Parks, Barbecue and a Touch of Tunica
October 16, 2025
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On September 3, our road trip took us south into the piney woods of Southwest Arkansas, where history, good food and quiet natural beauty made for another memorable outing.
We left home in Alexander at 7:30 a.m. and drove to Conway Cemetery State Park near Bradley. This small but significant site preserves the final resting place of James Sevier Conway, Arkansas’s first governor. Shaded by tall trees and steeped in history, it offered a peaceful start to our journey and a reminder of the state’s early days.
From there, we pointed the car toward Lewisville, with one thing on our minds: lunch at Burge’s Hickory Smoked Turkeys and Hams. If you’ve never been, Burge’s is famous statewide for its smoked meats, and it didn’t disappoint. Theresa and I both ordered a smoked turkey salad sandwich, and we bought some of their delicious fried pies to take home. The turkey was tender and flavorful, the sandwiches piled high, and the pies as good as any we’ve ever had. Burge’s is reason enough on its own to make the drive.
After lunch, we headed north to Logoly State Park near McNeil. Known as Arkansas’s first environmental education state park, Logoly is a hidden gem with trails winding through magnolia groves, quiet ponds and diverse habitats. With the summer heat pressing down, we especially enjoyed exploring the visitor center, which offers interactive exhibits on local ecology. It was the perfect way to end our trip—calm, cool, and educational.
By the time we got back home in Alexander at 3:30 p.m., we had covered 253 miles. Simple day trips like this remind us that Arkansas never runs out of surprises, and we’re having a great time checking them off our list one by one.
Keith “Catfish” Sutton of Alexander, Arkansas, is one of the country’s best-known outdoor
journalists. His stories and photographs about fishing, hunting, wildlife and conservation have
been read by millions in hundreds of books, magazines, newspapers and websites. He and his
wife Theresa own C&C Outdoor Productions Inc., an Arkansas-based writing, photography,
lecturing and editorial service.
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