The Ozark National Forest has four wilderness areas, and Richland Creek is the second most beautiful, to me, and the one I know the best. Probably because it was the first one I ever explored when I first moved to Arkansas, and it's under two hours from my house. The most beautiful and wild, at least to me, is the Upper Buffalo Wilderness, which abuts the Buffalo River National Park. If you catch a good rain just right, you can paddle from Boxley to where the Buffalo meets the White River, over 120 miles of wild, protected river where you can camp anywhere, there are no fees, in that total 120 miles you see exactly four bridges and three buildings.
If I head West instead of Northwest, I can be in the Ouachita National Forest and they also have a couple of wilderness areas and it's even closer. In under an hour and a half I can leave home, park on a forest road, hike less than a quarter mile into the woods, and not see another person for months (if I could only stay there that long!). Another advantage of the Ouachitas, at least the Flat-side Wilderness, is it's also an hour and a half from my house and the forest road goes right next to Flat-side Peak, a quick 1/4 mile climb to the top and it's the darkest place I have found in Arkansas. You have an open vista from northwest clockwise to southwest, almost 270 degrees, and in that vista you can see two farmhouse lights about 15 to 20 miles away. The perfect place in winter to see a meteor shower, or full moon rise, or wave to the alien visitors as they fly by.
I generally prefer the Ozark Mountains (technically, the Ozark Plateau, they're not mountains) over the Ouachita Mountains (the remaining stumps of one of the oldest mountain ranges in North America, they were old and worn down before the Appalachians were uplifted). The Ozarks are chaotic in their drainage systems, formed from sedimentary layers, with alternating limestone and sandstone, so lots of caves, sink holes, dead-end hollows, springs, waterfalls, and some pretty good cliffs (one waterfall well over 200'). The Ouachitas are hard metamorphics and some igneous, so no caves or springs, and they run E & W (one of only two mountain ranges in North America that trend that way) resulting from the collision of two pronto-continents from the north and south that formed what we call the North American plate/continent today. If you're heading north or south, it's like an ant walking over a washboard, if you're heading east or west, you're probably on a hot, dry ridge-line. They do have Hot Springs National Park in them, and the only public diamond mine in the world. Creator of Diamonds State Park allows anyone to dig in the mud and keep what they find.
And yes, this will be on the test! (Can you tell I'm a teacher?!?)
Natch
I am full of camping envy now. I must confess that I jumped a bit on my chair when I scrolled down to the girlfriend-picture though. :lol: 
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