River Valley Trails
Fort Smith Area
Russellville Area
Introduction
Running between the Ozarks and the Ouachitas is the Arkansas River Valley. This area is a combination of flat-topped mountains like those found in the Ozarks, and ridges like the Ouachitas, with the great Arkansas River flowing through its valley. The tallest mountain in the state, Magazine, can be found in this region (Logan County), as well as Petit Jean and Nebo.
Wide bottomlands with fertile soil are found along the river and produce many different crops. Pines and hardwoods, prairie grasses, bottomland forests and swamps mark the landscape. In the 1700s and early 1800s, bison and elk were common sites as the area became a migration corridor for many animals. Today, migrating birds still follow the Arkansas River through the valley.
The Caddo and war-like Osage inhabited the area before European settlement. Henri de Tonti, a French explorer, visited the valley in the early 1700s. The army built a western military post, Fort Smith, at the western edge of the valley. It was the last outpost before traveling into the western plains. In the late 1850s, the Butterfield Stage Line ran through the Arkansas River Valley before heading to California. Fort Smith (Arkansas's second largest city), Pottsville, Paris, Booneville, Atkins, Ozark, Clarksville, Van Buren, Russellville, Morrilton, and Dardanelle are the largest communities found in the river valley.
One of the most important events to occur in this area was during the 1960s when the U.S. Corps of Engineers completed the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System that made the Arkansas River navigable to Tulsa, Oklahoma. River, rail and highway travel have helped to populate this area and contributed to its growth. Today, it possesses beautiful mountains and scenic waterways and is considered one of the most attractive places to live.
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