Scenic Highway US 72 to Wiederkehr Village (and back)

This one makes for a pretty easy day trip. As with my others, things start in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Google Maps links include a bunch of smaller towns simply to keep the map off the Interstates that are close by. It begins with going to Alma via Highway 71. As I've mentioned in other entries, 71 used to be the only reasonable way for trucks to get into Northwest Arkansas. It used to be a pretty dangerous highway. Now, with I-540, this stretch of it has been designated a scenic highway. From Alma, instead of getting on I-40, this route takes US 64 all the way to the turn off for Wiederkehr Village, a family owned vineyard, winery, and restaurant. The timing of this ride works out fairly well for lunch either at Wiederkehr, or at the bottom of the mountain in Altus (which you would have driven through on US-64). There's a nice overlook at the top of the mountain by the St. Mary's Catholic Church.


Altus has a small pub called "Kelts" that I prefer over the more tourist oriented Village restaurant. If you're just in the mood for a cool drink drink, you might want to try out a small bar right on US-64. It's kind of hard to pass up a drink at The Dead Pecker Inn....

The drive back to Fayetteville in this route goes back to Ozark and then on the scenic "PigTrail", AR-23.

Map

Highway 282 and Mount Magazine (Fayetteville roundtrip: 240 miles; about 6.5 hours)

This ride starts on old US Highway 71 south from Fayetteville. While it used to be the source of "Pray for me. I drive Highway 71" bumper stickers, it's now a scenic byway since I-540 was opened between Fort Smith and Bella Vista. State highway 282 at Mountainburg bypasses a section of mountain twisties, but takes you through a river bottom area below one of the longer I-540 bridges. The river bottom has part of an old, still functioning raid road with a couple of trestles in the valley. One of which you drive through along with a low water bridge across the river. The trestle and roadway are constructed such that each lane of the road passes through one of the arches of the trestle. The other trestle can be seen cross the river as you head south and up the hill. Nice view.

After continuing south and then east, one reaches AR-309 at Havana, AR and heads up the south side of Mount Magazine . There are some nice twisties on the way up to the top. Right after reaching the top, there is a scenic overlook that's well worth the stop. The side trip to poke around the Mount Magazine park is worth the time as well.

Heading north through Paris and Ozark puts one on AR-23, or "Pigtrail". A pretty scenic favorite bike ride in the area.

Google Map