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Home › Arkansas › Public land › National forests

National forests in Arkansas

Ouachita and Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests

2 national forests, 16 ranger districts and 5 walk-in turkey hunting areas, hunted under AGFC seasons.

Districts
Walk-in turkey
2Forests
16Districts
5Walk-in areas

Photo: Tim Palmer (USDA Forest Service) (Public Domain Mark 1.0)

The two national forests

The Ouachita National Forest holds 1,430,710 acres in Arkansas and the Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests 1,161,330, by Forest Service land statistics. Hunting is permitted on national forest land outside developed recreation sites and posted areas, under state seasons, licenses and bag limits. Where an AGFC WMA overlays the forest, the WMA entry sets the dates; elsewhere the private land deer zone applies. The guidebook prints a separate page of national forest regulations that applies on all national forest land.

ForestKindAcresCountiesDeer zones
Ouachita National ForestNational forest1,430,710Scott, Montgomery +10, 11, 13
Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National ForestsNational forest1,161,330Newton, Pope +1, 2, 5A, 6, 7, 17

Ouachita hunting page; Ozark-St.⁠ Francis source; guidebook national forest page. Checked November 9, 2026.

All sixteen ranger districts

The Forest Service EDW layer gives 16 ranger districts with National Forest System land in Arkansas; office pages group some of them differently, but the layer names are used here. A district page carries its own zone list, CWD status and nearest towns, which matters because districts of the same forest can sit in different deer zones.

DistrictKindAcresCountiesForestZones
Caddo RDRanger district153,233Montgomery, Polk +Ouachita National Forest11, 13
Cold Springs RDRanger district155,480Scott, Logan +Ouachita National Forest11
Fourche RDRanger district144,695Yell, Perry +Ouachita National Forest11
Jessieville RDRanger district139,486Garland, Montgomery +Ouachita National Forest11, 13
Mena RDRanger district194,497Polk, ScottOuachita National Forest11, 13
Oden RDRanger district183,999Montgomery, Scott +Ouachita National Forest11
Poteau RDRanger district177,444Scott, Sebastian +Ouachita National Forest11
Winona RDRanger district122,255Perry, Saline +Ouachita National Forest10, 11, 13
Womble RDRanger district159,621Montgomery, Garland +Ouachita National Forest11
Bayou RDRanger district266,762Pope, Johnson +Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests2, 6
Boston Mountain RDRanger district195,208Crawford, Franklin +Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests1, 6
Buffalo RDRanger district243,058Newton, Searcy +Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests1, 2, 6
Magazine Mountain RDRanger district100,938Logan, YellOzark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests7
Pleasant Hill RDRanger district199,956Johnson, Franklin +Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests6
St.⁠ Francis RDRanger district22,826Lee, PhillipsOzark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests5A, 17
Sylamore RDRanger district132,583Baxter, Stone +Ozark-St.⁠ Francis National Forests2

Walk-in turkey hunting areas

Five walk-in turkey hunting areas on the Ouachita National Forest keep their forest roads closed to motor vehicles so spring hunters work on foot. Turkey zones below are from AGFC's zone map; Sharptop Mountain has no county on its Forest Service page, which only places it on the Caddo-Womble district north of Glenwood.

AreaKindAcresCountiesTurkey zone
Chinquapin Mountain walk-in areaWalk-in turkey area8,011Perry, Saline1, 1
Deckard Mountain walk-in areaWalk-in turkey area7,400Garland, Perry1, 1
Fourche Mountain walk-in areaWalk-in turkey area3,162Yell1
Hogan Mountain walk-in areaWalk-in turkey area7,800Scott, Logan1, 1
Sharptop Mountain walk-in areaWalk-in turkey area11,275–Not given

USFS walk-in turkey area pages; turkey zones from AGFC’s zone map. Checked November 9, 2026.

WMAs that overlay the forests

12 AGFC WMAs overlap national forest land; on those tracts the WMA guidebook entry, not the private land zone, decides the season.

WMAKindAcresCounties
Bearcat Hollow WMAWMA24,361Newton, Searcy
Caney Creek WMAWMA85,000Howard, Montgomery +
Lee Creek WMAWMA58,553Crawford, Washington
Mount Magazine WMAWMA120,000Logan, Yell
Muddy Creek WMAWMA146,206Montgomery, Scott +
Piney Creeks WMAWMA485,419Conway, Johnson +
Queen Wilhelmina State ParkWMA8,865Polk
St.⁠ Francis National ForestWMA22,798Lee, Phillips
Sylamore WMAWMA182,618Baxter, Izard +
Wedington WMAWMA15,915Benton, Washington
White Rock WMAWMA328,836Crawford, Franklin +
Winona WMAWMA145,276Garland, Perry +
Open shortleaf pine woodland on an Ozark Highlands ecosystem restoration project, Ozark National Forest

Open shortleaf pine woodland on an Ozark Highlands ecosystem restoration project, Ozark National ForestPhoto: Lauren Marshall (USDA Forest Service) (Public Domain Mark 1.0)

Sandstone pedestal rocks on a bluff above fall-colored hills in the Ozark National Forest

Sandstone pedestal rocks on a bluff above fall-colored hills in the Ozark National ForestPhoto: amanderson2 (CC BY 2.0)

Shores Lake seen from a pine-framed overlook in the Ozark National Forest

Shores Lake seen from a pine-framed overlook in the Ozark National ForestPhoto: Marco Becerra (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Browse public land another way

Other ways to browse Arkansas public land.

All public land

196 listings

Public land map

189 listings

WMAs by region

137 listings

Wildlife refuges

9 listings

Corps lakes

25 listings

Access programs

4 listings

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