Things to Do

The largest county park in Arkansas, Ben Geren offers over 1,300 acres of fun including tennis courts, softball and soccer fields, pavilion rentals, a safe shelter, community building, disc golf course, and walking, mountain biking, and fitness trails.  Parrot Island Waterpark and the 27-hole Ben Geren Golf Course are also available.

A walkable showcase of history, highlighting the role Fort Chaffee played in American military history beginning with WWII.  Sites include Elvis Barbershop Museum, Enchanted Chapel, Enchanted Doll Museum, Fort Chaffee Barracks Museum, Maness School House, and Vietnam Veterans Museum.

See the modest home where General William O. Darby – founder of the famed Darby's Rangers that fought in Italy during WWII and evolved into the modern day Army Rangers – spent his childhood years. The home now serves as a heritage museum that contains personal military memorabilia of General Darby and other WWII memorabilia, as well as tributes to Darby and artifacts from Cisterna, Italy; Fort Smith's sister city.

Step back in time to March 24, 1958, to visit the site where heartthrob Elvis Presley received his first Army haircut, dubbed "the haircut heard 'round the world."

Over 90 growers and merchants offer their homegrown or homemade produce and products in this outdoor market open year-round on Tuesdays and Saturdays.  Tourists and locals alike gather to sample the bountiful cornucopia our area provides. 

Arkansas’ oldest continuously running all-volunteer community theatre, the Fort Smith Little Theatre offers six full-run productions each year plus several additional short-run productions.

Housed in the 1906 Atkinson-Williams warehouse, exhibits illustrate the contributions of Fort Smith citizens to the cultural, political, and economic development of the area.  A special feature is the old-fashioned soda fountain where visitors can enjoy ice cream, sundaes, floats, and handmade ice cream sodas in a working 1920s-1940s pharmacy exhibit.

In 1867 the old post burial ground dating to about 1819 was elevated to a national cemetery.  Today it totals nearly 20 acres.  Notable individuals buried here include Judge Isaac C. Parker, known as "the hanging judge," and William O. Darby, leader of "Darby's Rangers" during WWII, a precursor to today's elite Army Rangers.

Explore life on the edge of Indian Territory through the stories of soldiers, the Trail of Tears, dangerous outlaws, and the brave lawmen who pursued them.  Over 80 years of history is preserved here, from the establishment of the first Fort Smith on December 25, 1817, to the final days of Judge Isaac C. Parker's jurisdiction over Indian Territory in 1896.

Four large community parks, seven neighborhood parks, walking trails, splash pads, facility rentals, swimming pools, playgrounds, riverfront facilities, a ferris wheel, miniature golf, and more are available through Fort Smith's parks and recreation offerings.

Located in a mid-century modern building featured on the Arkansas Register of Historic Places, RAM offers nationally and internationally recognized traveling exhibits and rotating exhibits of works by local and regional artists.

Founded in 1923, the Fort Smith Symphony is one of the most outstanding orchestras in Arkansas.  The orchestra includes over 100 professional musicians who travel from Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Tennessee, and New York, as well as Arkansas for rehearsals and concerts.  A typical season includes six full-length concerts.

A streetcar and railroad museum offering a collection of railcars including the Frisco 4003 Steam Locomotive and a working 1926 electric Birney Streetcar, which takes passengers on a 3/4 mile tour down a stretch of track between historic Garrison Avenue and the National Cemetery in downtown Fort Smith.

Built on 170 acres of land, the nature center includes a lake, several hiking trails, and a building containing interactive exhibits and displays highlighting the River Valley region and a 1200-gallon aquarium containing Arkansas native fish.

Formerly known as Miss Laura's Social Club, the The Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau is located in the only "row house" remaining from Fort Smith's Old West red light district.  Now restored to its former grandeur, it is the only former bordello listed on that National Register of Historic Places.

Recognized as a National Historic Landmark, the oldest monument in Oak Cemetery dates to 1842, the same year Fort Smith was incorporated.  Encompassing 30 acres of city-owned land, it is the final resting place of over 100 marshals, deputies, and court-appointed officials, the founder of Fort Smith, an Arkansas governor, 15 Fort Smith mayors, 122 confederate soldiers, and at least 28 outlaws sentenced to hanging by Judge Isaac C. Parker.

Open Memorial Day weekend thru Labor Day weekend, the water park features the region’s only wave pool, four twisting and turning water slides, a relaxing lazy river, an activity pool, a themed children’s aquatic play area, concessions, and more.

This brand new one-of-a-kind, 12,000 square foot park overlooks the Arkansas River and offers pump tracks, a 12 foot vertical wall, a Plexiglas wall,  skating apparatuses, a mountain bike playground, and more.  The park features areas for beginner, intermediate and advanced-level biking and skating.

Welcome to The Bakery District. What once started as the Shipley Baking Company in 1921, is now a vibrant Downtown hub centered around community connection and wellness. The 35,000-square-foot building was originally constructed in 1921 and produced a variety of wheat-based products for three generations before being acquired in 1998 by Flowers Foods. The production lines at the Bakery rolled off their last loaves in 2008 and the doors to the Shipley Bakery forever shut their doors.

The building sat vacant for nearly a decade until it was acquired by KMW Properties. After touring the rundown facility the vision became clear, and in 2019 the Shipley’s production facility re-opened its doors as the “Bakery District”, home to multiple tenants all geared around community connection and the revitalization of a once bustling downtown Fort Smith.

Standing regally in the Belle Grove Historic District, the Clayton House serves as a living history book of Fort Smith’s elegant Victorian period during the city’s frontier beginnings on the border of Indian Territory. As you walk through the doors, step back to 1882, the year William Henry Harrison Clayton, Judge Isaac Parker's chief prosecutor, moved his family into this beauiful Italianate-style masterpiece.

Set to open in Fall 2019, the national U.S. Marshals Museum will tell the storied past and dynamic present of the U.S. Marshals Service -- the nation's oldest and most prolific federal law enforcement agency.  Centered around the the U.S. Marshals Service core values of “Justice, Integrity, and Service,” the museum will form a national center of heritage and legacy, disseminate knowledge, and inspire appreciation for the accomplishments of the U.S. Marshals Service.

An annual art project in downtown Fort Smith, the Unexpected began in 2015 and has grown to include over 30 pieces of urban and contemporary art. From images of Native Americans to animals to aliens, these giant murals and art installations have become a distinctive part of downtown Fort Smith.