Arkansas cycling

[PaMtbRider]

My wife and I have a weeks vacation in July which we planned to spend in Arkansas. We originally had this planned as a motorcycle trip, but unfortunately she hit a deer on her motorcycle last weekend. She is ok thanks to wearing all the proper gear. We probably won't get her motorcycle repaired in time for our vacation so we are considering taking the car and bicycles instead. Her hand and shoulder got pretty bruised so we are going to try riding the tandem tomorrow instead of singles. The plan would be to ride single bikes if she is fully recovered by vacation. Any suggestions for road riding in Arkansas? We are looking for rides 40-65 miles in length with rolling to moderately hilly terrain. Low traffic, quiet country roads would be a plus. I think I saw in a recent thread that Arkansas ranked worst in the country for being cycle friendly. I can't believe the whole state can be that bad.

[bikinchris]

You didn't say what part of the state you are in. The south and eastern part is flat. The central has hills and as you go north and west, it gets hilly. The far northwest can be very steep.

The tamest cycling can be found along the riverfront in Little Rock. There is a new bicycle bridge across the river linking the river trial to two rivers park. Nice if you want to go sort of slow and look around for birds and watch out for kids.

http://www.bigdambridge.com/index.htm

[Louis]

Try this:

Some info (http://www.arkansas.com/outdoors/biking/road-cycling.aspx)

A thread here with some more info: http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=46068

[buldogge]

NW Arkansas has excellent riding as well as nice hiking opportunities.

Check out the Jasper Disaster in the link Louis posted above...

-Mark in St. Louis

[PaMtbRider]

You didn't say what part of the state you are in.

http://www.bigdambridge.com/index.htm

We will be coming from Pennsylvania, so we can head to any part of Arkansas. I was thinking of 3-4 days riding in one or different areas of the state.

[Toddtwenty2]

I did a small self-supported round-trip from Mountain View to Norfork to Mountain Home. I then headed back down through the national forest (I-341 and I-14) to get back to Mountain View where they had a great folk/bluegrass music festival. This was the prettiest bike ride I've ever taken, though it is a very intense route. The entire area is all very long rolling hills.

Picture the most ideal small-town grassy pastoral scenes that you can imagine, and that is what you can expect. The towns are tiny (300-2,000 people). Each town has a church, a place to congregate (often around music), and occasionally one place to eat. The people are very warm--one let me camp in his yard and taught me how to find wild onions, another invited me to a barbecue at her house, etc-- There is a beautiful campground at the base of the dam in Norfork. It's really a fantastic ride without much traffic. If I did it again, I would skip Mountain Home and simply do the loop from Mountain View to Norfork and back again.

Best of luck. Let us know what you decide.

[bikinchris]

A fovorite of car drivers is the highway 7 that goes north and south across the middle of the state. Another hard ride is what is called the "pig trail".

http://www.arkansas.com/places-to-go/scenic-byways/pig-trail/

Whichever you do, spend time either in Fayetteville or Little Rock and eat at Whole Hog Cafe. Best BBQ I ever ate. They decorate the restaurant with world championship trophies from Memphis in May.

[moran]

The Bentonville/Rogers are ia beautiful. The new Nationally renowned Crystal Bridges Museum is about 4 blocks from the square. The square has a few great restaurants (Table Mesa, Tusk'n Trotter, The Station, The Flying Fish, etc...). Also, Pressroom and the Walmart Museum have great coffee.

There are quite a few nice rides (country roads, some hills, 40-60 miles) that you can embark on from the square. Vaughn road, Hwy 72, Bella Vista, Little Flock to name a few.

Also, there are a quite a few nice rides about 20 minutes down the road in Fayetteville.

Send me a pm if I can help at all. Thanks, Sean

[moran]

I second BikinChris's comment about Whole Hog....great BBQ. Although Smokin Joe's is good too!

[bikinchris]

Also, a nice road goes by War Eagle mill just north of Fayetteville near Rogers. Great pancakes that are made from the grain the mill grinds.
https://www.wareaglemill.com/

[PaMtbRider]

Thanks for all the good info. We are planning on spending time in the Eureka Springs, Bentonville area. Sounds like some good riding and eating in the area.

[ngilbert]

There's a lot of great riding in Arkansas, although I'm most familiar with the Jasper and Fayetteville areas. There's a lot of hill work around Jasper and flatter rolling hills around the Fayettevile and Bentonville areas. Keep in mind that Arkansas will be hot this time of year.

