[Sarahsez]

Originally Posted by Jack Apple

Is Yellville in Yell County? (Home of Mattie Ross of True Grit.)

No. Yellville is in Madison County. Mattie Ross was from Dardanelle in Yell County.

Apparently, Arkansas now has a True Grit Trail. https://www.truegrittrail.com/

[TRex2]

Originally Posted by Sarahsez

No. Yellville is in Madison County. Mattie Ross was from Dardanelle in Yell County.

Apparently, Arkansas now has a True Grit Trail. https://www.truegrittrail.com/

Close. Yellville is in Marion County.

[Sarahsez]

Originally Posted by TRex2

Close. Yellville is in Marion County.

Oops! You are correct.

[Tyryztoll]

Don't live there, but we have extensive experience traveling through and staying in Arkansas. If all things were equal (they're not - obviously) and I could pick one spot to settle in it would probably be the Hot Springs area, which is kind of the home base for the Ouachita range. As someone else mentioned, the Ouachita's (which are south of the Arkansas River, with the Ozarks to the north) are technically actual mountains and to me they look more like the ones you're probably familiar with in TN, albeit on a smaller scale (highest point is still under 3,000 ft. elevation, while TN has peaks over 6,000 ft.). And although Hot Springs is a fairly large town of around 40,000, you don't have to go far in 3 directions (N, S or W) to be in a remote setting like the one you're looking for. If you head E of Hot Springs you're gonna come into the Little Rock vicinity within 30 minutes or so. Just to the N is Hot Springs Village, which is one of those POA controlled retirement setups that wouldn't interest you based on your list of wants, but beyond that it gets very scenic/remote along and off of hwy. 7. There are several large, beautiful bodies of water in the HS area, too....including Lake Ouachita, Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine. The latter 2 are closer to town/more developed and I believe a lot of the land surrounding Ouachita may be state owned, but don't quote me on that.

I think you asked about Mena. Man, if it's remote and beautiful you seek then take the dive between Hot Springs and Mena on 270. Great drive. Mena itself is pretty small with a pop. around 5,000, but its very scenic and is the base for the Talimena Byway that runs up along a mountain ridge and across the border into Oklahoma. Several fantastic vistas to see from up there. Mena is about the same distance (roughly 1 hr 45 min) from both Ft. Smith and Hot Springs, although they eventually want to link I-49 from Texarkana through Mena and up to Ft. Smith along what is now the path of US 71......so your commute to either of those spots from Mena would obviously speed up once that comes to fruition. Tack on an extra hour going north from Ft. Smith to get into the NWA vicinity via 49. Another great area, but by far the fastest growing in the state and not one I'd choose to be near if I had your wish list, because the development up there is crazy and most of the remote spots close by are gonna come under the shadow of that tidal wave in a quick. Not sure what your weather preferences are, but points south of the Arkansas River often get spared from winter systems that will affect points north......particularly the nearer you draw to the Missouri border.

Anyway, I tend to ramble when I start talking about this stuff, but that's a quick 2 cents from my angle. Not rocket science to know most of the serious growth in AR is happening in the Little Rock and NWA vicinities, but it hasn't matched the kind of growth you've seen in a spot like Nashville for instance (yet).....so the opportunities to find what you seem to be after are gonna be there and then some in the Natural State.

[Fishin fool]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Don't live there, but we have extensive experience traveling through and staying in Arkansas. If all things were equal (they're not - obviously) and I could pick one spot to settle in it would probably be the Hot Springs area, which is kind of the home base for the Ouachita range. As someone else mentioned, the Ouachita's (which are south of the Arkansas River, with the Ozarks to the north) are technically actual mountains and to me they look more like the ones you're probably familiar with in TN, albeit on a smaller scale (highest point is still under 3,000 ft. elevation, while TN has peaks over 6,000 ft.). And although Hot Springs is a fairly large town of around 40,000, you don't have to go far in 3 directions (N, S or W) to be in a remote setting like the one you're looking for. If you head E of Hot Springs you're gonna come into the Little Rock vicinity within 30 minutes or so. Just to the N is Hot Springs Village, which is one of those POA controlled retirement setups that wouldn't interest you based on your list of wants, but beyond that it gets very scenic/remote along and off of hwy. 7. There are several large, beautiful bodies of water in the HS area, too....including Lake Ouachita, Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine. The latter 2 are closer to town/more developed and I believe a lot of the land surrounding Ouachita may be state owned, but don't quote me on that.

