Revisiting an Old Friend

Entrance to Yucca to Center to Port-A-Potty to Outer Loop to Airport Loop to 10 Bridges and out. I know, it makes no sense unless you ride mountain bikes at Camp Robinson. The trails at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock have had their share of hardships. Being on an active military base has both positives and negatives. The trails were shutdown for a while after 9-11 and once they reopened the process of getting on the base was complicated requiring a couple of stops. Different base commanders have changed the rules for getting on the base and new construction at the base airport has cut into some of the trails. The area is a multi-use area for the military with some hunting allowed in season and some occasional logging. Through it all the folks at Central Arkansas Recreational Pedalers (C.A.R.P.) keep working on the trails.

Saturday was a perfect day for a ride. I hadn’t ridden the trails at Camp since I started working on the Jackfork Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park a few years ago and it was time to see an old friend. I had no riding partner this time but one of the positives of riding at Camp Robinson is that with the current check-in process, the base personnel know you’re in there and if you haven’t checked out by dark they come looking for you. Security is a good thing. Just as I was parking at the trailhead parking lot a friend and fellow trail worker, Bryan, and his wife were just coming out of the woods. Bryan works on the trails at Camp often and it was good to get some input on trail conditions from him. He recommended doing an old favorite ride which included the trails I listed above. He also told me about a lot of work being done to repair some areas that have recently been logged. Of the trails that I rode, the most affected by the logging were Yucca and 10 Bridges. You’ll see in the video (towards the end) where trail crews have been repairing the damaged area.

I had a little fun with the music. Port-A-Potty, Outer Loop and Airport Loop were pretty much untouched by the logging and are pretty much as I remember them. Outer Loop could use some riding, the leaf litter hides a good bit of the trail making picking your line through the rocks a little tough. Although I didn’t really look for it, the area where Elevator Trail had been was trashed. I hear that work is being done on Christmas Tree Extension so the improvements continue. Be careful on 10 Bridges trail as many of the bridges need to be reset and are in need of some TLC.

All in all, the trails are still among the best in Central Arkansas and one of the best places to spend several hours enjoying sweet singletrack. Get your pass, watch for and participate in workdays, and first and foremost, RIDE THEM!

You’ll find a nice interactive map of the trails on the C.A.R.P. site. Also, if you have some recent reports on some of the other trails at Camp, feel free to add them in the comments section.

Also, if you would like to learn more about Campspeak, check out Arkansas Mountain Biker. Also, AO friend John Barton wrote an article recently on trail work at Camp.