Bikes, brews, and a capsized canoe
When Matthew first suggested we spend a month in Bentonville, Arkansas, on our way from Colorado back to the East Coast, I had never even heard of it. My reaction was probably similar to yours: Arkansas? What exactly is in Arkansas?
As it turns out, quite a lot.
If I were handing out superlatives from this year of travel, Bentonville would easily win Most Surprising Destination. It feels like a tiny utopian bubble filled with art, outdoor space, friendly people, and an endless supply of sunshine.
The mountain biking scene is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Undulating wooden boardwalks, perfectly sculpted dirt paths winding through the trees, and stone features pressed into steep berms and turns. But my favorite part is that many of the mountain bike trails run right alongside the wonderfully flat paved trails that I prefer, so Matthew and I can ride together and both genuinely enjoy ourselves.
My other favorite part is all of the kids out on the trails. Bentonville feels incredibly beginner-friendly. The terrain is approachable, the parks are thoughtfully designed, and the whole community seems committed to getting more people on bikes. There are Mountain Biking 101 classes, intro-to-jumping clinics, and kids confidently flying around the tracks like tiny professionals.
It seems like everyone here owns a bike. Families cruise by with toddlers tucked into tow-behind trailers while slightly older kids pedal furiously to keep up behind them. Serious cyclists click-clack across the pavement in neon spandex outfits (who collectively decided those were a good idea?), while commuters glide past on e-bikes, high heels pedaling and wide-leg trousers carefully tucked into socks. The entire town feels designed around them.
Group rides happen constantly, complete with themes and happy hours afterward. Places like The Pedaler's Pub, Bike Rack Brewing Co., and The HUB Bike Lounge are lined with packed bike racks instead of packed parking lots. And it’s all connected by the Razorback Greenway — a beautifully paved 40-mile trail connecting seven Northwest Arkansas communities while winding directly through the Walmart Headquarters and downtown Bentonville itself.
The Walmart Headquarters themselves are something to see. The space is so large that it almost has a college campus feel. But the cleanest, most well-manicured one you’ve ever seen. Man-made ponds surrounded by hundreds of plants in perfect rows. Grounds crews zip around in golf carts at all hours, collecting trash and pulling weeds. Scattered throughout the campus are cafeterias, fitness centers, and massive buildings full of people doing important things. The Razorback Greenway winds right through the middle of it all, crossing over bridges and ducking through mural-covered tunnels. It’s corporate America, but also oddly beautiful, futuristic, and serene.
Unsurprisingly, we spent all of our weekends here biking and bouncing from brewery to greenspace all along the trails. We ventured outside of town a few times and found only more beautiful parks and trails. Sister Sarah came for a visit, which was perfect because she loves both biking and greenspace, so she was just as excited about this place as we were. We strolled through an epic Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning, continued our walk through the community gardens, and then explored the art trail and Art Museum. We found a beautiful exhibit that celebrated America’s 250th birthday. Carefully curated to include all parts of our history, we could have spent all day in there. We even saw originals from Norman Rockwell and Jackson Pollock. That afternoon, we biked to a coffee shop only accessible along the bike trail and sat on its sunny rooftop to enjoy our drinks. The Jennings flew through the surrounding more challenging trails, one in particular, straight through a stream, while I enjoyed the fresh air, wildflowers, and sunshine from the paved trail. We ended our day at Bentonville Brewing and admired everyone’s dogs and babies from their beautiful outdoor seating area in the sun.
Matthew planned a packed day for us on our Sunday with Sarah, and we found yet another gorgeous bike trail around Lake Atlanta, enjoyed a hike through a beautiful forest to admire Lake Beaver, and were absolutely blown away by our visit to Eureka Springs.
It was so uniquely beautiful there, tiny springs hidden all through town, almost like a scavenger hunt. Much of the town’s old architecture is preserved in its stunning brick and stone-faced buildings. The streets climb upwards and wind through walls of limestone cliffs with the buildings, parks and houses built right into them. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I was completely unprepared for how remarkable it really was. Houses built on stilts, their entryways bridges over steep ravines, houses built into the cliff with limestone foundations visible to the street, stone houses with lovely flower windowboxes straight out of a fairy tale. We strolled through some of the charming shops, mostly focused on healing, crystals, and the bizarre. Actually, strolled is the wrong word because the streets really did climb aggressively all through town. We hiked through town, up rainbow steps, along limestone cliffs. We found a beautiful brewery with expansive seating in a forest hidden behind it. And then we slept hard. We really packed it in each day.
While I was working, Matthew and Sarah set off on a weekday adventure of their own: a canoe trip down the Buffalo National River. From the photos alone, it looked absolutely stunning. Jaw-dropping limestone cliffs walled their journey for much of the way, spectacular turquoise waters churned beneath them, and many birds, snakes (glad I missed that part), and turtles greeted them along the way. After a rocky start and an unplanned plunge into the brisk water for both of them, the river mellowed out a bit, though it still demanded plenty of focus. Navigating rapids in a canoe is no easy task, but for the Jennings siblings, it was exactly the kind of challenge that makes for a memorable adventure.
Bentonville, and Arkansas as a whole, were truly a surprise. The areas we visited were stunning, the people we met were welcoming, and the biking mentality genuinely felt like a tiny utopian bubble for bikers. Next month we're off to Asheville, North Carolina, an old favorite of ours. Looking forward to returning to the mountains and hopefully hosting some visitors now that we're back on the East Coast!
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