Harrison is the main town of the north Arkansas Ozarks, a courthouse square with a few brick buildings, a lot of pickup trucks and a pace that tells you the big cities are a long way off. It is the seat of Boone County and sits on a plateau above the valley of the Buffalo River, which flows east for well over a hundred miles through limestone bluffs and is protected as the first national river in the United States, set aside in 1972.
Highway 7 reaches Harrison at the northern end of one of the best-known scenic roads in Arkansas, and getting here is the reward for a long day in the hills. Coming up from Jasper, the road passes through Ozark National Forest and drops into the Boxley Valley, a pastoral stretch of the Buffalo where wild elk graze on the open fields near Ponca, a herd that was reintroduced in the 1980s. Autumn is brilliant with maples and hickories, and spring brings green so fresh it looks painted.
The riding on the approach is varied. Some stretches are tight and steep with blind curves, while others open into wide farmland where pastures roll along ridge tops. The road surface is generally decent, but there are tight gravel shoulders, loose gravel at corners and deer that ignore all rules. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times for light, though the animal risk is higher at dusk.
Harrison has all the services you would expect from a town of thirteen thousand. There are fuel stations on the main roads, family restaurants, motels and a good grocery, and it is the best place to resupply before heading further into the hills. Nearby towns like Green Forest and Jasper are far smaller and have limited hours, so fill your tank here.
The town's history is more complicated than its quiet square suggests. Harrison was the site of racial violence in the early twentieth century, and the community has been working in recent decades to confront that past. It is a reminder that the roads we love run through places with real stories, and that a ride is more than the pavement.