Finding the cheapest hotels in Arkansas online has never been
this easy. View Arkansas hotel room features, availability, and
pictures, or reserve a hotel room online. We can help you find
cheap Arkansas hotels and rates online, the rest is up to you!
Historically, ARKANSAS belongs very much to the American South.
It sided firmly with the Confederacy in the Civil War and its
capital, Little Rock, was, in 1957, one of the most notorious
flashpoints in the struggle for civil rights. Geographically,
however, it marks the beginning of the Great Plains. Unlike
the other Southern states, on the far side of the Mississippi
River, Arkansas remained very sparsely populated until almost
a century ago. Westward expansion was blocked by the existence
of the Indian Territory in what's now Oklahoma, and not until
the railroads opened up the forested interior during the 1880s
did settlers stray in any numbers from their small riverside
villages. Only once the Depression and mechanization had forced
thousands of farmers to leave their fields did Arkansas begin
to develop any significant industrial base. In 1992, local boy
Bill Clinton's accession to the presidency catapulted Arkansas
into national prominence. Four towns lay claim to him: Hope,
his birthplace; Hot Springs, his "home town"; Fayetteville,
where he and Hillary married; and, of course, Little Rock, the
state capital. Of the four, only sleepy Little Rock and the
nearby spa resort of Hot Springs are worth a trip, whatever
the tourist brochures may say.
Though Arkansas encompasses the Mississippi Delta in the east,
oil-rich timber lands in the south, and the sweeping Ouachita
( Wash-i-taw ) Mountains in the west, the cragged and charismatic
Ozark Mountains in the north are its most scenic asset, where
the main attractions for tourists are the uncrowded parks and
unspoiled rivers. Incidentally, "Arkansas" is a distorted
version of the name of a small Indian tribe; the state legislature
declared once and for all in 1881 that the correct pronunciation
is Arkansa .
It's extremely difficult to venture beyond Little Rock and
Hot Springs using public transportation. Greyhound runs intermittent
services, while Amtrak cuts diagonally east-west through the
state, calling at Little Rock, which also holds the only sizeable
airport . To see the Ozarks you'll need a car.
Ready to go? Reserve
a hotel room in Arkansas today!
