Wings of Honor Museum

From October 1942 to the spring of 1945 this was the location of the Walnut Ridge Army Air Forces Basic Flying School. Over 4,000 pilots graduated from the school. At the end of WWII the airfield was turned over to the city of Walnut Ridge and is used as a public airport. 

The museum was founded to tell the history of the flying school and WWII. Visitors are given a short tour then can explore on their own. The amount of information on WWII is impressive. Our guide told us that it was all compiled by one man. It covers the events that led up to the war, actions around the world, and the aftermath of the war. There are exhibits on the founding of the school and relocation of the forty-five families who lived on the land that the government needed for the airfield. A special exhibit honors the women who served in the military and at home making bombs, planes, and military equipment.

 

The museum is accessible.

RVs can be parked in the gravel strip in the front of the museum. Museum  36.12446, -90.92738

Guitar Walk and Beatles Park

 September 1964 was an exciting time in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. The Beatles were coming to town! They were on their way to a ranch in Missouri for a few days of rest and relaxation but needed an airport large enough to land their plane and switch to a smaller one. It was supposed to be a secret. When the news got out several hundred people gathered at the airport to get a glimpse of the Beatles on their return trip. And that's all they got. The four men hurried past them and boarded their plane without even a backwards glance. That didn't stop the town from playing up the event. In 2011 they held the first Beatles at the Ridge Festival and now it's a yearly festival. That same year they unveiled Beatles Park and in 2012 the Guitar Walk was built. 

Guitar Walk is a tribute to singers who performed rockabilly music along Highway 67. There are eleven interpretive plaques and most of them have push buttons to listen to songs. The music is pretty cool and the buttons all work! :) 

 

Beatles Park is just block north on Abbey Road. Beatles Park has metal cutout silhouettes of the Beatles. There are more cutouts along the sidewalk and murals on the opposite side of the street. 

 Guitar Walk is accessible. It's possible to get close to the cutouts in Beatles Park by going down a slightly steep ramp but there isn't a ramp to the platform. Walking/rolling between the sites is doable but there isn't a sidewalk to the crosswalk on Front Street. Traffic is fairly light so it's possible to make a dash for it and go up West Elm Street. The curb cuts are in bad condition or nonexistent however it's fine to roll along the street because the traffic is light. 

Our RV fit in the Guitar Walk lot by backing up over the grass. The lot is small with one entrance/exit so visitors towing or with large RVs may wish to park in the large lot on the opposite side of Front Street. There's a large parking lot at Beatles Park for anyone who doesn't want to walk between the two sites. Beatles Park  36.06872, -90.95747   Guitar Walk  36.06731, -90.95705

 

Arkansas State University Museum

The Northeast Arkansas’s native peoples gallery has a fantastic collection of pottery. Other galleries feature exhibits on natural history, the Madrid earthquake, early settlers, the US military, and rockabilly music. 

The museum is accessible. Follow the signs for the library and museum to get to the entrance.

There are two sections in the parking lot that have a small number of spaces for visitors. We parked in the spaces on the west side of the lot and backed up over the grass. Longer RVs will fit in the other section if pulled through two spaces. Museum  35.84004, -90.68061

 

Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center

Crowley’s Ridge is a 200 mile long ancient island that was formed by the Mississippi River flood plain. It ranges in width from two to twelve miles and sits 250 feet above the plains. The nature center has exhibits about the formation of the ridge, and the animals and plants that live in this special formation. There are also aquariums and terrariums.

About three miles of trails travel through uplands, wetlands, ponds and prairies.

The nature center is accessible. The lower floor is accessed by an elevator. This is also the way to access the accessible Habitats Trail. The Craighead Forest Trail is paved and may be accessible although it will require backtracking. We were planning on walking/rolling on this trail but it started to rain. 

RVs will fit in the parking lot if backed up over the grass or parked lengthwise across the spaces. Nature Center  35.7674, -90.70508

 

Craighead Forest Park Campground

 Arkansas is one of the few states that offer a campground discount to out-of-state seniors and disabled visitors. It's good on weekdays only - Sunday through Thursday. A driver's license is required for seniors to get a 25% discount and an America the Beautiful Access Pass is required for a  50% discount if disabled. 

Craighead Campground has 41 sites along a single road that slopes down to the lake and ends in a turn around. The sites all have water and electric hookups, tables, and fire rings. There's one restroom with showers. The dump station is located on the main park road but gray water is permitted to drain onto the ground, a practice that seems unwise to us considering the close proximity of the lake. There are two accessible sites near the restrooms that are laid out very well with accessible tables and pavement under the tables and around the fire rings. We chose a regular site to be closer to the trail. 

 

We wanted to visit this campground because the park has two trails that circle the lake. The Craighead Walking Trail is 3.1 mile long and paved. The Craighead Lake Loop is 2.4  miles long and gravel. The Lake Loop has multiple obstacles and a few hills so wheelchair users will need assistance. The Walking Trail is wide and smooth but has some fairly steep hills so assistance may be needed. We did the Lake Loop and liked having a water view along the trail. We didn't go very far on the Walking Trail because it looked like it was going to rain. The Walking Trail follows the road so it's not as peaceful as the Lake Loop. Campground 35.77786, -90.69842

 

Dyess Colony Visitors Center and Johnny Cash Boyhood Home

 The Dyess Colony was a subsistence homesteading colony, one of President Roosevelt's New Deal programs. The federal government bought 15,144 acres of Arkansas cut-over forestland and swamp that had a thick layer of rich topsoil and recruited 500 farming families to establish a community. The families were destitute sharecroppers and tenant farmers who had to pass an eligibility screening to be approved for the program. Each family received at least 20 acres, a farmhouse, and a barn, smokehouse, outhouse, mule, cow, and chicken coop. 

The most famous resident of Dyess Colony was a little three year old boy whose first name was just initials - J.R. When he joined the Air Force he was required to have a name and became John R. Cash. Johnny Cash's family moved to Dyess Colony 1935 when he was just 3 years old and lived there until they sold the house in 1953.

 Like most of the homesteading colonies Dyess Colony's success was limited but it did give the families a fresh start. Many of the families sold out and their land was combined into large rice, soybean and cotton farms. The Cash house sits surrounded by fields, one of the few colony houses still standing. It has been completely restored and furnished with period pieces including some furniture owned by the Cash family. It is open by guided tour but first visitors must  go to the Dyess Colony Visitor Center to buy tickets. There are a few exhibits and a short video in the visitor center. The building next door was the Dyess Colony Administration Building and has exhibits on the founding of the colony and the Cash family. 

All of the buildings are accessible. An accessible shuttle bus goes to the Cash house. We were the only visitors and were given a choice of driving there in our RV. 

RVs can be parked along the circle driveway at the Administration Building. There's a gravel lot at the Cash house that is large enough for any vehicle. Dyess Colony  35.59026, -90.21437