The Magical Road Trip Will Take You Through Arkansas’s Most Charming Christmas Towns
Most of the kids are on Christmas break by now and the big day is rapidly approaching. As we speak, the reindeer are consuming their enchanted corn and Mrs. Claus is holding Santa to a high protein diet to counteract all the cookies he’ll eat this weekend. But there’s still time to take an epic holiday road trip through Arkansas’s most magical Christmas towns, and you can do just that if you follow the itinerary below. This trip will only take six and a half hours, but I’d recommend you break it up across several days so that you can see as many of the light displays as possible after dark.
You have to go to Blytheville after dark, because the Lights of the Delta are something you can’t miss. Main Street Blytheville isn’t something you should miss either, so maybe hang out there in the afternoon and drive over to one of the best light displays in the state in the early evening.
After you finish driving through the Lights of the Delta, take a two hour trip over to White River Wonderland in Batesville. You’ll want to see this one at night, as Riverside Park really does become a wonderland. In addition to the beautiful lights, you’ll want to spend some time ice skating there. You don’t even have to wait for anything to freeze—that synthetic ice stays slick whether it’s freezing or not.
You’ll only drive forty five minutes to your next destination, which is good because you can wake up in Batesville and only drive a little while to catch Searcy’s adorable downtown area. If you wind up there after dark, you simply have to see the Searcy section of the Arkansas Holiday Trail of Holiday Lights.
On your way to Little Rock, stop off at Sherwood’s Enchanted Forest Trail of Lights. It’s a mile long drive-thru trail, so you don’t even have to get out of your car to enjoy it.
Next up you’ll be heading to our capital city. Most of Little Rock is a veritable wonderland during the holiday season. One of the places you can't miss while you're there is the capitol building. You’ll not only want to see the outside after dark, but the wonderfully decorated interior during the day time as well. The shopping in town is fantastic, so you can use some of your time to pick up last minute gifts. Since Little Rock has some of the finest cuisine around, you’ll also want to eat at a couple of restaurants while you’re there. Does three meals sound about right?
After you leave the capital, you’re going to drive forty five minutes to Pine Bluff so that you can see the longest drive-thru light display in Arkansas. Pine Bluff’s Enchanted Land of Lights & Legends has 240 displays and many of them are animated. There’s also the Pines Mall where you may find just the right gift for a loved one.
If there’s one downtown area you really want to explore this holiday season, it’s Monticello. Monticello’s holiday lights are perfectly lovely as well, but downtown Monticello is the perfect place to stroll around and get a bite to eat.
We’re ending our Christmas town adventure in the evening, all the way across the state from where we started. We’re going to the small town of Crossett, because there’s an award-winning Christmas wonderland there that you absolutely have to see. Finney’s Christmas Wonderland won ABC’s Great Christmas Light Fight last year, for good reason. This display is full of hand-crafted creations straight from the mind of Sam Finney and has been running for over thirty years. You really need to go see what all the fuss is about at 123 Goshen Road in Crossett.
To find a comprehensive list of Arkansas’s loveliest Christmas towns, click here and here. For main streets you’ll want to visit, try this one.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.
Arkansas In Your Inbox
Thank you! You'll receive your first newsletter soon!
J.B. Weisenfels has lived in rural Arkansas for three decades. She is a writer, a mom, and a graduate student. She is also an avid collector of tacky fish whatnots, slightly chipped teapots, and other old things. In her spare time she enjoys driving to the nearest creek to sit a while. If you were to visit her, she'd try to feed you cornbread.
