Have you ever heard of Bentonville, Arkansas? Me neither. That is until it became our vacation destination for Spring Break 2021. Here's a little background story on how that came to be:
For Christmas 2019 Son#1 got a new bike. Son takes said bike to Raceway Woods Bike Trails to ride. Falls in love with Mountain Biking. Continues riding into Summer 2020 visiting Keith Andres Bike Park, Rock Cut State Park trails, Atwood Park trails. Son #2 gets a new bike. Voigts father gets a new bike. Sons and father bond over biking, and all things biking related (ie biking Youtube videos, gearing up, bike gadgets).
Back in early 2021, plans to use the camper were starting up and the Voigts men suggest the first camping trip of the year be to Bentonville, AR aka the New MTB Capital of the World. Several Youtube videos later, and a convincing discussion of Arkansas weather at the end of March, and the plans were in motion (pun intended). Not your typical spring break destination unless you have MTB lovers in your life; then it's paradise found.
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| Using the timer option and propping up the iPhone for a family selfie. |
So, it's about a 9 1/2 hour drive from our Chicago-land area home to Bentonville, which is known for it's many miles of biking trails, but also known for being the birthplace and headquarters of Walmart. That's right, check those Great Value labels and you'll see. Bentonville is where Sam Walton had his 1st Walton's 5 and 10 in 1950. And Walmart is now the largest retailer in the WORLD. The Walton Foundation pumps many millions of dollars back into the local community, focusing on the Arts and the Outdoors.
We stayed in Bentonville for one week and had a wonderful time. Below I've discussed our vacation in detail (in case anyone out in Cyberland is trying to plan a similar trip) and of course included LOTs of pictures (in case any of our family is reading).
Accommodations: As noted, we stay in our (old) travel trailer. We booked a campsite at Blowing Springs RV Park. There really aren't a lot of other options for campers. The RV campsite is located in Bella Vista which is about 15 minutes north of Bentonville. It was the perfect base for us. And for many others, as the sites were sold out.
Timing/Weather: What timing for our visit! Our spring break seemed to be a bit later than others this year, which worked to our advantage. We had perfect 60 degree daytime weather most days. It got really chilly overnight but that was easily handled by running the furnace in the camper. I didn't envy those tent campers though! The daytime temps were perfect for shredding the trails. Also, there was never really a time where I felt crowded by other bikers. I think we missed the other spring-breakers and came before the regular season rush.
But back to the biking, we arrived on a Saturday evening and our boys immediately checked out the Cooper Pump Track which was just a short ride back near the entrance of the RV Park. This wouldn't be the only day they worked the track. In fact, this became a daily ritual, we'd arrive back from a day of biking, for our youngest to take a late nap, and the 2 big boys would grab the walkie-talkies and head to the track. Some days/times there were up to 6 other people waiting their turns, but usually it was just our boys, and maybe 2 or 3 others.
On Sunday we ventured in the morning to another local (Bella Vista) bike park, called Metfield Skills Park. There was a pump track and a skills course. There was also a really nice park to keep our little guy happy. We didn't spend a ton of time there but it was close by and worth checking out, including seeing all the beautiful homes in the surrounding area. After that we went to Huntley Gravity Zone, which is a trails location, also in Bella Vista. The big boys ran a few blue lines (Whiskey Tango was a favorite) and felt more warmed up. I'll stop here and mention that the biking in, and around, Bentonville is AH-MAZ-ING. More than three hundred miles of bicycle trails-dubbed the Oz Trails, for nearby Ozark Mountains-crisscross the northwest corner of Arkansas. In Bentonville there are paved trails (including the Razorback Regional Greenway), dirt single track MTB trails, skills parks and pump tracks everywhere you turn. When you drive into Bentonville, you can just look off to the side of the roads and see the many accessible points to the trail system. First we headed downtown and parked near the Crystal Bridges Art Museum. Not only is Bentonville into biking, they are into ART. It is everywhere. The Museum is the main draw/nationally acclaimed, but there are literally sculptures and murals everywhere you turn around town. We parked and had our picnic lunch at The Buckey Ball and then took a paved trail that runs along near the museum that had several sculptures.
Finally we headed back to the truck but not quite quick enough in time for nap.
Back at the Campground Dad and Son#1 explored the local trails that ran in the cliffs surrounding the campsite.
After dinner we headed to south Bentonville to a little trail called Wolf Park.
It was perfect for a little balance bike. 
Then we went back to Crystal Bridges to enter The North Forest Lights, which is a seasonal exhibit where artists use lights and music to showcase the beauty of your natural surroundings. It was really cool (and also literally cool, so we had to bundle up) but so glad we purchased tickets to get this experience. Pictures don't do it justice, so here is a link to a video which kinda helps give you an idea of what we saw: North Forest Lights, immersive light and sound installations in the forest - Bing video
On Monday we rode Slaughter Pen. This trail system actually has 3 sections, Phase 1 is farthest north, Phase 2 mostly centered near downtown Bentonville and Phase 3 furthest south. We parked at the Compton Gardens and got on the All American trail in Phase 3. I probably should pause here and tell you what we all were riding: Dad=2020 Giant Talon, Son#1=2020 Specialized Rockhopper, Son#2=2020 Nishiki, Mom=2003? Diamond Back with baby carrier on back for Son#3. All American is a blue trail and there were many sections I could easily do, and the little guy loved. However, there were some berms and tight corners that I just didn't feel safe taking with my passenger. That being said, the Greenway runs down the middle of the Slaughter Pen trail system, many times right along side the All American Trail. So I could hop off the dirt sections and ride the smooth pavement, still seeing my big boys most of the time. All American led us to the following other trails: Boo boo and Choo Choo (both blue) off the Rocking Horse trail, then across the street was the infamous rideable art called The Masterpiece.
