a letdown. Arkansas is one of America’s major chicken production centers and we drove past a few farms and processing facilities.
Our first stop on wind through Arkansas was at Christ of the Ozarks—a six story statue of Jesus Christ standing with his arms out to form a cross. The Christ is part of a broader Biblical attraction that also features a passion play and a holy land tour. On the drive up to Christ of the Ozarks we passed several churches.
The Ozarks National Forest spans across northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. As we crossed from Missouri into Arkansas the winding forest drive in Missouri gave way to farms in Arkansas. With apologies to Arkansas, the Missouri side of the Ozarks seemed to be much more beautiful. In fairness to Arkansas, the Missouri Ozarks is simply a beautiful area and any next stop would be a bit of a letdown. Arkansas is one of America’s major chicken production centers and we drove past a few farms and processing facilities.
Our first stop on wind through Arkansas was at Christ of the Ozarks—a six story statue of Jesus Christ standing with his arms out to form a cross. The Christ is part of a broader Biblical attraction that also features a passion play and a holy land tour. On the drive up to Christ of the Ozarks we passed several churches.
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Christ of the Ozarks is located a mile east of Eureka Springs, our next stop. Eureka Springs has a nice feel—there’s vintage storefronts and a small creek runs through the town. We made a quick stop here to feed our dog. I walked around town hoping to find some place for a quick bite for lunch but I saw mostly souvenir shops.
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It was another windy hour drive down the road from the Ozarks to Rogers.
Rogers is home to one of America’s great coffee roasters, Onyx Coffee. Onyx constantly ranks as one of the top ten coffee roasters and their lab/coffee house is an impressive building that complements the great coffee. What’s odd about Rogers is that it’s a great small town that seems to be going through a bit of a transition to get back to it’s original great small town feel—what’s odd is that Bentonville and Walmart Headquarters is less than 15 minutes away and I’m surprised there hasn’t been much of an overspill of people in Bentonville deciding to live someplace a little further away without all their fellow co-workers. At least that’d be my approach, although I’d never work for Walmart, so I can’t say how their workers view where to live. But I’d definitely opt for Rogers.
Rogers is home to one of America’s great coffee roasters, Onyx Coffee. Onyx constantly ranks as one of the top ten coffee roasters and their lab/coffee house is an impressive building that complements the great coffee. What’s odd about Rogers is that it’s a great small town that seems to be going through a bit of a transition to get back to it’s original great small town feel—what’s odd is that Bentonville and Walmart Headquarters is less than 15 minutes away and I’m surprised there hasn’t been much of an overspill of people in Bentonville deciding to live someplace a little further away without all their fellow co-workers. At least that’d be my approach, although I’d never work for Walmart, so I can’t say how their workers view where to live. But I’d definitely opt for Rogers.
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On to Bentonville. I liked Bentonville at first. A high volume of Porches and Range Rovers on the street was the only sign that I was driving through the town that is known primarily/only for being Walmart’s headquarters. It’s where in the 1960s, Sam Walton opened his first 5 and 10 store and shortly thereafter his first Walmart. Bentonville has a nice town square that’s surrounded by a courthouse and small shops—the same sort of small shops that Walmart decimated when it arrived in towns similar to Bentonville. When I realized this my views on Bentonville started to change. Bentonville is your quintessential American small town. It’s quaint. There’s a beautiful square in the center of town. Christmas decorations were being setup. But it’s towns like this across America that Walmart destroyed. It’s a sad retrospective. I had a butter pecan ice cream cone (Sam Walton’s favorite) from the Spark Café that was part of Walton’s original 5 and 10 (which is now a Walmart museum). We then drove around town on our way back to the interstate—and that’s when Bentonville started to feel even stranger. It’s well known that Bentonville is in the middle of nowhere—Sam Walton refused to move headquarters to a more convenient location for vendors because he felt the long treks to Bentonville gave him a negotiation advantage. Despite cheap land in the middle of nowhere, Bentonville homes are placed side to side with little yard space. And the homes all looked the same. I’m not saying the same like driving through a Toll Brothers development…I’m saying the homes all looked exactly the same. Toll Brothers has different models, different front elevations, etc. the homes in Bentonville sub developments all looked exactly the same—brick ranchers with the front door, windows, and garage all in the same exact location.
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