Roughly sixty miles due north of Little Rock, the state-run Ozark Folk Center (tel 870/269-3851, ), two miles north of the town of MOUNTAIN VIEW on Hwy-14, is a living history museum that attempts to show how life used to be in these remote hills, not reached by paved roads until the Fifties. Homestead skills are displayed in reconstructed log cabins, and folk musicians and storytellers perform throughout the park. Every weekday night in season live Ozark music concerts are held at 7.30pm (mid-April to early Nov; concerts $8, craft displays $8, combination ticket $13.50). Additionally, there are two major festivals: the Spring Folk Festival , in the third weekend in April, and the Bean Festival , the fourth weekend in October; book accommodations well in advance during these times.

There's a visitor center at 199 Peabody St (April-Nov Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun noon-3pm; Dec-March Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 870/269-8068, ). There are rooms at the Dry Creek Lodge (tel 870/269-3871, fax 870/269-2909; $50-75) in the center's grounds, and the pretty Inn at Mountain View , 812 Washington St (tel 1-800/535-1301, ; $75-100), which serves a full country breakfast. Good restaurants include the Folk Center's Iron Skillet Restaurant (tel 870/269-3139) and Tommy's Famous… , an award-winning pizzeria at 204 Carpenter St, four blocks west of the square (tel 870/269-3278). For Saturday night entertainment, even in winter, it's hard to beat the friendly jam sessions in Mountain View's town square.

The Buffalo River - a prime destination for whitewater canoeing - flows across the state north of Mountain View. Buffalo Camping and Canoeing (tel 870/439-2386) provides canoes and equipment, and runs a free shuttle bus to the river, which is at its most spectacular around Pruitt Landing , thirteen miles south of unremarkable Harrison.

Mountain View

• Mountain View

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