Big To Do on Highway 22 2026: The Arkansas Hwy 22 Route Guide

The Big To Do on Highway 22 is a 70-mile area-wide yard sale that runs on and off Arkansas Highway 22 through the Arkansas River Valley, from Barling on the Fort Smith edge east through Charleston, Paris, and Subiaco to Dardanelle. Homes and local businesses set up sales all along the corridor, with the Paris Area Chamber of Commerce serving as host and hub. The event happens twice a year, and the fall 2026 edition runs Wednesday, October 14 through Saturday, October 17.

This is a corridor event, not a single-town sale. Each community along AR-22 puts out its own sales, so there is no one seller registry to check the night before. That's exactly why the plan matters: you're working towns strung along one highway across the River Valley, and knowing the corridor before you leave is the difference between a full trunk and a long day of driving.

The corridor, west to east

Highway 22 runs the length of the Arkansas River Valley on the south side of the river, from the Fort Smith edge at Barling, east past Charleston and Paris, through Subiaco, and out to Dardanelle across the river from Russellville. The Big To Do breaks naturally into a western end near Fort Smith, the Paris hub near the middle, and an eastern end toward Dardanelle.

• Barling (west end) — where the corridor starts, right on the edge of Fort Smith. The most populated end of the route and a natural place to begin, with easy access off the Fort Smith side before you head east into the smaller towns.
• Charleston — the Franklin County seat between Fort Smith and Paris, a small River Valley town that fills the western stretch of the corridor with home and roadside sales.
• Paris (the hub) — the Logan County seat, the host town, and roughly the corridor's midpoint. This is where the Chamber runs the event, and the smartest place to base if you want to work either end without a long backtrack.
• Subiaco — the small town just east of Paris, known for Subiaco Abbey, adding a short, dense stretch of sales right after the Paris hub.
• Dardanelle (east end) — the Yell County town on the Arkansas River across from Russellville, anchoring the eastern end of the 70 miles. A good place to finish, or to start if you're coming in from the Russellville side.

The named anchors west to east — the towns most shoppers use to break the route into sections — run Barling → Charleston → Paris → Dardanelle, all on or beside AR-22. Those are the natural points to split the drive.

The strategy — the call you make before you go

Seventy miles across a multi-day window is enough time to work the corridor carefully, but only if you decide your rhythm before you leave home. Paris sits near the middle and makes your hinge. Two ways to run it:

• West end first, then run east. Start in Barling and Charleston in the morning while you're fresh, give Paris real time through the middle of the day, then work Subiaco and Dardanelle toward the eastern end. This front-loads the more populated Fort Smith side.
• Base in Paris and radiate. Park in Paris and run the western towns one day, the eastern end the other. The cleanest logistics on a route this long — you're never far from the center, and you're never repacking for a new town every night.

Whichever you pick, decide before you go. The shoppers who try to improvise 70 miles of corridor spend the weekend on Highway 22 instead of in anyone's yard.

When to start and what to expect

Most sales open early and run into the afternoon across the days of the event. With a Wednesday-through-Saturday window, Saturday is the biggest day — more sellers out, more traffic on Highway 22 — while the earlier days are lighter and less picked-over. Serious shoppers treat the first morning at the Fort Smith end as the time to get ahead of the crowd.

Coming from the west out of Fort Smith: enter at Barling and work east. Coming from the Russellville side: start at Dardanelle and work west toward Paris. Either way, anchor around Paris in the middle so you're never starting the day with a long stretch of highway before your first stop.

Cash is the standard. These are front-yard, business-lot, and roadside sales along a rural highway — most sellers won't take a card. Hit an ATM in Barling, Paris, or Dardanelle before you get out onto the smaller stretches, because the towns in between won't always have one.

What you'll find

The Highway 22 corridor runs through the Arkansas River Valley — farm towns and homesteads where families have lived for generations and the barns, sheds, and shops are getting cleared out. That means uncurated, underpriced inventory: furniture, tools, antiques, collectibles, and everyday household goods, alongside the business sales that give this event its "homes and businesses" character.

Vintage cast iron cookware is a standout. River Valley kitchens cooked on cast iron for generations, and the skillets and pots that turn up along AR-22 are the real, used article — not the cleaned-up, marked-up pieces from a dealer's booth.

Farm tools, old advertising, and vintage hardware round out the tables — the agricultural and household pieces that come with clearing land a family has worked for generations. Watch the business sales along the corridor for overstock and fixtures you won't see at a normal yard sale.

Pro tips

• Build your route before you go. There's no master seller list for a corridor event, so pull up the map, pick the towns you're committing to, and set your driving order the night before. Barling to Paris first, then east.
• Base in Paris. It sits near the corridor's midpoint, so you can work either end from one room without a long backtrack. The smartest logistics on a route this long.
• Bring cash, and plenty of it. Most front-yard and roadside sellers won't take a card. Stock up at an ATM in one of the bigger towns before you head out.
• Watch for the business sales. This is a "homes and businesses" event, so the storefronts along Highway 22 are part of it — worth a slow pass through the town centers, not just the residential streets.

FAQ

When is the Big To Do on Highway 22 in 2026?

Wednesday, October 14 through Saturday, October 17, 2026. The event runs twice a year, on the April and October weekends set by the Paris Area Chamber of Commerce, with most sales open from early morning into the afternoon.

Where does the Big To Do on Highway 22 take place?

Along Arkansas Highway 22 for about 70 miles through the Arkansas River Valley, from Barling near Fort Smith in the west, east through Charleston, Paris, and Subiaco to Dardanelle. The live event map pins the corridor towns so you can plan the drive west to east.

What towns are on the route?

West to east along AR-22: Barling, Charleston, Paris, Subiaco, and Dardanelle, with homes and businesses in between setting up on and off the highway. Paris sits near the middle and hosts the event.

Is there a central registry of sales?

There is no single central list for the whole route. The corridor fills with home sales, business sales, church lots, and roadside setups along Highway 22 — drive AR-22, watch for signs, and plan around the corridor towns. Paris and the larger towns are the natural anchors.

When does next year's event happen?

The Big To Do on Highway 22 runs every April and October on weekends set by the Paris Area Chamber of Commerce. The 2027 editions follow the same twice-a-year pattern; we'll update this page when the organizers post exact dates.

More highway yard sales to plan

If you build a weekend around Highway 22, these corridor events are worth a look too:

• Bargains Galore on 64 — 160 miles of US Highway 64 clear across Arkansas, every August.
• 127 Yard Sale — 690 miles from Michigan to Alabama, the world's longest yard sale.
• Route 66 100 Mile Yard Sale — 100 miles of historic Route 66 across central Missouri.

We'll see you on Highway 22.