Ozark Pig Trail, AR-23

Driving

by Plot Along: Heartland

The Pig Trail is the twisting run of Arkansas Highway 23 that climbs north from Ozark, on the Arkansas River, up over the Boston Mountains and on through the Ozarks to the Victorian spa town of Eureka Springs, about 80 miles of two-lane, nearly all of it AR-23. The nickname goes back to the days when University of Arkansas students took its switchbacks as the back-road shortcut to Razorback football games in Fayetteville, and it stuck, because the road writhes like a hog's tail. It's a longtime motorcycling favorite: narrow, tree-tunneled, with tight curves, blind crests, and bright fall color.

The heart of it crosses the Mulberry River at Turner Bend, a general store and canoe launch that's been the trailhead for the river-running crowd for generations. From there the road climbs through the high Ozark National Forest hamlets, tops out near Saint Paul, and rolls north through Huntsville to Eureka Springs.

Fully paved and open year-round, though the surface is patched, leaf-slick in autumn, and shaded enough to ice in winter. Watch for gravel in the curves and the occasional logging truck.

Learn more: en.wikipedia.org

1
Ozark
The southern start on the Arkansas River, just off I-40, where AR-23 leaves the valley and begins climbing into the Boston Mountains and the curves the road is known for.
2
Turner Bend
A general store and canoe outfitter where AR-23 crosses the Mulberry River near Cass. The social hub of the Pig Trail and the put-in for one of the best whitewater floats in the state.
3
Saint Paul
A small Ozark hamlet where AR-23 meets AR-16, at the top of the national-forest climb and the north end of the original Pig Trail byway.
4
Huntsville
The Madison County seat on AR-23, a re-fuel and food stop as the road rolls north across the Ozark plateau toward the spa country.
5
Eureka Springs
The northern terminus, a Victorian spa town in the far Ozarks where AR-23 ends its long run. The route finishes at the Eureka Springs Historical Museum on South Main Street, which tells the story of the town's 1880s spa boom, at the lower end of the historic downtown with its galleries, cafes, and steep crooked streets.