Harrison is a small city in the Ozark Mountains that acts as the gateway to the Buffalo National River and other natural wonders. It’s often listed among the “Best Small Towns in America,” thanks to its historic downtown charm and scenic surroundings.

The heart of Harrison hangs around the Boone County Courthouse Square Historic District, featuring early 1900s brick storefronts, the 1909 courthouse, 1914 jail, the Lyric Theater, and Hotel Seville—all offering a nostalgic main street experience. The Lyric Theater, originally a 1929 movie house, now hosts live performances and was renovated preserving its historical character, earning praise as the “Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks”.

Twin Falls

Twin Falls—also called Triple Falls after heavy rains—is a scenic waterfall tucked near Camp Orr Boy Scout Camp along the Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas. The name “Twin Falls” comes from the two water sources feeding it (a creek and a spring), and during wet seasons, a third stream may appear, creating that “triple” falls effect. It was a beautiful place to hike on an otherwise hot day.

Alum Cove

Alum Cove Natural Bridge Recreation Area in the Ozark National Forest is a gorgeous spot featuring a massive stone arch and a short, scenic hiking trail. The natural bridge spans about 130 feet long and 20 feet wide, formed from a sandstone cave carved by wind, water, and ice over time. Pioneers used the bridge to cross the creek in their wagons.

Although the loop trail is only a short relatively easy 1.1 miles long, due to the summer heat we only took the trail down to the bridge which is about .4 miles round trip.

Hammerschmidt Falls

Hammerschmidt Falls is a seasonal waterfall tucked into the upper Indian Creek drainage in the Buffalo National River region of northwest Arkansas. It’s named after Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, who helped make the Buffalo River the nation’s first national river.

The trail is short and pretty easy—around 0.7 to 1 mile round-trip, with 125–130 ft elevation gain, making it accessible for most folks looking for a casual hike. The path follows an old dirt road from Hwy 74, dips near a private pond, and then meanders along the creek until you reach the top of the 43-ft plunge waterfall.

One key thing: you generally need a few inches of rain in a short period to see the falls running at full flow. Most of the year it’s a trickle or dry. After heavy rain, though, it turns into a stunning curtain drop and gives off a dramatic vibe that’s well worth the timing.

Independence Day in Harrison Arkansas

The town of Harrison held a great fireworks show that included a drone light show as a backdrop to the fireworks called “Fire in the Sky”. I wasn’t super excited to see fireworks but the drone show was spectacular. We had previously only seen them on TV. It really added a lot to the fireworks show.

Park Review – Shady Oaks Campground and RV Park

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: South of Harrison, AR along AR-206.
Type: Commercial Park
Check-in/Check-out times: 11:00/1:00
Site Quality / Amenities:
Access: We came from the east and followed AR-206 from US-65 in Bellefonte. From the west side, AR-7 south of the park is hilly and has lots of sharp turns which would make them a bit difficult for a larger trailer. They would probably be fine for something smaller. AR-7 from the north goes through Harrison which could be done but wouldn’t be the preferred route (for me).
Staff: When we were there the owner of the park had recently changed and clearly the park was undergoing change. Many of the staff had left the park and the few left were doing all the work although they weren’t too happy because they were working full time jobs when they were only supposed to be working 20 hours or so a week. Although I had good interactions with the lady in the office before we got there, the office was never open while we were there due to some unspecified issues. We did always get them on the phone when we needed something, however. It seems like the new owner has some good people but he needs to treat them better before they decide to move on.
Cellular/WiFi: Our T-mobile signal was marginal and speeds were pretty slow at around 10Mbps down and less than 1Mbps up. Due to the park basically being in a forest, Starlink was also marginal due to trees overhead. Although streaming worked pretty well since it buffers up data, anything else (phone calls in particular) just barely worked.
Restaurants: We both ate fried catfish at Flavors of Louisiana in Harrison and at Cliff House Inn in Jasper . Both places had some of the best fried catfish we have had, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Ozark Cafe also in Jasper is an Arkansas Landmark since 1909. It’s been featured in several foodie magazines and had great food.
Nearby parks: We didn’t drive through any nearby parks but we did look at quite a few as we drove by them. Many were a bit rough and would not be somewhere we would want to stay. I think one of the issues for this area is that a lot of these places were in their heyday when the nearby Dogpatch USA amusement park was open. Built 1968 and closed in 1993, Dogpatch was the major commercial attraction in the area.
What we liked: The park was very tree covered which helped with shade for summer temperatures.
What we didn’t like: Navigation within the park was difficult for large rigs due to sharp corners and trees close to the internal roads. Sketchy Power – We had a 50 amp site but those of you who have a similar 50 amp trailer know the breaker is a dual 50 amp version and there are usually a 30 amp and a 20 amp breaker for the other plugs. 50 amp sites actually supply 100 amps of power, 50 amps for each leg. This park supplies 30 amps to one leg and 20 amps to the other. Not only does it supply only 50 amps total, half what it should but that is shared with the other plugs which some people likely try to use. This would quickly overload the circuit. Luckily, we only had problems one time. We didn’t pop the breaker but we did have a low voltage situation when we were drawing close to the limit of the breaker.
Verdict: This park was one of the nicer ones in the area but ultimately it wasn’t a great option for larger trailers like ours. We likely won’t stay here again.