Tips for Traveling the Ozark Gateway

Let us help you uncover the hidden jewels of the Ozark Gateway. Our travel writers can help you find that perfect place for dinner, an exciting outdoor adventure, a family friendly festival and more!

Explore our travelogues to learn more about the Ozark Gateway:

T Tauri Film Festival Screening Schedule Announced
Festival Celebrates America’s Outstanding Young Filmmakers. [More»»»]

Yellow Ropes
People will soon “Go Loco” at the Ozark Folk Center! Loco Ropes! will soon begin construction on its high-wire forest adventure at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. [More»»»]

Eye on Green Business
"Interview with Micmak Hydroponics Farm owner David Hughes" by Bob Pest. [ More»»»]

Fourth Annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest Screenwriting Competition Accepting Entries
The Ozark Foothills FilmFest is accepting entries for its fourth annual Screenwriting Competition. The competition, the only one of its kind in Arkansas, is limited to writers who have not yet had a work produced or optioned. [ More »»»]

Lyon APPLE Students Complete United Way Film: Together We Can, United We Will Created in T Tauri Documentary Workshop
Three area high school students, participants in the T Tauri Community Documentary Workshop, have completed the new United Way campaign film. [ More »»»]

Young filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers will have the opportunity to “make history."
Among the five workshops offered in the 6th annual T Tauri Movie Camp, July 19 through 31, is Community Documentary. [ More »»»]

Download the FilmFest Podcast
Get the latest info on the 2010 Ozark Foothills FilmFest with a half-hour podcast featuring interviews, press conference, and more. [ More »»»]

HammerTime®: “Buying a Pig in a Poke”
’m going to focus on the ins and outs of leasing duck hunting ground in Arkansas, which probably applies in certain other areas as well. I don’t know all the answers, but this information should give those thinking about a lease, something to think about. [ More »»»]

Handcrafted in Arkansas: The Arkansas Craft Guild sets the standards
The Arkansas Craft Guild was established as a craft marketing cooperative in Stone County in 1962 and today some 200 artists and craftsmen make up the cooperative’s all-Arkansas membership. For over 40 years Guild members' work has been juried on the basis of design, quality and fine craftsmanship.　The Standards Committee holds jury sessions twice yearly to consider new memberships, and to re-jury existing members every five years in order to　maintain the Guild standards. [ More »»»]

T Tauri Joins Operation Military Kids
The T Tauri Movie Camp, a division of Ozark Foothills FilmFest, Inc., completed its first week of working with Operation Military Kids by unveiling a new documentary film, Young Heroes: Military Teens Speak Out. [ More »»»]

Batesville Launches Annual Autumn Antique and Crafts Festival
Main Street Batesville, in partnership with the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce and Bob Pest Marketing/Communications/Public Relations will hold the first Autumn Antique and Crafts Festival. [ More »»»]

HammerTime “Old School”
This summer has been a summer of change in my life. Like any summer, business decisions are made and my wife and I set forth the actions to implement our decisions. [ More »»»]

Arkansas Craft School Offers Course for Classroom Teachers
The Arkansas Craft School is offering a continuing education course for classroom teachers July 6 – 10, 2009. The course will be on the Mountain View, AR, campus of the Ozarka College. Classes are scheduled for 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM each day. [ More »»»]

Love of Music Leads to New Music Venue in Downtown Batesville
Live music has become synonymous with downtown Batesville since the launching of the 2nd Friday Downtown Wander and Wonder Walks. The Pocket Park, Randy’s Music, MorningSide Coffeehouse, the Healing Grounds Coffeehouse, and Elizabeth’s Restaurant have all participated in hosting musical performances for the monthly event, in most cases free to the public. The historic district’s newest live music venue, the Simply Southern Playhouse Music Theater, at the corner of Main and Broad streets, adds a new dimension to what is already developing as an exciting new direction for downtown as an entertainment center. [ More »»»]

LPGA Legends Tours
HORSESHOE BEND - The Legends of the LPGA will tee it up for a charity pro-am at The Golf Course on Turkey Mountain in Horseshoe Bend on Sept. 26 & 27. The Horseshoe Bend Invitational is part of The Legends Tour, the official Senior Tour of the LPGA.

