Editor’s note: I originally wrote this article in February 2011, about nine months before my personal blog officially became ArkansasOutside.com. We’re bringing it back for #ThrowbackThursday because it’s an interesting look at cycling in Arkansas 15 years ago, and just how far we’ve come.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Mountain Biking in Arkansas Was Still a Well-Kept Secret
Easily riding along a natural bench trail and crossing the occasional stream, I wind my way out of another hollow. The steep climb to get here is nearly forgotten. Nearly.
Pedaling past unique rock outcroppings and ancient trees, I’m glad I brought my bike on this trip to the Ozarks of Arkansas. Actually, I usually take my bike when traveling around Arkansas.
In what is known as The Natural State, I’ve created my own saying: Wherever you travel in Arkansas, always take your bike. You never know when a trail will happen.
Why ride Arkansas?
Because it’s the place everyone else is riding and not telling you about.
It’s a place where northern colleges send their cycling teams to train because the roads and weather are perfect in late winter and early spring. It’s a place where, in the dead of winter, when many mountain bikers stare longingly at their bikes hanging in the garage, Arkansans are riding sweet ridgelines with unlimited views.
No studded tires. No heavy coats. No worries.
Arkansas Mountain Bike Trails Were Gaining National Attention
In the Midwest, there are three IMBA Epic trails. One is in southern Missouri, not far from the Arkansas line, and the other two are in Arkansas.
The Syllamo Trail System has more than 50 miles of loop trails in the heart of the Ozarks near Mountain View.
The Womble Trail in the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas’s original IMBA Epic, is one of the sweetest trails in the country. It follows ridgelines and drops down to cross creeks for more than 37 miles. It also easily connects with the Ouachita Trail and local forest roads to create multi-day mountain biking adventures.
Each March, the Womble is home to one of the premier mountain bike races in the country, the Ouachita Challenge. This 60-mile race draws professional and amateur cyclists from across the country. Over the years, nationally recognized cyclists such as Gary Fisher have shown up with their teams, while Team Orbea and Team Topeak-Ergon have been repeat competitors.
Riders Were Beginning to Discover Arkansas
National tour operators were also finding Arkansas to be a prime riding destination.
Hermosa Tours of Durango, Colorado, which runs tours throughout the western United States, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Iceland, recently started bringing tours to Arkansas.
Hermosa Tours owner Matt McPhee called Arkansas a “diamond in the rough” and said he had brought groups from as far away as Alaska to ride the Womble and Syllamo trails.
He was also getting a lot of interest from riders in California, Texas, and Illinois. McPhee expected to add other Arkansas trails to his tours in the future.
The growth of mountain biking in the state wasn’t coming only from riders outside Arkansas.
International cycling companies were calling Arkansas home. Orbea USA was based in North Little Rock. Trail experts from around the world were also showing respect for The Natural State. The International Trail Builders Conference was held in Eureka Springs, and in 2008, the American Trails National Symposium was held in Little Rock.
Arkansas Had a Long Mountain Biking History
Mountain biking in Arkansas wasn’t a recent phenomenon. It had simply been a well-kept secret for a long time.
Devil’s Den State Park in Northwest Arkansas held its first Mountain Bike Festival 20 years ago. In fact, nine of the state’s 52 state parks had mountain bike trails, with plans to add trails at four more parks.
Fred Phillips of DLT Multisport, a local race organizer who managed the state’s Cross Country and Marathon Mountain Biking Series, said he had seen this coming for at least 10 years.
“The state has so many mountain biking and adventure sports assets,” Phillips said.
Other participant sports that relied on mountain biking, including XTERRA off-road triathlons and adventure races, were also growing in Arkansas.
Adventure racing had been happening in Arkansas for more than 10 years and continued to grow, with several promoters adding races around the state.
Trails Were Easy to Find in Central Arkansas
One of the great things about mountain biking in Arkansas was the accessibility of trails.
Within a half-hour drive of the State Capitol, you could ride more than 50 miles of singletrack, much of it designed specifically for mountain biking. If you were willing to drive another hour, the number of available trail miles topped 200.
Mountain bike trails were constantly being added, with more than 20 miles of new trail expected to open in the state over the next year.
Road Cycling Was Growing, Too
The growth of road cycling mirrored that of its dirtier cousin.
Construction of the Arkansas River Trail in Little Rock and North Little Rock created a focal point for road cycling and paved-trail riding.