Next we followed Black Apple Creek, which led us to the Leopards Loop trail. Leopards Loops is a Blue downhill flowy trail with big sweeping berms. At the top I met some nice folks who asked if I had ridden this particular trail yet, as they skeptically looked at my bike set up and co-pilot. I assured them I would take it slow. Guess what, my passenger giggled in delight the whole way down!
We had lunch on the downtown square before packing up to nap on our drive to Springdale, which is a town south of Bentonville (about 30 minutes). We went there to check out The Runway Bike Park, and it was awesome. It truly had something for everyone. Including the air show with private jets landing on the strip next to the park about every 10 minutes!
That evening after dinner at the campsite we treated ourselves to ice cream at Spark Cafe and we also drove to check out more of Bentonville's murals.
Coler Mountain Bike Preserve deserved a whole day, so a whole day it got. On Tuesday morning we headed to the north lot and found ourselves at the top of Thunderdome. Dad and Son#1 took the trail, which is a Blue, but definitely was for more advanced riders. It's the only side-by-side trail we know of. The other dirt trails were single-track. Many trails are also 2-way but some are not. Mostly the gravity (aka downhill) lines. After a couple times down, we tackled Family Flow which was a green trail, but gave me some challenges with #3 on back, but we took our time and had fun.
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| Using the timer on my iPhone again we got a FAMILY pic at the top of FAMILY flow! |
We then took the trail down the middle of Coler called Applegate with the boys hopping on and off the Good Vibrations dirt trail which runs along side the paved trail (similar to the Greenway/All American trail). We ended up in the Center of the park at Airship Coffee to take a break.
We then decided to tackle Esther's Loop (green), which ended up being extremely challenging for me with #3 on back and Son#2 on his own. I was lured by the (false) promise of a Waterfall. But at long last we finished the 4ish miles and Dad & Son#1 took the paved trail south to Oscar's Loop Trail, which would lead them up to The Hub:
The boys rode the Fire Line (blue) and Rock Solid (black). While the big boys rode the big boy trails, me and the littler guys re-parked the truck in the South lot and then tooled around on the Good Vibrations trail. We met back up as a family near Airship and had an awesome picnic lunch. What a beautiful day! As we headed back the big boys did Family Flow and Thunderdome another time.
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| #1 beating Dad, every time. |
Wednesday was finally a day of rest. Kinda. We had reservations for the Scott Family Amazeum Children's Museum at 9am. It was for a 2 hour timeslot, which really was just perfect for our crew. We had lunch at Pedalers Pub, a cool local eatery and then were supposed to be headed back to the Art Museum for our (free tickets provided by Walton Foundation) reservations at 1230. Alas we never used our museum tickets because our middle son spiked a fever, and that's a big no-no for entry. Plus he just felt awful. As we headed back to camp, we stopped by the 8th Street Market and rode the Mama Bear pump track. Then I rested with the 2 younger boys awhile son #1 and dad went back to Leopards Loops and checked out some of the harder trails around Slaughter Pen phase 2 & 1, including taking Tristan's Trail past the infamous OZ Wall:
They hopped back on All American which they took to the Free Ride Park, on to the Bush Push to Angus Chute to Ozone to Red Barn & Barn Burner, back to A Street, where they hopped in the truck and went downtown for some shopping at Phat Tire Bike and Mojo Cycling.
Thursday saw us heading south again to the town of Rogers for a bike park called The Railyard. Honestly we expected more variety, but alas it seemed either too tame (a small loop for the littlest shredders) or too advanced. We didn't stay long, only long enough to see a dude crash and likely dislocate his shoulder. Yikes.
We headed back north, and parked at the Bentonville Bike Park. We got on the Greenway, again along side of the All American Trail and found ourselves back at the Free Ride Park so Son#1 could conquer the series of 3 drops he had eyed the day before.
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| Catching Air! |
Meanwhile Son#2 tooled around on Seed Tick Shuffle. What we didn't realize is we could have kept riding south to arrive at The Masterpiece. Instead we packed up and drove to the lot on Tiger Blvd, where we rode more of the Greenway, All American and Dad/Son#1 did Razorback Ridge, Master plan, and Angus Chute.
Now, here's where the story gets interesting. If I haven't lost you yet. Back at the campground for nap, we had grand plans to head out for Wood Fire Pizza and Trash Ice Cream for our last evening. Alas it was not meant to be. Son 1&2 headed to the pump track with walkie talkies and it was just as Son#3 and I were arriving after waking up from nap, that Dad came riding up as well, and we were in full emergency mode. Son #1 had called on the walkie saying he had crashed and needed help. He was highly anxious, saying he couldn't remember what happened. Son #2 didn't see it happen, but the good news was Son#1 was conscious. However, he was extremely agitated about not remembering what happened. We decided the reaction was unusual and probably deserved a closer look, so Dad took him to the ER, where he was diagnosed with a mild concussion. The good news is, he says he "woke up" later that night as we ate a late fast food dinner in our trailer. The other good news is it was our last night in town anyway.
Friday morning we packed up and drove to Missouri, staying at the Meramac Caverns Campground. We took the tour of the Cave first thing in the morning, then drove the rest of the way home on Saturday.
We still look back SO fondly on our time in Bentonville, and even talk about going back. But not before Son #1 gets a new helmet!
