I took Highway 74 east from Fayetteville to Jasper and beyond in the 90s.
Fayetteville is a college toan and quite nice - with bike shops, etc.
You'll ride thru Buffalo National River - very nice.
Jasper is one of the best small towns in all of America.
There's a short stretch of Hwy 74 east of Jasper that is unpaved -
Maybe that's why the highway overall has so little traffic.
The only busy section is heading out of Fayetteville.
You can combine Hwy 74 with Hwy 14 and ride all the way to Batesville.
Bates Motel?? Batesville is another college town - nice.
If you're going to do a loop - consider Hwy 16 back to Fayetteville.
Mostly light traffic 10 years ago - lots of up and down - constantly.