Americana Hwy 70 Series #163
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A tour of Arkansas along Highway 70.
We understand the time it takes to compose a log on every cache you
find in a day. WE DO NOT EXPECT ANY LOGS OTHER THAN "Thanks, TFTC OR TFTH" on this series. If you want to type up a generic log and paste, we are happy with that too.
Our main purpose with this series is to get you off the interstate and on the back roads to see the best parts of our great state.
We hope you enjoy the series as much as we did placing it.
U.S. Route 70 is an east-west United States highway that runs for 2,385 miles (3,838 km) from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. As can be derived from its number, it is a major east-west highway of the Southern and Southwestern United States. It formerly ran from coast to coast, with the current Eastern terminus near the Atlantic Ocean in North Carolina, and the former Western terminus near the Pacific Ocean in California. Before the completion of the Interstate system, U.S. Hwy-70 was sometimes referred to as the "Broadway of America", due to it's status as one of the main east-west thoroughfares in the nation.
U.S. 70 enters Arkansas eight miles (13km) west of DeQueen. U.S. 70 bypasses the town to the north. Northeast of the city, it meets U.S. 71 and overlaps with it for 8 mi (13 km). It then heads northwest for to Dierks, where it begins a concurrency with U.S. 278. U.S. 70 then heads east-northeast to Hot Springs, which it bypasses to the south on a freeway alignment shared with U.S. 270. U.S. 70 then heads east to join with Interstate 30 at Exit 111 south of Benton. The two highways remain joined to
the state capital, Little Rock, where U.S. 70B splits off from I-30 and U.S. 70 at Exit 132, and runs through downtown Little Rock, having an interchange with Interstate 630 before crossing the Arkansas River into North Little Rock. U.S. 70 remains with I-30 through Little Rock, crossing the Arkansas
River into North Little Rock. It then splits off from I-30, and is rejoined by U.S. 70B at Exit 141B, and serves as the northern terminus of U.S. Route 165. U.S. 70 then crosses Interstate 440 and leaves the Little Rock area, paralleled by Interstate 40.
U.S. 70 continues its alignment near I-40 throughout eastern Arkansas, generally about two or three miles (5 km) apart. I-40 bypasses Forrest City to the north, while U.S. 70 serves the city center. The two routes remain close through West Memphis, Arkansas, where U.S. 70 runs along Broadway Blvd. Finally, U.S. 70 joins with Interstate 55 to cross the Mississippi
River into Tennessee.
Most or all of the present route designated as U.S. Highway 70 was earlier known as Lee Highway. During the earliest days of the automobile, and earlier, American highways were disorganized affairs of widely varying quality. Highways were known by a bewildering variety of names which typically changed at each town. And they were only named, not numbered.
During the 1920s the first national highway was conceived: the Lincoln Highway, named in honor of Abraham Lincoln, stretching across the northern United States from coast to coast. A companion effort was launched to create a transcontinental highway stretching across the southern half of the country, this one named in honor of the greatest general of the Confederate States of America, Robert E. Lee. The two highways were a revolution of sorts, in that a driver could follow a single road from coast to coast bearing the same designation. Much of today's U.S. 70 was earlier the Lee Highway, although that appelation was later dropped.
Originally U.S. Highway 70 reached downtown Los Angeles even though it was
concurrent with U.S Route 99 and/or U.S. Highway 60 throughout its course west of Globe, Arizona. Beginning in 1964 it was decommissioned in favor of Interstate 10 or US 60.
If you find one of these caches needs maintenance or is missing please email me or feel free to do repairs as needed. Thanks and have a great caching day.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)