Bentonville, Arkansas is famous for two things: Wal Mart and mountain biking.
Thanks to a naturally amazing geography and plenty of money from the Walton foundation, this area is home to some of the best trails in the country!
I just spent four days riding there and want to share what I learned. Mainly, the place rules and if you ride you should go! Here we go...
Lodging: There are lots of great AirbNb listings. I think anything close to Crystal Bridges will be best as you can ride to multiple trails from here AND walk to bars, restaurants etc. Look for somewhere with bike storage and a hose if possible. That saved us for sure. We got a place on Main Street that I really liked. I would likely avoid hotels if possible simply due to the mess that bringing home a mountain bike is. Bentonville is easy to walk and ride around but be sure to bring a long bike lock for downtown. I’m sure it is safe, but why chance it? I think this is also a good place to bring family along, as they will have plenty to do in town. The first Fridays of each month have a free movie in the park and a farmers market. Bentonville has a massive deer population and they roam freely in yards and near trails. Don’t feed them.
Riding: So. Many. Trails. We hit Coler Preserve first which was partially closed due to wet conditions but what we rode was fun. Coler has Oscars Loop which leads up to the Hub to send it down numerous flow trails. I think the best place to start is runs on Family Flow. Be aware that if you aren’t used to hitting jump lines it is a whole new beast. Start small and practice. Most of the bigger lines have options to avoid obstacles as there are some HUGE features if you have the skills. The lips of jumps at Coler are in general quite steep compared to what we have in Alabama. Slaughter Pen is closest to downtown and we did two days here. Great variety of trails and really something for everyone. They are easy to navigate with plentiful maps. These are a must. We skipped Blowing Springs but I will try it next trip. Back 40 is a backcountry type loop a bit north. Maybe 4 miles up the road from Bentonville. Bring sturdy tires and a flat kit or you will regret it. We only had one flat but it was major. We did the loop CW but I think CCW would be better. There is a Black level trail called The Ledges that is worth a detour on. We rode it uphill going CW but again, CCW is where it is at. It is super rocky and narrow with some exposed sections. Falls here are probably pretty bad. I should say to plan on bringing plenty of water and food on all these trails. MTB Project has a great app and website for trail finding and there are a few Trail Conditions pages on Facebook that are updated often. The skills park at Slaughter Pen Phase 2 is a must. Other areas near town include Hobbs State Park, Eureka Springs, the Railyard Bike Park in Rogers. If you can pre load a GPS route and follow it, do it. I will try to make one of Slaughter Pen as it has many trails that are easy to miss. There are maps everywhere on the trails. I have never seen a place so well marked. Incredible!
Food: There are numerous good places to eat in Bentonville but Pedalers Pub was my favorite. If you happen to be of the non meat eating variety there are plenty of options. The crepe restaurant was pretty good for breakfast. The bars we tried were all good but be aware that this town shuts it down early. Don’t plan on staying out super late but the bar under the Preacher’s Son is open til 1 AM. Oh and no beer sales after 10 PM, we found that one out the last night there!
Bikes: Dropper post and durable tires are critical. We rode hard tails with 120 mm forks which rocked. Just remember there is lots of pedaling here so careful on going too big on travel and tire size. Be sure to get plenty of trail time before going as you are going to ride a ton in Bentonville. Wrap your head around your skill set too as many of these trails can lure you into hitting something massive. I have realized that jump lines are and drops are becoming common on modern trails so I am working on learning these features. I harp on this all the time, but a skills lesson can really help. Look for a certified instructor to help...depending on where you live, the following may be near you: Lon Cullen, Harlan Price, Cory Rimmer, Lee McCormack. There are obviously more, but those I trust for sure.
I think that’s it. If you need more info just holler at me!