When the longest bridge in the world built specifically for pedestrians and cyclists was added to the trail, Central Arkansas became a road biking mecca. Yes, I said mecca.
The Big Dam Bridge, connecting Little Rock and North Little Rock, was one of the draws for the National Trails Symposium held in Little Rock in 2008.
Another bridge, the Two Rivers Bridge, was scheduled to open in the spring, allowing cyclists to ride from downtown Little Rock all the way to Pinnacle Mountain State Park, where they could enjoy mountain bike trails or connect with other road-riding loops. The Clinton Presidential Park Bridge had also recently opened.
Cycling groups and event promoters hosted several century rides and multi-distance races across the state.
The Joe Martin Stage Race in Northwest Arkansas attracted names like Floyd Landis. Miles of wonderful rural roads, organized centuries, and shorter rides made it easy to see the attraction for out-of-state riders.
Another plus for road cyclists was that Arkansas was one of only 16 states with a three-foot passing law designed to protect cyclists on the road.
Cycling Was Becoming Part of Arkansas Communities
Businesses and government agencies, including the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, were finding that locating near the Arkansas River Trail was good for employee retention. Some added employee locker rooms and showers so workers could clean up after riding to work.
The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, recognizing the state’s growth as a cycling destination, recently published a guide to cycling in Arkansas featuring 11 mountain bike rides and 11 road rides across the state.
The word was getting out.
Maybe We Should Have Kept It Secret
My ride on the Miner’s Rock Trail at Lake Leatherwood near Eureka Springs was ending.
Try as I might, I couldn’t catch my wife, who let out a resonating “Yippee!” as she bombed down the trail toward the end of our ride.
I wished she would keep it down.
Otherwise, everyone might find out about this place.
More Editor Notes:
15 Years Later: The Secret Is Out
Looking back at this article 15 years later, it’s almost hard to believe how much mountain biking in Arkansas has changed.
When this was written in 2011, Arkansas had two IMBA Epic rides, the Womble Trail and Syllamo. Since then, three more have earned the designation: the Upper Buffalo Headwaters, Ouachita National Recreation Trail, and Lake Ouachita Vista Trail, better known as the LOViT. Arkansas is now home to five IMBA Epic rides, putting some of the state’s best backcountry riding on a national stage.
But the growth goes far beyond those five trails.
One of the biggest developments has been the creation of the Monument Trails, a partnership that brought purpose-built, destination-quality trail systems to Arkansas State Parks. Today, riders can experience Monument Trails at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area, Mount Nebo State Park, Pinnacle Mountain State Park, and Devil’s Den State Park. In 2023, Outside named the Monument Trails the best mountain biking trails in the country.
At the same time, communities across Arkansas have continued building trails of their own. Systems such as Lakewoods in Monticello, Blue Mountain/Southlake near Little Rock, and Lake Alma near Alma are part of a much larger collection of local trail networks that have expanded riding opportunities well beyond the destination systems. From Central Arkansas to the River Valley and Northwest Arkansas, mountain biking has become part of the recreation infrastructure of communities large and small.
And Arkansas mountain biking has entered territory that would have seemed almost unimaginable when this article was written.
In June 2026, OZ Trails Bike Park opened along the Bentonville-Bella Vista border as Arkansas’s first chairlift-served mountain bike park. The 200-acre park features more than 20 miles of gravity trails ranging from beginner terrain to expert-level riding, all served by a high-speed chairlift.
The next chapter is already under construction in the Ouachita Mountains.
The Trails at Mena project near Mena is being developed as a major lift-served mountain biking destination connecting the Ward Lake area with Round Top Mountain near Queen Wilhelmina State Park. Plans call for lift access, significant elevation, downhill trails, flow trails, jump lines, technical terrain, and supporting visitor facilities.
Fifteen years ago, the premise of this article was that Arkansas mountain biking was a secret that riders might want to keep to themselves.
That isn’t possible anymore.
Arkansas has gone from a place with a handful of nationally recognized trails to a state building an interconnected collection of backcountry Epics, community trail systems, state park destinations, gravity trails, and lift-served bike parks.
The secret is definitely out.
And we’re nowhere near finished.
All photos taken in 2011/2012.
This article was originally published on ArkansasOutside.com, your trusted source for outdoor news and updates in The Natural State. Unless otherwise credited, all photos included in this piece are the property of Arkansas Outside, LLC. We take pride in sharing the beauty and adventures of Arkansas through our lens, thank you for supporting our work!