I think you asked about Mena. Man, if it's remote and beautiful you seek then take the dive between Hot Springs and Mena on 270. Great drive. Mena itself is pretty small with a pop. around 5,000, but its very scenic and is the base for the Talimena Byway that runs up along a mountain ridge and across the border into Oklahoma. Several fantastic vistas to see from up there. Mena is about the same distance (roughly 1 hr 45 min) from both Ft. Smith and Hot Springs, although they eventually want to link I-49 from Texarkana through Mena and up to Ft. Smith along what is now the path of US 71......so your commute to either of those spots from Mena would obviously speed up once that comes to fruition. Tack on an extra hour going north from Ft. Smith to get into the NWA vicinity via 49. Another great area, but by far the fastest growing in the state and not one I'd choose to be near if I had your wish list, because the development up there is crazy and most of the remote spots close by are gonna come under the shadow of that tidal wave in a quick. Not sure what your weather preferences are, but points south of the Arkansas River often get spared from winter systems that will affect points north......particularly the nearer you draw to the Missouri border.

Anyway, I tend to ramble when I start talking about this stuff, but that's a quick 2 cents from my angle. Not rocket science to know most of the serious growth in AR is happening in the Little Rock and NWA vicinities, but it hasn't matched the kind of growth you've seen in a spot like Nashville for instance (yet).....so the opportunities to find what you seem to be after are gonna be there and then some in the Natural State.

Great information, that's what I'm looking for. Thank you for taking the time to write that!
We will probably check the area out this spring.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by Fishin fool

Great information, that's what I'm looking for. Thank you for taking the time to write that!
We will probably check the area out this spring.

No problem. One extra to throw in: Not sure how they would measure up in correlation with your professions, but the wages in Arkansas were rock bottom for mine (healthcare) when I had my sites set on moving us there. This was compared to wages in Texas and then Minnesota, so again, not sure how it would affect you or if it would at all coming from TN. Something to consider, though, since you’re both still working. Many of the locals in AR will tell you the low cost of living there makes up for the wages, but we crunched the numbers early and often only to find it was not going to work for us…..especially post Covid once the real estate market really turned on its ear in favor of the sellers and housing costs in particular went through the roof.

[Fishin fool]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

No problem. One extra to throw in: Not sure how they would measure up in correlation with your professions, but the wages in Arkansas were rock bottom for mine (healthcare) when I had my sites set on moving us there. This was compared to wages in Texas and then Minnesota, so again, not sure how it would affect you or if it would at all coming from TN. Something to consider, though, since you’re both still working. Many of the locals in AR will tell you the low cost of living there makes up for the wages, but we crunched the numbers early and often only to find it was not going to work for us…..especially post Covid once the real estate market really turned on its ear in favor of the sellers and housing costs in particular went through the roof.

More great info.
It was the same where we lived in Iowa. Unless you were a farmer, you had to commute to a bigger town to make decent money. I traveled 50 miles each way for work, but it was worth it when my tires touched the gravel road at the end of the day.
Thanks again!

[btoverdrive]

First, we live in Hot Springs Village and love it. The terrain here, I wouldn't call it mountains but rolling hills, I doubt the highest point here would probably not top 1000ft. We have 11 or 12 lakes, 9 golf courses and still lots of extremely rural areas here but we have the POA which is not a terrible thing.

If you would like more isolation you might want to look in the Danville area. There is a nice golf course there and you are very close to Blue Mountain and Nimrod lakes plus the much larger lake Dardanelle to the north towards Russellville. I don't know how that would fit into your work plans but I have traveled that area a lot and it is beautiful.

Hope you find what you want.

[Fishin fool]

Originally Posted by btoverdrive

First, we live in Hot Springs Village and love it. The terrain here, I wouldn't call it mountains but rolling hills, I doubt the highest point here would probably not top 1000ft. We have 11 or 12 lakes, 9 golf courses and still lots of extremely rural areas here but we have the POA which is not a terrible thing.

If you would like more isolation you might want to look in the Danville area. There is a nice golf course there and you are very close to Blue Mountain and Nimrod lakes plus the much larger lake Dardanelle to the north towards Russellville. I don't know how that would fit into your work plans but I have traveled that area a lot and it is beautiful.

Hope you find what you want.

Thank you for the information! I am looking forward to exploring that area this spring.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by Fishin fool

More great info.
It was the same where we lived in Iowa. Unless you were a farmer, you had to commute to a bigger town to make decent money. I traveled 50 miles each way for work, but it was worth it when my tires touched the gravel road at the end of the day.
Thanks again!

Well that was kinda my point in that I actually interviewed in Little Rock and NWA, which are the 2 main regions people flock to for jobs in AR......and the offers I got were laughable compared to what I was making in TX (and now up here in MN), so we just weren't willing to take such a drastic cut as much as we really wanted to make it work. Now keep in mind this was all pre Covid and that wages will come up as regions grow quickly, plus I've heard that the wages are fairly low in TN as well, so it may not be as glaring a difference in that regard. Just don't let people tell you the COL makes up for it, because AR has some legit taxes and housing has gone up so much that it's nearly on par with what I've seen in TX and MN. The real estate crunch has been more of a national thing than a state issue of course. You won't find super cheap housing anywhere now like you could have even 5 to 10 years ago.