Oark store in Arkansas

I'm doing a ride across the US this June and one of the places I want to stop is the little store at Oark. I'll be travelling west to Harrison,then south down 7, onto 21 to Fallsville. Just south of there there is a 215 heading west to Oark.
Does anyone know if this road to Oark and beyond to Cass is sealed?


I e mailed the Arkansas Dept of Roads but got no reply.

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by werewasi

I'm doing a ride across the US this June and one of the places I want to stop is the little store at Oark. I'll be travelling west to Harrison,then south down 7, onto 21 to Fallsville. Just south of there there is a 215 heading west to Oark.
Does anyone know if this road to Oark and beyond to Cass is sealed?


I e mailed the Arkansas Dept of Roads but got no reply.

The road is gravel from Catalpa Eastward. About ten miles of it.

Westward on AR-215 along the Mulberry to Cass is all paved. Much of it curbed and guttered.

AR-215 is a nice road, too bad it's not paved all the way to AR-21.

To stay on pavement, you'll need to do this:

View Larger Map

Take AR-21 just South of Ozone to Mount Zion Road. Take Mount Zion, County Road 3390 and County Road 76 over to Harmony, then AR-103 North to AR-215.

Some great curves on AR-103 !!!

So I'm clear on this:
I take the 21 from Fallsville, go past the 215 turnoff to Oark, and go down to Clarksville. then back up the 103 through Harmony to Oark.
My map doesn't have a Mt Zion rd or 3390 marked on it.
Hope the coffe is Ok at the store after all this.

Thanks for the help

[tbirdsp]

21 and 103 are very nice roads though

[this is a RV]

It's the only place I have seen plastic bags with water in them hanging out side the door to keep the flys out. That's what I was told it was for.

[ragtoplvr]

Originally Posted by rocker59

The road is gravel from Catalpa Eastward. About ten miles of it.

Westward on AR-215 along the Mulberry to Cass is all paved. Much of it curbed and guttered.

AR-215 is a nice road, too bad it's not paved all the way to AR-21.

To stay on pavement, you'll need to do this:

View Larger Map

Take AR-21 just South of Ozone to Mount Zion Road. Take Mount Zion, County Road 3390 and County Road 76 over to Harmony, then AR-103 North to AR-215.

Some great curves on AR-103 !!!

Please quit telling people about 103. Soon it will be crowded and patroled just like the Pig Trail.

103 is awful, no curves, all rocks and potholes, you will be lucky to make it on a GS, yea, that's it, horrible boring road.

ROd

ok guys,
but just in case rocker 59 doesn't come back, is my interpretation of the instructions correct i. e. going to Clarksville.
I've seen the store at Oark on the TAT RRs and it's become like a pilgrimmage spot
for me given that I can't do the TAT. Will be my quintessential Arkansas experience.
I'd better ring from Paducah and make sure they're open.
SO what's the coffe like ?

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by werewasi

ok guys,
but just in case rocker 59 doesn't come back, is my interpretation of the instructions correct i. e. going to Clarksville.
I've seen the store at Oark on the TAT RRs and it's become like a pilgrimmage spot
for me given that I can't do the TAT. Will be my quintessential Arkansas experience.
I'd better ring from Paducah and make sure they're open.
SO what's the coffe like ?

No.

AR-215 ends at Catalpa and it's a gravel county road east to AR-21. AR-215 does not intersect with AR-21.

If you want to stay on Macadam/blacktop/pavement:
From Fallsville, travel South on AR-21 to just past Ozone and turn West on Mount Zion Road. If you look at the Google Map, you'll see that you are several miles North of Clarksville at that point. Mount Zion Road is paved over to AR-103 where you turn North towards Oark.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...1&ie=UTF8&z=12


If you miss Mount Zion Road, then yes, you can travel AR-21 down to US-64 at Clarksville, then AR-103 up to Oark.

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by werewasi

ok guys,
but just in case rocker 59 doesn't come back, is my interpretation of the instructions correct i. e. going to Clarksville.
I've seen the store at Oark on the TAT RRs and it's become like a pilgrimmage spot
for me given that I can't do the TAT. Will be my quintessential Arkansas experience.
I'd better ring from Paducah and make sure they're open.
SO what's the coffe like ?

They'll be open. Never had the coffee, but the food and pies are good.

http://www.oarkgeneralstore.com/

http://local.yahoo.com/info-18424179...tore-cafe-oark

Thanks r59,
looking for a place to camp in that fallsville/clarksville area. Oark would be even better but I don't suppose there's anything there.
Any ideas?
(and are there any motels -just cheapies - in case it's raining.)

Do you have country type pubs in any eastern states where you can stay or is it all motels?

BTW try the mapping tool at http//rideplanner.harley-davidson.com/rideplanner. It's much better than google maps and allows you to change a route with an easy drag- not like all the shagging round in google.
Also very easy to save the map routes you have created.


Edit MOTO GUZZI ++++++++++
You're the man

[rocker59]

We don't have roadhouse/pubs with lodging around here, though there will be a few hotels/motels available in places like Harrison, Jasper, and Clarksville.

Just West of the AR-103/AR-215 junction is a campground called Wolfpen. There is also Turner Bend a little further West.

I don't know where you're headed from Oark, but Fayetteville (where I live) is a nice town with many restaurants/bars/hotels/motels.

[achesley]

Great advise. By the way! I think the coffee is GREAT! But, so is the food. Been that way since I first found the place in '95 before it got popular.
Now don't be telling people of the roads you rode in the area. We try to keep it a secret and let the tourist run 7 and 23. That leaves the other fine and better roads to those in the know. You didn't think I was gonna mention numbers did you?

[Missouri Man]

Originally Posted by werewasi

Thanks r59,
looking for a place to camp in that fallsville/clarksville area. Oark would be even better but I don't suppose there's anything there.
Any ideas?
(and are there any motels -just cheapies - in case it's raining.)

Edit MOTO GUZZI ++++++++++
You're the man

Maybe you could rent their cabin.

http://www.oarkgeneralstore.com/

Cabin at Oark looks great. Would it be bad form to say to the store people that if another solo rider turns up, I would be prepared to share.
Seems a bit much to just hog it for myself and I'd sure appreciate it if someone extended the same hospitality to me (esp if raining)

[DR. Rock]

There's a privately owned campground just west of there that they recommended. That's where we stayed. That county is dry, and when we drove (quite a distance) to obtain our evening's adult beverage, we spied a state or NF campground that looked nice, and given the choice we'd rather have stayed there.

Consider loading this massive campground POI file to your gps -- it really makes finding nearby campgrounds a snap, otherwise you have to search waypoints under several categories (lodging, parks, etc) since they aren't otherwise consolidated into any single category.