Places To Go

 

Fall colors highlight the park's Commemorative Garden.

NPS Photo

Our staff suggests spending a half day exploring and learning at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

Begin at the visitor center where you can view the exhibits, watch the new interpretive film, receive a Junior Ranger book, and ask park rangers for help, information and a park map. Historic Little Rock Central High School, the Commemorative Garden and the Magnolia Mobil Gas Station are immediately adjacent to the visitor center. You will find the Elizabeth Eckford Bus Bench a short distance from the visitor center where the first moments of the Little Rock Nine's struggle to enter Little Rock Central High School began in September 1957.


Other sites in Little Rock related to the story of Central High School and the Little Rock Nine include the Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (now a Magnet Middle School), the Daisy and L.C. Bates home and the Testament statues on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol.

 

Go Here First

Begin your experience at Little Rock Central High School NHS in the Visitor Center.

Visitors should always park in the free Visitor Center parking lot. Central High School is an operating public high school with over 2,500 students, grades 9 through 12. Visitors may walk around the reflection pool and front steps of Central High on their own, but there is no public access into the active high school. Exhibits, film and bookstore are all located in the National Park Visitor Center. Traffic/parking can be congested on school days between 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 - 4:00 p.m.

All ranger-led tours begin inside the visitor center unless otherwise listed. Visitor center hours and days of operations can be found on our Basic Information page; the visitor center is closed on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day unless otherwise designated. 
 

Park Rangers and volunteers can provide people with disabilities access to the Durateq® Assistive Technology System with three services:

• Audio description (AD) of the exhibits in the visitor center for visitors who are blind or have low vision

• Assistive Listening (ALS) in the multi-purpose room and at the audio stations in the visitor center for visitors who are hard of hearing

• Handheld Captions (HC) at the audio stations in the visitor center for visitors who are deaf

Visitors may check out a handheld device which provides accessible services from a park representative at the Visitor Center desk. Content is automatically activated on the devices via “invisible” infrared emitters installed throughout the exhibit space. 
 

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