Visit Bentonville has a new suggestion for how to spend time exploring their city. Ozarks at Large's Jack Travis takes us on a scenic bike route through the heart of Bentonville.
Can you imagine a town where you can get a workout, spend time in nature and view unique art all in one practical loop? Well, if you thought Bentonville, then the tourism bureau Visit Bentonville is doing its job. The organization recently published a bike loop on its website that takes you to some iconic spots, and invited some members of the press to try it out first.
The loop starts at Visit Bentonville's new visitor center downtown on Second Street. They've got maps and plenty of recommendations on what to do. Plus, Phat Tire Bike Shop is a quick walk from the parking lot, so you can rent bikes there for your adventure. Kevin Caldwell says that process is pretty simple.
"Very easy. For one, they could get ahead of it and they could go to our Phat Tire Bike Shop website, and we have a rentals tab. If you go in there, or if it's a walk-in, it's just simply walking in and meeting one of our friendly guys here. And they'll be glad to inform you of local connectivity and basically ask you questions like, what is your intent? What do you want to do? And if you're just kind of clueless, then we could give some advice on that too."
They have classic analog bikes and e-bikes for people looking for a more comfortable ride.
"E-bikes are by far the funnest way to see the area, to experience it. One of the misnomers is with e-bikes that you're not going to get a workout. On the contrary, it's like you decide what you want to do as far as that, but you can go farther, faster. And I'd say funner"
Once mounted, the group traveled to its first stop, Walmart's headquarters, and the new Onyx Coffee Lab, called The Preserve.
"Just done is just a wonderful gift to our community, using that greenway, enjoying all these green spaces, seeing the art." says Alison Nation, Visit Bentonville's chief marketing officer. She's talking about dozens of murals and sculptures dotting the campus.
"We saw murals by Graham Edwards and our tunnels. We've seen murals on the parking garages and lots of other sculptures and installations related to Walmart's culture. So here we're on Bud's Preserve, which is the largest kind of open green space on the campus. And the brand new Onyx, which has just opened in the last few weeks. And you can go inside through it and walk across the green roof as well."
Lines normally go all the way out the door, but Nation says the wait is worth it. After breakfast, a sneak peek into a new green space that the community will unlock this fall.
"So we just passed through 8th Street Gateway Park, which is a 100-acre park in the city of Bentonville Parks and Recreation Department that's under construction right now, slated to start a phased opening in September, an anticipated full grand opening in mid-November. It is envisioned as a wheeled sports park, but obviously walkers, runners, families just hanging out for a picnic or going to the playground are welcome. More than 1,000 new trees have been planted alongside restored creeks. So we'll be biking through it for a while."
But before leaving, there's an unlikely place in the middle of this park, a place to make new friends.
"Best Friends Pet Resource Center is an amazing organization. They're a nonprofit. Our resource center here serves this region. Their mission is to save all pets from kill shelters, so they work with communities to transport, transfer pets out of shelters that have high kill rates into communities with foster programs and low adoption rates where people are looking for pets."
Inside the center, there's a cat lounge, so you can hang out with cats and kittens to help socialize them, a place to play with dogs, and a coffee shop called Third Space.
Next up, find your wild side and enjoy another unexpected cup of coffee at Coler Mountain Bike Preserve and Airship Coffee. In addition to the numerous trails for biking, running and walking, there are also remains from the original farm structures for kids to run around in while you sip your joe.
"When you're down at Coler, you'll see families with their kids on Strider bikes, so kids learning how to ride bikes. You'll see skateboarders and one-wheels. You might see USA Cycling athletes. Bentonville is the home of the USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Team, and Coler is one of their favorite places to train. The other cool fact is there is a campground here, so if you wanted to come and stay in Bentonville and camp or bring your RV, there's a really cool camping ground just hidden on the other side of the creek, and it's really affordable and a great spot with really nice bathrooms, and then puts you right in the heart of the park in just about a 15-minute bike ride from the city square."
As we enter the home stretch, we're back in the city at a dynamic spot that changes depending on what time of year you visit.
"So here we are at Lawrence Plaza. This is a city park right next to the Northeast Eighth Street Promenade, which is a wonderful green space for families to enjoy nature and also the farmers market and other downtown Bentonville Inc. events pop up here. We're about to hop onto the Razorback Greenway, which has a trailhead here next to Lawrence Plaza, as well as the Wright's Barbecue. We'll also pass by trailhead and signs for the Slaughter Pen Trail Network. So this is another space where we'll be on a greenway alongside progressive mountain bike trails. We're going to bike down through Compton Gardens and Arboretum, a beautiful Ozark woodland and native plants space dedicated to the public to enjoy. And we'll turn onto Crystal Bridges Art Trail. We'll be passing lots of amazing art like the James Turrell Skyspace, and we'll kind of toodle down the art trail to the south entrance of Crystal Bridges."
Through Compton Gardens, many flowers and animals, both living and sculpted, you'll find yourself at Bentonville's internationally recognized landmark.
"So here we are at the Crystal Bridges south entrance. And one thing I love to mention, the three pillars of Crystal Bridges are art, architecture and nature. And so in our opinion, walking or biking to the museum is one of the best ways to really be immersed in those two pillars, art and nature, and then be kind of exposed and have the architecture reveal itself to you through the nature as you arrive. Really lovely and interesting artwork that will get you in the mood to discover all the art that's here, inside and out.”
If you had a lot of time, you could continue your bike ride up the trail through the parking lot and to the North Lawn, passing by Heartland Whole Health Institute and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. They’re two health care-informed architectural experiences you can see from the outside at all times, and you can go inside Monday through Friday. Nation says the area will have even more things to do in the coming months.
"One thing also special coming soon to that area is the Ozark Discovery Canopy, and that is an outdoor playscape, another amazing park for our community in the woods between the Scott Family Amazeum and Crystal Bridges. And so that is a nature space, playscape inspired by the Ozark landscape. Thus Ozark Discovery Canopy, and will be another really great outdoor bikeable spot along this greenway loop to add to our city's amenities."
Leave Crystal Bridges and after a few quick pedals back through the gardens, you're right back where you started. Check out visitbentonville.com for a full map and detailed descriptions of each stop along the way, and you can also check out phattirebikeshop.com for more on bike rentals.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
