The Cliff House Inn on the Arkansas Grand Canyon Rim

The Cliff House Inn is a Highway 7 landmark associated with the Arkansas Grand Canyon's tourism name and its best-known valley viewpoint ^1,2,3. It opened in 1967 ^4,5. According to the inn's published history, it began as a gift shop and five-unit motel, and later owners expanded its dining facilities ⁶. Its history includes a destructive 2001 tornado, rebuilding and a distinctive house pie, but several familiar stories require careful attribution rather than repetition as settled fact ^4,6,7,8,9.

A roadside landmark, not the whole canyon

The inn describes its location as the east side of Highway 7, six miles south of Jasper ¹. Its published coordinates identify the business, not a surveyed public overlook ¹. ARDOT's October 2026 Highway 7 campaign maps its “Arkansas' Grand Canyon” stop at a different point, and Scenic Point is another distinct viewpoint north of the inn ^10,11,12,13.

The Arkansas Grand Canyon is therefore a stretch of roadside valley views, not simply the inn's property ^1,2,10,11. From the inn, the view runs roughly east over the western Big Creek drainage toward Vendor; it is not a view of the Buffalo River's main channel ^{1,14,15,16,17}. The Big Creek page follows that drainage downstream ^14,16,17.

Kenneth and Fern Carter build the inn

According to the inn's published history, Kenneth and Fern Carter were its founders ⁶. The account says Kenneth decided to build after stopping beside Highway 7 in 1960, and construction began in February 1964 ⁶. Preparing the mountainside required dynamite, with highway traffic stopped during blasting, according to that same retrospective history ⁶. It includes a story of Kenneth's mother waving a red flag and calling “Fire in the hole!” ⁶.

The inn gives May 27, 1967, as its opening date, with a gift shop and five motel units ⁶. Other published accounts independently report the 1967 opening year, while the construction details rest on the inn's own history ^4,5,6. The opening followed Highway 7's staged paving through Newton County during the 1950s, part of the road's wider development as a route for tourism and new businesses ^6,18,19.

Later owners and the canyon's tourism name

The inn's published ownership sequence runs from the Carters to Jane and Chris McNutt, Bob and Francis McDaniel, Jim Berry, Neal and Karen Heath, and Mike and Becky McLaurin ⁶. Most of the early dates are approximate ⁶. According to the inn, the McDaniels added a house, kitchen and small dining room in the mid-1970s, and Jim Berry later enlarged the dining room ⁶.

A 2020 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette account credits Jane and Chris McNutt with promoting the Arkansas Grand Canyon name in the early 1970s to draw tourists to the inn ^3,20. The inn's own history, however, places their ownership at roughly 1968 to 1969, based on its approximate intervals after the 1967 opening ⁶. Both accounts are retrospective, so the exact year and authorship of the name remain unresolved ^3,6,20. The name's history explores that discrepancy.

Mike and Becky McLaurin bought the property in 2006, according to the inn's history ⁶. That account credits them with room renovations, the lower redwood deck and an expanded menu ⁶. Hosts checked November 3, 2026: the inn continued to identify the McLaurins as its hosts ⁶.

The tornado of November 23, 2001

NOAA's storm records document an F2 tornado in Newton County on November 23, 2001, causing major damage to an inn and restaurant on Highway 7 at Gum Springs, south of Jasper ⁷. The upper-floor restaurant was destroyed, the roof was blown across the highway and the rear wall was thrown down the slope ⁷.

The NOAA record does not name the business, but the location and damage match the Cliff House's account that the Heaths rebuilt after the 2001 tornado ^6,7. The storm is independently documented; the identification and rebuilding story connect that record with the inn's published history ^6,7. It is a significant interruption in the property's story, not just a passing anecdote about its location ^6,7.

Company's Comin' Pie and the state-pie myth

Company's Comin' Pie has a pecan-and-cracker meringue crust with a whipped-cream-and-pineapple filling ^4,9,21. It is not possum pie ^4,9. Menu status checked November 3, 2026: the dessert remained listed on the inn's menu ²¹.

In a 2012 interview with food writer Kat Robinson, Becky McLaurin credited Francis McDaniel with the pie ⁴. McLaurin said its name came from customers calling ahead to ask whether the pineapple pie would be available ⁴. Robinson connected its promotion to Arkansas's 1986 sesquicentennial and the “Company's Comin', Let's Get Ready” slogan ^4,22.

A 2026 Simply Recipes article credits the original owners, conflicting with McLaurin's more specific account naming Francis McDaniel ^4,23. The recipe's history should retain that distinction rather than present a single uncontested creator ^4,23.

Restaurant and lodging, checked November 3, 2026

At the November 3, 2026 check, the inn's five rooms faced the canyon and shared a lower deck ²⁴. Access requires 13 steps down, with no elevator ²⁴. These details are important for visitors evaluating access, not just choosing a view ²⁴.

The property's three separate cabins, Wolf, Bear and Eagle, are about a mile south of the inn ^25,26,27,28. They face west toward Smith and Wayton mountains rather than the canyon view from the inn rooms; Wolf sleeps four, while Bear and Eagle each sleep six ^25,26,27,28.

The restaurant's published schedule, checked November 3, 2026, lists Monday and Tuesday closures and breakfast on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 to 10:25 a.m. ^21,29,30. Seating is first come, first served; groups of ten or more should call, and groups larger than fifteen are not accommodated ^29,30. The listed phone number is 870-446-2292 ^29,30.

The inn's pages give conflicting closing times, listing 2:30 and 6:30 on some pages and 3 and 7 on others, so confirm hours directly before traveling ^29,30. Broader lodging and food-and-shop guides place these dated details alongside other regional options.

Related reading

• The canyon's name: attribution and uncertain dates.
• Scenic Highway 7: the road that brought visitors.
• Big Creek and the Buffalo River: the view's drainage.
• Historical timeline: the inn in regional context.
• Myths and facts: the state-pie claim and more.