BIKEIOWA NOTE: There are not a lot of places that we'd consider moving to, but Bentonville Arkansas would be in our top 3!
If you haven't been there, make a point to visit. Even if you don't mountain bike, there are plenty of paved trails, gravel roads (watch for dogs), restaurants, breweries and culture. The
Crystal Bridges Museum of America Art is a MUST SEE! Make time for it!
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As told by Joe Jacobs...
I remember being told back around 2005 or 2006 that I needed to get up to Bentonville, Arkansas to ride a new mountain bike trail system called Slaughter Pen. I thought it was a cool name for a trail system, but when I realized this was only about 5 miles of singletrack trail, I decided it wasn’t worth the 3-hour drive from Little Rock. I did eventually get up there over the years for several Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series races and the
Slaughter Pen Jam. In 2016, about ten years after my first invitation, Bentonville hosted the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) World Summit and I was there again, both to speak at one of the sessions and to represent Arkansas State Parks with a booth in the vendor area. Trails in Bentonville had changed.
Mountain Biking Capital of the World™
The proclamation of being the Mountain Biking Capital of the World™ was a city-led initiative that would set Bentonville apart as the crown jewel of OZ. Runway Group partnered with city leadership to develop the initial branding and marketing. It has become a way for Bentonville to retain its distinctive identity within a growing ecosystem of cycling and other forms of outdoor recreation.