Northwest Arkansas Is the True Star of True Detective Season 3

The third season of HBO's hit anthology series True Detective kicked off with a bang on Sunday night, and fans of the show who've followed the drama as its unraveled crime mysteries in, first, rural Louisiana and then southern California now find themselves in a part of the country that was once mysterious but now is brimming with curiosity: Northwest Arkansas and the Ozark Mountains. This third season—again created and directed by Nic Pizzolatto, a University of Arkansas MFA alumnus—was filmed exclusively in the region and follows Wayne Hayes, played by Oscar and Golden Globe winner Mahershala Ali, as an Arkansas State Police detective moving through Arkansas cities (Fayetteville, Eureka Springs) and the Ozarks' hidden caverns and bucolic plateaus as he pieces together a murder. Given the months-long shooting schedule, the area is, of course, garnering new buzz—television always ushers in tourism. But the beauty of this region has always been there.

Let’s back up. Folks who aren’t from the Ozarks or the surrounding area often don’t know exactly where it’s located. This once-forgotten pocket is almost carelessly tucked into the mid-South portion of America and comprises the northern territory of Arkansas, the southern region of Missouri, and just a smidgeon of southern Illinois, Oklahoma, and southeastern Kansas. The rugged land has long been a desired destination for those seeking outdoor pursuits among the limestone bluffs, dense woodlands, and crystal-clear waters. A marriage of bracing beauty and undiscovered topography that once drew fisherman and hunters is becoming a filmmaker’s dream. Movies like Winter’s Bone, the 2010 drama starring Jennifer Lawrence as a teenager in the rural Ozarks of Missouri, piqued interest in this part of the country. And Ozark, the wildly acclaimed drama (that’s actually filmed in Georgia), delivered serious recognition.

The Ozarks, particularly in northwest Arkansas, have seen a boom in recent years. Mervin Jebaraj, director at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, says, “Over the past decade, northwest Arkansas has transformed itself into a destination, not just for rewarding careers, but as a place to live with superb cultural, natural, and recreational amenities.” He adds that northwest Arkansas boasts many of the same amenities that might be found in large cities—Michelin-starred restaurants, the world-class Crystal Bridges Museum, concert venues—but with a much lower cost of living: The average price of a 2,090-square-foot home is $237,137. “As a result, we have seen remarkable growth in the regional population. “ For some stats on that:

1. Population of Fayetteville: 90,525
2. In Fayetteville, 41% of residents are under the age of 24, with 49% between the ages of 25–64, and 10% over 65.
3. The most expensive house sold in Fayetteville went for $10 million, and there are more than ten homes listed for sale over $1 million.
4. Regular gas in Fayetteville today costs $1.77 a gallon.
5. The University of Arkansas has 28,000 students, and approximately 25% come from the Dallas MetroPlex.
6. There are 3,985 businesses in Fayetteville. Among them: Mexican Original, the second largest tortilla manufacturer in the world.
7. Retail, tourism, and dining sales topped $2.7 billion in 2017.
8. Walmart, the world's largest employer (with 2.3 million employees), is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.
9. Northwest Arkansas was named the number one Best Place for Singles 2018 (Money magazine), the seventh Best City to Launch Your Career (realtors.com), number 15 of 25 of the Best Cities in the U.S. for Millennials 2017 (CNBC), and the number five Best Place to Live by U.S. News & World Report.
10. Between 2015 and 2018, 21,402 jobs were created in the area.*

With NWA now part mushrooming metropolis, part splendid nature retreat, Pizzolatto saw it as the perfect locale to place a crime story only made more intricate by clues and mysteries that weave the narrative through settings both natural and man-made. And the relationship between show production and backdrop proved mutually beneficial. According to Steve Clark, CEO and president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, more than 500 jobs were created during filming with a payroll over 38 million dollars. He adds that hundreds of locations, homes, businesses, and automobiles were rented over the ten-month period. Though numbers have yet to be finalized, it’s estimated that the overall financial impact of the series on Fayetteville and northwest Arkansas could reach as much as 200 million dollars. “Simply put, it was a blast having the writers, producers, cast and crew of True Detective in town.”

Production designer for True Detective, Ryan Warren Smith, tells Architectural Digest that filming elsewhere wasn’t an option for authenticity: “There’s no faking this area. Once we went there, we fought for it.” He says that it’s less “poverty porn” than season one and this time around they use nature as a backdrop, often shooting at locations that register as “creepy but beautiful.” One such place is Devil’s Den State Park, which looks as if it could be stamped on a wall calendar or perhaps a Bob Ross painting with meandering trails, a rock dam of blue-green waters, and deep caverns. Native bats and the occasional blanket of Arkansas fog make it spooky enough. Visitors can stay in one of the park’s cabins, built in the 1930s of native log and stone.

And there’s Herman’s Rib House, opened in 1964, and still maintaining its aesthetic of wood paneling and red-and-white-checked tablecloth. It’s a local joint but plays host to dignitaries on occasion. True Detective supervising location manager Batou Chandler said the space was ideal when seeking out old-time Fayetteville. Similarly, Hugo's restaurant—a long-standing Fayetteville burger-and-beer staple that's just as popular with University of Arkansas students as it is families who travel in during college football season—still boasts the funky vibe it opened with back in 1977. Chandler adds that the entire area provides a rich tapestry. “We shot at a home in Beaver Lake that had horse stables and we filmed in tiny towns with simple houses; the next day we’d be in an exquisite mansion.”

The show untangles a clever web of chronology, spanning the 1980s to 2015. Warren Smith explains that the region was ideal because while there is so much growth, small pockets such as Lincoln and West Fork are untouched, and used for scenes depicting the 1980s and 1990s. “It was a goldmine,” he says. The crew shot in Fayetteville for current scenes, including at the Chancellor Hotel and in the well-preserved town square.

Meandering east lies Eureka Springs, a liberal artist community with remnants of Victorian architecture and the purportedly curative magic of hot springs. There’s also a towering statue of Jesus that’s featured in the show’s trailer. Chandler says, “Eureka Springs is so unique and defies explanation with midcentury-modern homes set upon cliffs; it speaks to the contrast that exists in that land. It’s an interesting contrast of ideology and architecture.” Warren Smith called it “a pocket of heaven.”

As someone unfamiliar to the Ozarks, Smith says, “I’d never been to Arkansas before and I had a much different vision in my mind of what it looked and felt like. It was so green and lush. It made me feel like I was in Hawaii.”

Related: How the Neil Armstrong Biopic First Man Faked the Moon Landing