Gaston's White River Resort, Three Mike Zero, the Grass Strip in the Ozarks Where You Tie Down Under the Trees and Walk Straight Into a Trout Dinner

Gaston’s White River Resort, identifier Three Mike Zero (3M0) in Lakeview, Arkansas, is a grass fly-in destination in the Arkansas Ozarks where you land on turf, tie down in the shade, and walk straight into a riverside trout dinner. The roughly 3,200-foot grass strip runs alongside the White River, one of the country’s premier trout fisheries, making it one of the great flying destinations in America that few pilots outside the Midwest talk about. It rewards a prepared pilot with an unforgettable valley approach and a weekend of fishing, food, and quiet.

Where Is Gaston’s White River Resort and What Is the Airport?

Gaston’s sits deep in the Arkansas Ozarks near Lakeview, Arkansas. The terrain here isn’t jagged mountains but soft, folded, tree-covered ridges that roll on for miles. Winding through the bottom of it all is the White River - cold, clear, spring-fed water flowing out from beneath Bull Shoals Dam just upstream.

The airport is Three Mike Zero (3M0), a grass strip of about 3,200 feet of turf. It sits down in the river valley with terrain rising on both sides, and the runway runs right alongside the water. Fly the approach and the White River curls off your wingtip the whole way down.

What Is the Approach Into 3M0 Like?

The approach is the whole experience. This is not a flat cornfield where you point the nose and land - you’re flying down into a green river corridor with ridges on either side.

Fly it in daylight and good weather, and know your airplane. Study the terrain before you go. As you drop between the ridges, the grass comes up to meet you, you settle onto turf, and everything goes quiet. Then you taxi in and tie down right there under the trees, in the shade, with the river sound close by - something you simply don’t get at a towered field on concrete.

How Do I Fly Into a Grass Strip in a River Valley?

Treat 3M0 like the backcountry-style field it is. A few essentials:

Call ahead. Three Mike Zero is a private field open for public use by guests. Contact the resort to announce your arrival and get current field conditions. It’s good manners and it’s how these fields work.
Sharpen your soft- and short-field technique. Grass changes everything. Wet or soft turf lengthens your ground roll and changes your braking. Keep the nosewheel light and stay sharp on stick and rudder.
Respect density altitude and terrain. Down in the valley on a hot Arkansas afternoon, performance suffers. Fly it in the morning when the air is cool, the wind is calm, and the light comes clean down the valley.
There’s no control tower. This is pilot-controlled flying - eyes outside, radio calls on the common frequency, see and be seen. On a pretty weekend, expect company, because other pilots had the same idea.
Do your homework. Check NOTAMs, get a real weather briefing, and know your field elevation, runway length, and performance numbers cold before you point the nose into the valley. A grass strip in the hills rewards preparation and punishes improvisation.

What Is the History Behind Gaston’s?

Gaston’s dates to the 1950s, founded by Al Gaston and later taken over by his son, Jim Gaston, who ran it for decades and built it into what it is today. Jim was a pilot himself, and he understood exactly why an aviator would want to fly into a trout resort on the White River - so he built the place with that in mind.

That vision is why the runway is there, why the tie-downs sit under the trees, and why the whole layout works for someone arriving by airplane. Jim also collected aviation history throughout the resort, especially around the restaurant: old propellers, photographs, and pieces of history line the walls. It has always been a pilot’s place.

What’s the Food and the Restaurant Like?

The restaurant sits right on the bank of the White River, with big windows looking out at the water. You eat while anglers drift past in long, flat john boats and the river slides by.

The signature dish is rainbow trout pulled straight from the cold river - served fried, almondine, or however you like it, alongside Southern cooking, biscuits, and a smokehouse flavor throughout. This is the classic “hundred dollar hamburger” fly-in lunch, except it’s fresh trout eaten in view of the water it came from.

Is Gaston’s Just a Restaurant, or Can I Stay?

It’s a full resort. Cottages line the river - some close enough that you can practically cast a line off the porch. Plenty of pilots fly in for lunch, but many tie down on Friday and don’t touch the airplane again until Sunday. In between, you fish, walk the grounds, sit on the porch, and eat trout.

Why Is the Trout Fishing So Good Here?

When Bull Shoals Dam was built just upstream, the water released from the bottom of the lake came out cold and stayed cold year-round. That cold, clear water turned the White River into a world-class trout fishery for both rainbow and brown trout, drawing anglers from around the world.

Gaston’s has its own dock, its own guides, and a line of flat-bottom White River john boats along the bank. You can book a guide who has fished this water his whole life and knows where the fish are. That’s the magic combination - airplane, river, and trout in one spot. There aren’t many places on Earth where you can land on grass, walk fifty yards, and eat trout that came from water you can see from your table.

Key Takeaways

Gaston’s White River Resort (3M0) near Lakeview, Arkansas is a 3,200-foot grass strip running alongside the White River in the Ozarks.
The valley approach demands daylight, good weather, and sharp soft-field technique - fly it in the morning for cool air and calm wind.
Call ahead: 3M0 is a private field open to guests, with no control tower, so use common-frequency radio calls and see-and-be-seen procedures.
The resort dates to the 1950s under founder Al Gaston and his son Jim Gaston, a pilot who built the field, tree-shaded tie-downs, and aviation-themed lodge for fly-in visitors.
Cold water from Bull Shoals Dam makes the White River a world-class rainbow and brown trout fishery, with on-site guides, docks, and riverside cottages for weekend stays.