Things to Do in Dardanelle, Arkansas

The park sits on top of Mount Nebo, which rises 1,350 feet above the river valley just west of town. It opened in 1928 as Arkansas’ second state park. The Civilian Conservation Corps built many of its cabins, pavilions and bridges in the 1930s, plus trails now totaling 32.6 miles, including the Rim Trail.

★ Good to know Highway 155 climbs the mountain on 11 hairpin curves with grades up to 18 percent. Trailers and RVs over 24 feet aren’t allowed in the park.

Sunrise Point and Sunset Point on the mountaintop are the park’s best-known viewpoints and draw photographers. Before the park, Nebo was a summer resort: the 100-room Summit Park Hotel opened in 1889 and burned in 1918. Hang gliders launch from the bluffs, and fly-ins are usually held in April and August.

★ Good to know Twelve of the park’s 15 cabins sit along the bluff, so book early if you want to wake up to the valley view.

Lake Dardanelle covers nearly 40,000 acres and reaches about 50 miles up the Arkansas River. The main park area is across the river in Russellville. It has a visitor center with aquariums of local fish, a fishing pier, trails and tandem kayak rentals. A smaller day-use area on the Dardanelle side has its own pavilion and campsites.

★ Good to know The park is a certified Trail of Tears National Historic Site, so give the visitor center exhibits a few minutes.

This city park at 1200 N. Front St. overlooks the Arkansas River, and one of the original council oaks still stands. It sits on the water route of the Trail of Tears, and exhibits explain how low water forced removal parties off the boats. Dardanelle Rock, the bluff on the river, marked where travelers chose between water and land.

★ Good to know There are benches, picnic tables, parking and history exhibits, and it’s a stop on the True Grit Trail.

This refuge is about 5 miles southeast of town. It sits inside an old river bend the Corps of Engineers cut off in the early 1950s. It has foot trails, an observation tower, fishing lakes and about three miles of Arkansas River bank. Eagles and migrating waterfowl come through in winter.

★ Good to know The refuge says not to rely on Google Maps for directions; take Highway 7 south, then Highway 155 south for about 4 miles.

The Corps of Engineers runs this visitor center on the Russellville side of Dardanelle Lock and Dam. Its overlook is a good place to watch barges lock through. Exhibits cover the river’s story, from Native American heritage to steamboats and modern navigation.

★ Good to know It’s at 1598 Lock & Dam Road, off Highway 7, just across the river from downtown.

Dardanelle’s downtown runs along Front Street by the river, and most of its brick buildings went up after 1891. The Dardanelle Commercial Historic District was added to the National Register in 2009. A 3-mile walking trail links downtown with Merritt Park, which has disc golf, pickleball and a hammock park.

★ Good to know The Presbyterian Church at Second and Quay streets, built 1912 to 1914, is a True Grit Trail stop.