Gaston's White River Resort, Three Mike Zero, the Grass Strip Along an Arkansas Trout River Where You Tie the Airplane to a Tree and Walk Straight to Dinner

Gaston’s White River Resort in Lakeview, Arkansas is a 3,200-foot grass airstrip on the banks of the White River where pilots land beside one of America’s premier trout fisheries, tie their airplanes to a tree, and walk straight to a legendary riverside restaurant. The airport identifier is 3M0 (“Three Mike Zero”), and the turf runway runs roughly parallel to the river on a 6/24 heading, down in a valley beneath the Ozarks. For many flying families, it isn’t just a destination - it’s where they spend their summers.

What Is Gaston’s White River Resort?

Gaston’s is a family-run resort in north central Arkansas built around a grass runway, a working trout river, and a restaurant that has become a bucket-list stop for pilots across the country.

The setup is simple and almost hard to believe until you see it: you land on turf that’s mowed like a golf fairway, taxi to the trees lining the strip, and park nose-to-tail alongside Cubs, Bonanzas, and floatplanes. You tie down to a tree and walk to dinner. The airplane is the ticket in - but once you’re on the ground, the river and the food are the point.

The strip sits low in a river valley, with green hills rising on one side and cabins lining the water on the other. There’s a small island out in the river just off the runway end, and floatplane arrivals are possible on the river itself for pilots who are rated and current for water operations.

Why the White River Is Worth the Flight

The White River below Bull Shoals Dam is one of the great trout fisheries in America. Cold water released from the bottom of the dam keeps the river cold all summer, and that cold water grows rainbow trout and brown trout that anglers drive across the country to chase.

Because the resort sits right on the bank, the fly-in and the fishing are the same trip. You land, walk to the dock, and head out with a guide - many of whom have run this stretch of river for decades. Then you come back with dinner.

And the restaurant will cook it. You catch the trout, and the kitchen puts it on your plate. There isn’t much in aviation that beats eating a fish you caught from a river you flew your own airplane to reach - a genuine full-circle day.

The Restaurant: A Museum With a Screen Door

The Gaston’s restaurant is the social heart of the place. A screen door slaps shut behind everyone who walks in - pilots with headsets still around their necks, fishermen in waders, families, grandparents. The staff know many of the regulars by name.

The walls are covered floor to ceiling with aviation history: propellers, photographs, old instruments, and model airplanes hung from the ceiling on fishing line. Most people get up and wander the room while they wait for food, losing twenty minutes reading the stories behind the artifacts.

The Family Behind Gaston’s

The resort was started by Al Gaston in the 1950s as a handful of small cabins on the river. But it was his son, Jim Gaston, who transformed it into what it is today.

Jim ran the resort for more than 50 years. He was a pilot himself, and he understood exactly what a grass strip meant to a flying family - the ability to land right there and step directly into a vacation. So he built the airstrip, the cabins along the water, and the restaurant into a destination worth flying a thousand miles for. He kept the grass mowed like a fairway because he knew a nice strip is an invitation.

Jim Gaston passed away in 2019, but the family still runs the resort, and the come-as-you-are, tie-it-to-a-tree, stay-a-while culture he built remains fully intact. For families who have flown in every summer for decades, Gaston’s has become the place they’re “from” in the summertime.

How Do You Fly Into a Grass Strip Like 3M0?

Gaston’s is not a fly-in you approach casually. The terrain rises around the valley, the strip sits low, and there are trees at the end of the runway. Afternoon winds can behave unpredictably in a river valley. Fly this one prepared:

• Call ahead for current runway conditions. It’s grass, and grass changes with the weather. Confirm the usable length and obstacles directly with the resort.
• Fly your own airplane’s short- and soft-field numbers - not hangar-talk figures from someone else’s airplane.
• Land on the numbers; don’t float. The regulars’ advice: land long enough to make the turnoff, but treat it like a real short field. Turf is forgiving on tires and unforgiving on a sloppy, floated touchdown.
• Use proper soft-field technique - keep weight off the nosewheel, stick back, and keep the airplane rolling.
• Get grass time first. If you’ve never landed on turf, go fly with an instructor on grass before pointing the nose at Arkansas.

What About Density Altitude and the Departure?

Summer in the valley gets hot and humid, and high density altitude can rob you of climb performance on the way back out over the trees. Plan morning departures when temperatures are lower and the air is denser.

Plan your fuel conservatively, too. It’s a long way home from north central Arkansas, and this is not a leg to fly sweating your reserves. Land with more fuel than the regulations require.

Make It a Stay, Not a Touch-and-Go

Once you’re down, do what the place was built for: stay. Book a cabin on the water, hire a fishing guide, and eat in the restaurant with the screen door. Walk the flight line at sunset, when the light comes down the valley and turns every polished airplane gold. The flying is simply how you got there.

Key Takeaways

• Gaston’s White River Resort (3M0) in Lakeview, Arkansas offers a 3,200-foot grass runway on a 6/24 heading right beside the White River.
• The White River below Bull Shoals Dam is a world-class rainbow and brown trout fishery, and the restaurant will cook the fish you catch.
• The resort was founded by Al Gaston in the 1950s and built into a pilot destination by his son Jim Gaston, who ran it for 50+ years and passed away in 2019.
• Treat 3M0 as a real short/soft-field operation: call ahead for conditions, fly your own numbers, and respect the trees at the runway end.
• Watch summer density altitude - depart in the morning and carry generous fuel reserves for the trip home.