The week starts on Crowley's Ridge — a narrow band of hills running north to south through otherwise flat country, and the only real climbing you will do all week. Packet pickup and the gear truck are here, and so is the last coffee before the Delta proper.

Start line Packet pickup Crowley's Ridge

Aerial view of the wooded landscape and lakes at Village Creek State Park

Night one

NIGHT 1 Tuesday 6 October

Village Creek State Park

Off the ridge, into the trees

Seventy-one miles and most of the week's climbing behind you. The park sits in hardwood on the eastern edge of the ridge, and the first night is where strangers start turning into a field that knows each other.

State park First camp

Mississippi River State Park visitor center entrance sign beneath tall trees

Night two

NIGHT 2 Wednesday 7 October

Mississippi River State Park

The river gets close

A shorter day, and the one containing Tuni Canyon — the sunken road south of Forrest City that most riders name as the best stretch of the whole route. You camp within reach of the Mississippi.

State park Tuni Canyon

Night three

NIGHT 3 Thursday 8 October

Helena

Thirty-four miles, then the blues

The shortest day of the week drops you into Helena on the opening afternoon of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, with admission included in your registration. Ride in, clean up, and be at the festival in minutes. Levon Helm grew up here and the town has not forgotten it.

King Biscuit Blues Festival On the Mississippi Included admission

Night four

NIGHT 4 Friday 9 October

Stuttgart

Rice, ducks, and a long day in

Eighty-seven miles through the most productive farmland in the country, in the month it is all being worked. Stuttgart is the duck-calling capital of the world and will tell you so. Rice country, at the exact moment of the year it is all being brought in.

Rice country Duck-calling capital Harvest month

A clapboard church and the Flood of 1927 marker in Arkansas City

The finish

DAY 5 · FINISH Saturday 10 October

Arkansas City

Where two rivers meet

Ninety-nine miles, the longest day, into a historic river town most riders have never heard of. Desha County sits close to where the Arkansas River joins the Mississippi, and the markers on the main street tell you what the 1927 flood did here. The return shuttle to Jonesboro and Helena / Storm Creek leaves from town.

Finish line Return shuttle Flood of 1927

Where to go

Venue addresses

Camp goes up at these venues on the nights shown. Non-riding partners and anyone driving in should navigate to these.

Day 0 — Mon 5 Oct

Jonesboro

Packet pickup: The Forum, Main Street, Jonesboro, AR — 3:00 to 7:00 PM

Night 1 — Tue 6 Oct

Village Creek State Park

201 County Road 754, Wynne, AR 72396

Night 2 — Wed 7 Oct

Mississippi River State Park

2955 Highway 44 / Highway 185, Marianna, AR 72360

Night 3 — Thu 8 Oct

Helena

Camp is next door at the Storm Creek Day-Use Area, AR

Night 4 — Fri 9 Oct

Stuttgart

2307 S Main Street, Stuttgart, AR 72160

Night 5 — Sat 10 Oct

Arkansas City

608 Robert S. Moore Avenue, Arkansas City, AR 71630 — camping at the Desha County Courthouse

Why it matters

A Town Has to
Want This.

Most of the two years spent building this route was not spent riding. It was spent in conversations — with county road crews about which roads hold up, with landowners about access, and with towns about when, where and how they wanted the Arkansas Graveler to show up for a night.

Every town on this list said yes and then asked what else they could do.

See the route

Come for the gravel. Stay for the people.

They'll Know Your Name by Friday

Music & culture →

Six Towns ThatPut a Table Out

Jonesboro

Village Creek State Park

Mississippi River State Park

Helena

Stuttgart

Arkansas City

Venue addresses

A Town Has toWant This.

They'll Know Your Name by Friday

Six Towns That
Put a Table Out

A Town Has to
Want This.