Memphis to Little Rock Road

[1][2] Given the advantageous position on the Chickasaw Bluffs above the Mississippi River, the city quickly developed into a trade and transportation center.

At the time of achieving territorial status in 1819, Arkansas was largely a rough and sparsely wilderness covered by swamps and forests rather than populated settlements.

[6] Flooding made the road impassible, sometimes for months at a time, impeding the emigrants to settle Arkansas and points west.

This roadway portion extends from the site of a former ferry crossing on the St. Francis River, westward toward Village Creek State Park, where there is another surviving segment that is hikable.

Located entirely within Village Creek State Park, this 1.5-mile (2.4 km) segment of roadway is one of the best-preserved portions of the military road built in 1828.

The roadway portion, in parts set in dramatically deep cuts in the hills, extends from Village Creek in the east to the western boundary of the park, and is accessible today as a hiking trail.

It consists of 650 metres (2,130 ft) of the middle of Henard Cemetery Road, located northeast of the hamlet of Zent in the far northeastern part of the county.

The road is also historically important as it was used as part of the Trail of Tears, the forced removal of Native Americans east of the Mississippi River to what is now Oklahoma.