I love it when a plan comes together – John “Hannibal” Smith.
A few years ago, I first heard that Pulaski County was going to build a bridge over the Little Maumelle River to Two Rivers Park. The plan included taking the Arkansas River Trail all the way to Pinnacle Mountain State Park. An idea started to grow to build a system of mountain bike trails at Pinnacle that cyclists could ride to from downtown. I checked with the planning and development section at Arkansas State Parks and found that the long range plans included mountain bike trails near the visitor center. I also found that the project would not be funded for quite some time.
Time to regroup. I got with fellow cyclist and friend Daron. Daron had done a lot of work on the trails at Camp Robinson and also had the skill set to help with bridge designs. He quickly joined the team. I say team, it was really my wife Lisa (God Bless Her), Daron and me. Together we cut through a lot of red tape getting plans approved and then many long hot hours breaking rocks, raking, trimming, breaking rocks, weed eating, breaking rocks, building bridges, digging and breaking rocks. The mountain spent a lot of time growing new rocks.
Finally, last fall, we dedicated the trail, before the Two Rivers Bridge was completed. We were quite proud of ourselves. We have continued to work on the trail adding another entry section up at the top of the trail making it easier to get in from the main trailhead, breaking more rocks and soon after the Two Rivers Bridge opened we added a new trail entrance. near the park sign on Pinnacle Valley Road.
When we designed the Jackfork trail we took a look at the inventory of mountain bike trails in the area. At the time the premier mountain biking train system in the area was the Camp Robinson trails. Burns Park trails needed a bit of an overhaul but was still full of a lot of nice flowy trail. So we decided that the Jackfork would be a workout trail. Lots of short climbs and technical sections. Things changed. The Camp Robinson trails have suffered several setbacks over the last couple of years, that’s another story, and Burns Park has gotten a lot of attention and improvements. The Jackfork also showed us why it was once the site of quarries. It is a place that grows rocks.
Mission change
This past weekend, Daron, Lisa and I set off by bike on the Jackfork to see what we could do to improve the trail. We had heard from a lot of riders that they wanted something with a little more flow. We agree, riders need more flow to get through some of the rock gardens particularly on the sections higher up the mountain. So over the next few months you’ll see some flow improvements giving longer, sweeter descents. The climbs will loose a few switchbacks giving riders more straight on approaches as they go up the hills. We hope to add a few more bridges to keep the flow going better.
So bare with us, we may be calling for some workdays soon. Mainly for raking that will need to be done as we enter the fall (we already have leaves all over the trails).
The Connection
So yesterday I decided to take the ride I’ve been waiting for. The ride from town to the trail and then some of the trail. Last week Lisa, my son David and I rode from the Big Dam Bridge parking lot to the East Summit Trail at Pinnacle, locked our bikes to a tree and did an up over and around on the mountain. They about killed me although I was much better once we got back on the bikes. This time I rode by myself on my newly rebuilt hardtail (yes, you can ride the Jackfork on a hardtail. It actually seems to be doing better for me on the climbs). I parked at Murray Park and rode into the headwind on a beautiful day. It was about 8 miles to the trail head (the new one near the park sign). A good warm up. I stopped and traded out my sunglasses for regular ones and headed off into the woods. By going to the left when I got to the first intersection I was able to enjoy the easier section that follows the road west. Upon reaching the Hard & Harder sign I stayed to the right and went up the hill following the trail right again at the intersection near the top. Then over to the “Big Rock” and down through a section that we have big plans for. All the way back down to a place that was only about 50 feet from the roadside trail. I jumped over and rode back to the trailhead. A quick stop for a granola bar and back on the road. I didn’t get as much trail riding in as I had hoped but I needed to get back to other duties. The great thing is I felt better about my riding than I have in a couple of years.
So give it a try folks. Ride on out, make the connection and start watching for the trail improvements. Listen up for the calls for help. We look forward to seeing you on the trail.
