Take a scenic ride east from the heart of North Little Rock as we follow U.S. Route 70 for 23 miles to the town of Lonoke. This corridor, one of Arkansas’s oldest federal highways, tells the story of transition—from bustling urban blocks to quiet Delta farmland—tracing both the history of early motoring and the pulse of modern small-town life.
We begin near the intersection with Arkansas Highway 365, just a stone’s throw from the historic Argenta district. The road here is Broadway Avenue, a name that speaks to the early 20th-century optimism of North Little Rock as it grew alongside its sister city across the Arkansas River. City Hall and a scattering of brick storefronts line the way, reminders of a time when Route 70 carried much of the east–west traffic through town before the interstates arrived. Passing beneath I-30, the highway forges ahead into the Rose City neighborhood, once a hub for workers tied to the rail lines and riverfront industry. Here, U.S. 70 bends northeast at U.S. 165 and soon encounters I-440, signaling the edge of the metro.
Beyond the interchange lies Galloway, a community that began as a railroad siding and grew into a familiar waypoint for travelers on this corridor. Today, the junction with Arkansas Highway 391 serves as a crossroads for local and through traffic alike. As we leave Pulaski County’s urban reach, the landscape shifts dramatically—open skies stretch wide over fields, and the highway straightens into the flat expanses typical of the Arkansas Delta. This segment runs close to the alignment of the original 1913 roadway, one of the earliest cross-state motor routes, and in places, fragments of the old concrete slabs still exist, whispering of Model T’s and dust clouds long past.
Crossing into Lonoke County, the route intersects Arkansas Highways 161 and 15, weaving together threads of local farm-to-market travel with the broader highway system. Just south of town, we meet Arkansas Highway 31 before curving north into Lonoke itself. The town, founded in 1873, carries a name rooted in the “lone oak” tree that once marked its prairie. U.S. 70 glides past residential streets, the county courthouse, and local shops that still serve as the community’s backbone. Near the junction with Arkansas Highway 89, the highway bends east once again, threading through downtown Lonoke before arriving at the intersection with AR-31 north. From here, Route 70 continues its steady march toward Brinkley and the broader Delta beyond.
This drive may not have the sweeping curves of the Ozarks or the grandeur of a scenic byway, but it offers something equally vital: a glimpse into Arkansas’s layered past. From North Little Rock’s civic heart to the quiet rows of Lonoke’s farmlands, this stretch of Route 70 reminds us that even short journeys can bridge worlds of history, culture, and landscape in the span of a half hour behind the wheel.
🗺️ Route Map
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