Craighead Forest Park

Crowley's Ridge is one of the most unusual landforms in the country, a narrow band of hills rising up to two hundred feet above the flat Delta and running for well over a hundred miles from southeast Missouri down through northeast Arkansas. It is capped by a thick layer of loess, a fine wind-blown soil deposited during the ice ages, which gives the ridge its distinctive rolling shape.

Because it stands high and dry above the surrounding lowlands, the ridge supports forests and plant communities more like those farther east than like the Delta around it. Craighead Forest Park sits squarely on this ridge, and its wooded hills are a direct product of that odd geology, an island of upland forest in a sea of farm fields.

The park was developed as a public forest and recreation ground to serve the growing city of Jonesboro, preserving a large tract of ridge woodland close to town. Over the decades it gained a lake, trails, pavilions, and playgrounds, becoming the region's most popular park and a fixture of local life.

It fills the role every good city needs, a big, accessible green space where people come to walk, fish, picnic, and simply be outdoors. Families hold reunions in its pavilions, cyclists loop its lake, and runners and walkers use its trails year round, all within a few minutes of downtown Jonesboro.

At the center of the park lies a scenic lake, ringed by a paved trail that draws walkers, runners, and cyclists throughout the day. Anglers fish its banks and launch small boats and kayaks, and the water reflects the surrounding hardwoods in a way that makes the whole park feel restful.

Beyond the lake loop, trails wind up into the wooded ridge, offering longer walks and rides through the shade. The mix of easy lakeside strolling and hillier forest paths suits everyone from families with strollers to cyclists looking for a workout, all under the canopy of the ridge.

The ridge forest brings wildlife close, with songbirds in the canopy, waterfowl on the lake, squirrels and deer in the woods, and turtles and fish in the water. Spring fills the woods with blossom and birdsong, and fall turns the hardwoods gold and red, a display all the more striking against the surrounding flat farmland.

Summer is hot and humid, best enjoyed in the shade or on the water, while spring and fall are ideal for the trails. The park pairs naturally with Jonesboro's other attractions, the wide-ranging university museum and the Crowley's Ridge nature center nearby, making the city a rewarding stop on a Delta or ridge journey.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.