Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Ponca, AR

Ponca is a tiny unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Newton County, Arkansas, with a population of just 30 in the 2020 census.

Ponca sits on Arkansas Highway 43 about 10 miles west of Jasper, the Newton County seat, and has its own post office with ZIP code 72670.

Ponca is a principal gateway to the upper Buffalo National River, the first river in the United States to receive the National River designation, granted by Congress on March 1, 1972.

Ponca is best known as the center of elk viewing in Arkansas: free-ranging elk graze in the fields of nearby Boxley Valley along Highway 43, especially at dawn and dusk and during the fall rut.

The elk are descendants of 112 Rocky Mountain elk from Colorado and Nebraska released near the Buffalo River in Newton County between 1981 and 1985 by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the National Park Service, and local citizens; the herd has grown to several hundred animals and is known as the Hilary Jones Elk Herd.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission operates the Ponca Elk Education Center in the community, with exhibits on the elk herd and the natural history of the Buffalo River country.

Outfitters in Ponca rent canoes and cabins for floating the upper Buffalo River, whose Ponca access and the nearby Lost Valley trailhead are among the park's most popular starting points.

Despite its tiny resident population, Ponca draws heavy seasonal visitation as one of the most scenic spots in the Arkansas Ozarks, near the Ponca Bible Camp and the river's dramatic bluffs.