Take a lake-country ride along the edge of the Ozark foothills as we follow Arkansas Highway 16 from Greers Ferry to Heber Springs. This 22-mile eastbound run trades swim beaches and marinas for pine-hardwood ridgelines and, by journey’s end, the easy cadence of a small county seat where the Little Red River shapes daily life. It’s a short segment with a big sense of place: boats on their trailers, the sparkle of coves through the trees, and a highway that respects the terrain rather than bulldozing through it.
We set off at the entrance to Devils Fork Recreation Area on the south shore of Greers Ferry Lake, where AR-16 eases away from the water and finds its two-lane rhythm. The shoulders are modest and the curves are broad and forgiving, perfect for an unhurried pace while we climb to low spines and dip through shaded draws. Turnouts and side roads peel toward boat ramps and rental cabins—reminders that, even as we’re leaving the shoreline, lake life remains just offstage. Devils Fork is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recreation site, one of many portals to the lake’s campgrounds and launches circling the reservoir, and it sets the tone for this first leg: recreation first, commuting second. (For details on Devils Fork and other USACE parks around the lake, see the Corps’ Greers Ferry listings. SWL Army Corps of Engineers)
As we settle into the middle stretch, the tree line thickens and the views compress, trading open water for the blended greens of shortleaf pine and oak. Traffic is a lake-country mix—locals, service trucks, and vacationers towing fishing rigs—so we hold our speed on the straights and look far through the bends. Here and there the woods step back to reveal hay patches or powerline clearings, but the dominant note is forest: filtered light, sandy-tan shoulders, and the steady up-on-the-ridge, down-through-the-draw cadence that defines the Ozark foothills. Fleeting gaps on the higher ground still catch slivers of blue: inlets and backwaters reminding us Greers Ferry Lake is never far away, even when the map says we’re inland. (Greers Ferry’s shoreline parks and trails are a USACE network circling the lake, handy to this whole corridor. hebersprings.gov)
Nearer Heber Springs, subtle cues announce town ahead. Access roads begin feeding in from marinas and campgrounds; center turn lanes appear at busier junctions; school signs and neighborhood streets start to cluster. Grades soften a touch, and the highway grants those brief, satisfying long views toward the Little Red River valley—enough to feel the landscape opening. Heber Springs has built a regional identity on its proximity to lake and tailwater, and you sense the handoff as AR-16 meets the greater web of local streets and the north–south pull of AR-25. We roll the last crests with confidence, sightlines wide, pavement tidy, and the feel seamlessly changes from rural corridor to town approach.
Once in Heber Springs, you can feel how water shapes the day’s options. A few minutes off our line, Greers Ferry National Fish Hatchery sits below the dam, producing rainbow and brook trout that help stock Arkansas’s cold-water tailwaters—and making a fascinating detour if you time it for visitor hours. The hatchery started in 1965 to mitigate the cold releases from the dam; today, tens of thousands of visitors come to see the raceways and stroll Collins Creek. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Downstream, the Little Red River stretches roughly 29 miles of prime trout habitat below Greers Ferry Dam, famed for big browns and year-round action; if the season lines up, you may see wader-clad anglers ghosting through the shoals as you explore town.
Our drive concludes at the junction of AR-16 and AR-25 on Heber Springs’ developed edge—a practical pivot whether you’re angling north toward Eden Isle and lake amenities, or bending east toward Pangburn and the river corridor. We started at a Corps park and finished at a county seat, but the thread never broke: water and woods, recreation and routine, knit together by a highway that carries weekenders and locals with equal ease. In a state rich with mileage, this is one of those compact, character-dense segments that sticks—blending the hush of forest bends with the promise of cold, clear tailwater just down the road. And for series-minded travelers, this run pairs naturally with our westward segment from Clinton to Greers Ferry, making a continuous, story-true arc across the south side of the lake.
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