This national forest falls in two Arkansas counties—Lee and Phillips. Named for the St. Francis River, the approximately 20,000-acre hardwood forest is one of the smallest and most diverse woodlands owned by U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Driving through the dense forest, with its tree canopy of upland hardwood timber, gives the visitor some feeling for what the pioneers saw and experienced when they traveled the backbone of Crowley’s Ridge. An alternate loop can be taken along the floodplain past cotton and soybean fields, bottomland hardwood timber stands, Beaver Pond, and a cypress swamp. The forest includes the Mississippi River State Park, with a visitor center and exhibits interpreting the area, along with Crowley’s Ridge Parkway and Great River Road Scenic Byways.
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St. Francis National Forest
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