[pdmtong]

email brendan quirk...

[benitosan1972]

Mt Nebo... it's quite steep, really really steep in fact

I loved riding thru Arkansas (and Oklahoma), beautiful
country, fields, lively major cities, really nice hospitable
people... and alcohol/cigarettes are pretty cheap out there!

[cnighbor1]

I could lend you the book charles

[Cat3roadracer]

A third thumbs up for Whole Hog. I get to Bentonville a few times a year, I have a reasonably sized customer there, and always enjoy Whole Hog. There's also a cool shop in the center of historic Bentonville. I would love to ride there some day.

[weisan]

Reviving an old thread...because someone had suggested Bentonville Arkansas in my radar.

Here's my situation.

I have from now until June 27th to do a road trip from where I live in Leander TX to anywhere and back.

I will be driving a minivan packed with everything I need including sleeping inside at night.

What I am looking for is a place of serenity and beauty, to ride and hike during the day, and then relax the rest of the day, maybe explore around, do some sightseeing either by foot or car. I need a discreet place where I can park my car overnight and sleep inside during the night with my windows cracked open halfway but shielded with a net to prevent bugs from coming in. The night time temp ideally is in the 50-60s range, cool enough to sleep, not too warm. I am open to either driving to a place within a day or two worth of driving and use that as a base or do a route or a loop that takes me to several places along the way and bring me back to Texas in a week's time.

I will be bringing a road bike, a gravel bike and a mountain bike. I am not really into technical MTB, any relatively tame trail riding is fine. Mountain passes and lots of climbing - no problem but not actively going out there to kill myself in order to prove anything. If the view at the top is worth it, I will do it.

Any hike anywhere from 3-5hrs would be ideal.

Hope this is not too vague.

Anyone has any specific suggestions?

[Louis]

I'd go N and W to someplace cooler and higher than Arkansas. NM? CO?

Have fun.

[biker72]

Although Denver/Boulder can get hot in the afternoon the mornings can be almost cold. I needed a jacket on my last trip to the Denver area in July.

[Louis]

Although Denver/Boulder can get hot in the afternoon the mornings can be almost cold. I needed a jacket on my last trip to the Denver area in July.

Overnight the temperature tends to drop down to closer to the dewpoint. In places like CO the dewpoint is much lower than say, Dallas or St Louis. So although afternoons in CO can get warm, because the humidity, and therefore the dewpoint, is low, the temperature drops very nicely once the sun sets. (while folks like us in TX and MO are stuck in the soup)

[texbike]

I'd go N and W to someplace cooler and higher than Arkansas. NM? CO?

Have fun.

^Same! Although not really fitting for an Arkansas thread, how about Cloudcroft, NM? It’s within a day’s drive of Austin and will get you above 8K feet for nice, cool evenings and minimal bugs. Aspens, Pinions, decent routes to ride, hiking opportunities, White Sands and Alamogordo are close by as is Ruidoso (sp?).

May be an option for you...

Texbike

[oldpotatoe]

My wife and I have a weeks vacation in July which we planned to spend in Arkansas.

I think I saw in a recent thread that Arkansas ranked worst in the country for being cycle friendly. I can't believe the whole state can be that bad.

Summers are warm and humid in Arkansas, with average high temperatures 93°F (33.9°C) at the peak of July. Temperatures often exceed 100°F (37.8°C) during the summer and occasionally reach 110°F (43.3°C) in the south.
Arkansas becomes quite sultry in summertime, as tropical air streams in from the Gulf of Mexico. The statewide average high temperature in the hottest months of the year, July and August, hovers in the low 90s Fahrenheit, and highs can occasionally reach into the triple digits

:eek:

[oldpotatoe]

Although Denver/Boulder can get hot in the afternoon the mornings can be almost cold. I needed a jacket on my last trip to the Denver area in July.

Boulder is full...:)

[Ken Robb]

I am an old softie but Arkansas in July would be too hot for me to ride 50+ miles. It would probably be delightful in mid-October. :)

[weisan]

A friend has a place near Cañon City, CO, that's where I am heading.

[Louis]

Weisan, we expect pictures from Royal Gorge...

https://www.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/walk-1-.jpg?quality=86&strip=all