Last year was the first year for this event, bringing LPGA legends to the state for the first time and marking only the second event featuring the LPGA in Arkansas in more than 50 years. “This is the first year of a five-year commitment,” explained Chuck McNeight, the golf pro at The Golf Course on Turkey Mountain. “The big focus for this is we’re trying to showcase Arkansas as a golf and vacation destination. We’re trying to develop a rapport with the Legends Tour so over the next five years we grow the event into a televised event. We’re also trying to raise money for Arkansas Children’s Hospital.” [ More »»»]

Randolph County Quilt Trail
Arkansas' ONLY Quilt Trial. Photographs of vintage quilts created by local quilters, enlarged and displayed outdoors throughout the county. [ More »»»]

Summer Camps at The Studio for the Arts
“I’m bored,” is a phrase you’ll never have to hear this summer if you let The Studio take control of summer boredom. The Studio for the Arts will hold a full summer of camps at its location at 1401 Hwy. 304 East in Pocahontas. All camps are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and include a morning snack. Camps are from ages 6 to 16 unless otherwise specified. [ More »»»]

Mountain View's 'Hoedown' Celebrates 25th Season
Cash's White River Hoedown, the area's oldest country music and comedy show, will premiere their 25th season on Saturday, April 4. A year-long celebration is planned with special guest stars dropping in to perform from time to time, according to a spokesman for the show.
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Ozark Foothills FilmFest
The Ozark Foothills FilmFest, founded in 2001, celebrates the independent and international cinema every spring. Screenings, panels, workshops, and social events take place at venues around Batesville. [ More »»»]

T Tauri Film Festival and Movie Camp
The T Tauri Film Festival and Movie Camp focuses on filmmakers age 18 and under.  It includes a national competition judged by local youth, screenings of films by young filmmakers from around the country, and workshops including Community Documentary Filmmaking, Animation, and Script to Screen. [ More »»»]

New Business on Main Street in Batesville Combines Art, Music, and Massage Therapy
When Deb Dalwrymple decided to move Batesville, she had a vision. The art photographer, a fixture in the Heber Springs arts community, had just completed her training as a massage therapist at Massage Works. [ More »»»]

What Makes a Town Great?
On December 12, architect Steve Auterman of the Memphis-based architecture firm Looney Rocks Kiss (LRK) spoke to an open public gathering on the campus of Lyon College in Batesville about ideas for development of the city’s White River Waterfront. [ More »»»]

Esta's White River Retreat Offering Fractional Ownership
Esta’s White River Retreat in Locust Grove is introducing a fractional ownership model. The expansive riverfront compound, including two riverfront lodges and a smaller honey moon cabin, has been operating on a rental basis for the past decade, hosting everything from corporate gatherings to family reunions.
[More »»»]

Creative Economy Coming of Age
For the past three years regional Technology Strategies, Inc. a consulting firm based in North Carolina, has been conducting a study of the "Creative Economy" in Arkansas. The study marked the first attempt to measure the economic impact of arts and arts-related fields and endeavors on the state's economy. [ More »»»]

Southern Fried Saturdays
SOUTHERN FRIED SATURDAYS is a lyrical documentary about life in a small Ozark foothills community, as experienced by three inquisitive, engaged teenage girls.  In the film’s moving narration, the girls share their feelings about rural life, family, and the future. [ More »»»]

Batesville's Antique District
Batesville's downtown historic district, an open-air museum of early 20th century architecture, can now also boast an emerging antique district that seems capable of rivaling the state's finest.
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Batesville Farmers' Market Finally Gets a Home
Farmers' markets of all sizes and varieties dot the Ozarks landscape, some little more than a pick-up truck under a shady tree, others occupying entire town squares. [ More »»»]

Motorcycle Trips in the Ozark Gateway
The Ozark Gateway region is a popular destination for motorcyclists traveling alone or in groups. There are many opportunities for touring, including the following suggested routes. [More »»»]

Josie’s on the White River, More than a Steakhouse
There is something magical about dining within view of a flowing river. The motion of the water creates a calm that seems to stir the appetite and inspire contemplation.  It only takes a few moments for the pressures and anxieties of the day to evaporate.  Eating becomes dining when the body and spirit are at peace, and a meal becomes an occasion to be savored. [More »»»]

Canadian Blend
Life in the Ozarks has long been enriched by settlers, people who “settled” here by choice, with all that the word implies.  These settlers bring traditions, imagination, energy, and a sense of the possible. Dani Kvern and Wes Obrigewitsch, founders and operators of Batesville’s MorningSide Coffee House, are the kind of settlers every community welcomes.  In just over two years, the couple has managed to turn their coffee house/café/bakery brainchild into a gathering spot where teens and retirees feel equally at home, and where chance and arranged meetings bring a community closer together.  [More »»»]

Horseshoe Bend, a Never-Ending Story of a Dream Community
The carefree lifestyle enjoyed by residents and guests of Horseshoe Bend is unforgettable. One visit may change a family’s outlook on vacationing, resort living, retirement and the future!
A major attraction is the free-flowing Strawberry River, which carves a large loop through the park-like setting in the Ozark foothills. [More »»»]