Written by Travel + Leisure author Evie Carrick
—And It Has Access to 400 Miles of Trails
For cyclists in the know, it's hard to beat Bentonville, Arkansas.
Calling yourself the “Mountain Biking Capital of the World” is a bold move—one that might raise eyebrows in places like Aspen, Duluth, or Park City. But Bentonville, Arkansas, makes a convincing case for the crown.
The city has nearly 70 miles of trails—an amenity unmatched by other marquee biking destinations—with seamless connections to a 400-mile, award-winning network across Northwest Arkansas. Along the way, riders can encounter everything from public art installations to bike bars that double as popular gathering spots. Bentonville is also an International Mountain Biking Association Silver Level Ride Center (a recognition shared by only a handful of destinations worldwide) and it’s home to the U.S. National Mountain Bike Team.
Bentonville is particularly appealing in the fall, when the temperatures and humidity drop and the autumn colors arrive—the perfect conditions for biking. In October, mountain bikers come out in droves to compete in the Life Time Big Sugar Classic, a mountain bike and gravel race on the city’s famous trail systems.
