Leslie

“One of Arkansas’ Best kept Secrets!” The City of Leslie was selected as one of the 2024 Arkansas Volunteer Community of the Year Award winners!  The city of Leslie was the winner of the Innovation award for a city under 10,000!  Leslie was also named an Arkansas Business Trendsetter City! Leslie won Honorable Mention in the Education/Workforce Development category for the Leslie Cyber Center!

Leslie is one of Arkansas's Best Food Towns! A quaint Ozarks town that retains historic charm from a bygone era, a throwback to a simpler time in America! This is clearly evident on Main Street, which hosts a Commercial Historic District! Geographically, Leslie sits at the foot of two mountains, is nestled along Cove Creek, and is the starting point of a rich, flat agricultural cove, Wiley’s Cove, named after a Native American, Chief Wiley.

Leslie City Hall 870-447-2240

Image title



Crossroads Town!


US Highway 65 brings travelers through town on their way to Branson, Missouri and to the nearby Buffalo National River. Highway 65 is intersected in Leslie with State Highway 66. State Highway 66 connects Leslie with Mountain View, the Folk Music Capital of the World, only about 30 miles away!


Great Trails!


Motorcycle, Cycling, and Quilt!


The Leslie Lasso Motorcycle Route is a 64-mile round trip loop on some great roads! The curves, hills, and scenery of our lightly travelled Ozarks highways are ideal for riding! The climb out of Leslie on State Highway 66 is on an 11 percent grade! The Leslie Lasso combines with the Bear Creek Growl to form the heralded 120+ mile Growl-Lasso route!


The Ozark Grinder Trail for cyclists passes over the Cove Creek Bridge in Leslie as part of an epic gravel-grinding route of almost 160 miles and 13,000 feet of elevation between the Ozarks resort towns of Gilbert and Fairfield Bay! The trail covers some of the most wild, scenic, and remote parts of the north central Arkansas Ozarks. There are both 14-mile and 18-mile loops connecting Leslie with Baker and Rail Roads. Each December, local cyclists ride the loops in an event called the “Chocolate Roll” in tribute to Searcy County’s famous local specialty dessert that is baked at both Wade’s Convenience Store and the Red River Cafe! The Arkansaw High Country Race for cyclists comes through town each year. The race brings some of America’s greatest long-distance, multi-surface bikepackers into town in the midst of a 1,000+ mile journey that involves approximately 84,000 feet of climbing! 

Image title



Leslie is also part of the Arkansas Quilt Trails for painted barn quilts!


Great Food!


Leslie has some of the finest places to eat in all the Ozarks! Serenity Farm Bread bakes old-world sourdough bread in a wood-fired brick oven at its downtown location on Main Street and has world-class pastries at its pastry shop on Highway 65! The Skylark Café is known for its gourmet cuisine and scrumptious desserts!  The Red River Cafe is a great restaurant of Southern Food sited along the Middle Fork of the Little Red River! If fast food is your choice, you can pick up fried chicken, pizza, a variety of breakfast foods, or chocolate rolls at Wade’s Convenience Store. Don’t forget to get a latte’ or ice cream at Cove Creek Emporium downtown! Stop by Cove Creek Nutrition of Historic Downtown Leslie for a delicious tea or an amazing shake! If fresh meat is more your speed, Carnivore’s is a wild-game processor available during hunting season!

Image title



Great Shopping!


Huge selection of rare and desirable antiques available at Antiques And, Cove Creek Emporium, Oak & Main, and the Leslie Antique Mall! Excellent gifts available at L.A. Salon & Boutique, Morrisette Pottery, Brick House Artisans, and beautiful wood crafts from Wisakon Woods!


Great Lodging


Leslie has multiple cottage-style lodging facilities and RV parks! For additional information, contact the Greater Searcy County Chamber of Commerce at 8704482557.


Live Music


Leslie sits at one end of the Mountain Music Highway that it shares with Mountain View! The Ozark Heritage Arts Center is a stunning performing arts theatre that hosts frequent live performances of different genres of music as well as plays, Shakespeare, musicals, and other special events! 

Image title



Events


The Leslie Homecoming is held the third weekend in June and is the largest event of the year! A main attraction of the homecoming is the Leslie Rodeo! Other events include the Jeepin' it Classy event on the 1st Saturday in November and Christmas in the Park the first Friday in December. Smaller events are also held throughout the year.


Leslie Fun Park


The Leslie Fun Park has a nine-hole disc golf course that is free and open to the public as well as horseshoe pits, playground equipment, a quarter mile walking track, basketball court, and pavilion!


Area Attractions


Just outside Leslie at Pine Grove Trails along Trace Ridge Road is fabulous horseback riding on miles of scenic Ozark Mountain riding trails! Featuring RV sites, western style bath house, and clean horse stalls. Out on Highway 66, the Stem Rock Natural Area offers a gentle hike through pine and hardwood forest to an amazing geographic feature known as Stem Rock. It also has a hidden geocache!


Leslie is also served by Leslie Intermediate School, the North Central Career Center, North Arkansas College Adult Education, the Leslie Cyber Center, a US Post Office, the Leslie Medical Center for alternative medicine, the Leslie Volunteer Fire Department, Dave’s Auto Parts, rock yards, Circle M Feed, the Searcy County Humane Society’s animal shelter, United Country Central Ozarks Real Estate, Mossy Oak Properties, storage units, Vic’s Body Shop, two apartment complexes, churches, veterans and service groups, and its very own radio station, KCGS Family Hope Radio 88.1 FM!