Jamming on Joe’s Garage

We could jam in Joe’s Garage
His mama was screamin’ “Turn it down!”
We was playing’ the same old song
In the afternoon, and sometimes we would play it all night long
It was all we knew, and easy too
So we wouldn’t get it wrong
Even if you played it on a saxophone – Frank Zappa, Joe’s Garage

I can’t help but play the song, Joe’s Garage, by Frank Zappa whenever I think about heading to Iron Mountain for a quick mountain bike ride. The Joe’s Garage Trail is usually the first or second trail we hit on a weekend trip and is one of my favorite cross-country mountain bike trails in the state.

The Iron Mountain Trails are located on the south shore of DeGray Lake near Arkadelphia, Arkansas, just off scenic Highway 7. Over the past 20 years, the trail system has grown from a short trail system consisting of just the Orange Trail and the Blue Trail to a much larger one. Fred Phillips, the owner of DLT Multisport, was also running the Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series (AMBCS) at the time, and he lived in Arkadelphia. Fred worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers and others to get permission to build trails in the Iron Mountain area of DeGray Lake, eventually securing grant money to hire Progressive Trail Design to build trails through the various phases. DLT Multisport was a family affair, involving his wife Rose, and their daughters.

The Yellow and Green trails followed the Orange and Blue trails at Iron Mountain. The venue hosted mountain bike and trail running races, including the US Cross-Country Marathon Series and AMBCS races and off-road triathlons organized by Fred.

At this point, I had to have a talk with Fred. You see, I hate trails named after colors. The trails at Burns Park were also color-named and I’ve seen several other trail systems using colors to identify trails. So when you tell me about your ride on the orange trail, I have to ask you which system you were at. Also, trail difficulty is designated by color. A black trail is difficult, a blue trail is intermediate, and a green trail is easy. It can be very confusing. So we talked about renaming the trail names. Fred is a classic rock fan and he would rename the trails based on song titles or other childhood memories. Orange became Clockwork Orange, Green became Jolly Green Giant, Blue Became Blue Bayou, and Yellow became Yellow Snow.

At about this time, a new trail was being constructed. Fred named it White Zone, inspired by a character in Joe’s Garage album. The trail quickly became a favorite due to its scenic views of the lake and enjoyable flow.

“The White Zone is for loading and unloading only…
If you have to load or unload, go to the White Zone…
You’ll love it… it’s a way of life” – Frank Zappa, The Central Scrutinizer

We rode The White Zone every time we went to Iron Mountain for years, learning every turn, rock, root, and climb. The trail became a destination in itself. During this time, Fred insisted that the Iron Mountain System needed one more trail, something like The White Zone but bigger. He already had a name in mind: Joe’s Garage.

Construction began just before COVID-19, but was halted by the US Army Corps of Engineers after building three to four miles due to COVID shutdowns. For a year, Joe’s Garage was an out-and-back trail, but it was still ridden frequently with other trails. Eventually, the Corps restarted the project, and Progressive Trail Design finished the trail.

The trail, Joe’s Garage, is 9.3 miles long and has three loops. My preferred route starts at the Corps Road Trailhead, go counter-clockwise on the first loop, stay counter-clockwise at the intersection with the second loop, and then go clockwise on the third and largest loop. Once you finish the large loop, continue on the middle loop counter-clockwise and then the first loop counter-clockwise to make the most of the long downhills.

The trail has a few rock gardens, mostly located on the long loop, allowing beginners to comfortably ride the first two loops without encountering too many technical obstacles. However, speed can make any trail more technical.

The Iron Mountain Trail System continues to rank well in our annual polling of the best mountain bike trail systems in the state, coming in 4th last year.

If you need a place to stay when visiting, Iron Mountain Resort has beautiful cabins within an easy ride to the trails, DeGray Lake Resort State Park has a beautiful lodge, camping, and YURTS, and the US Army Corps of Engineers has a campground near the trails.

More Information and Links:

• Trailforks Page on Iron Mountain – Includes downloadable maps and trail descriptions.
• 2017/18 National Mountain Bike Marathon Championships – Held at Iron Mountain.
• Water-Logged USA Triathlon Off-Road Nationals a Success – Held at Iron Mountain.
• The First Enduro Mountain Bike Race in the state was held in 2014 at Iron Mountain.
• Iron Mountain was part of a running series back in 2013.