ACROSS THE COUNTRY
How an Arkansas City Became an Epicenter of the Biking World
Buoyed by the interests of the family behind Walmart, Bentonville has become an unexpected hub for cycling.
WHY WE’RE HERE
We’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. In Bentonville, Ark., a thriving off-road biking network has drawn residents and tourists alike into mountain and gravel biking.
Video by Rugile Kaladyte
Reporting from Bentonville, Ark.
Listen for the click of a bike gear, shifting in tune with its rider. A whoosh of air as tires lift off the ground, then a satisfying thud as the bike returns to earth. The clack of a cyclist’s cleats, fresh off a ride, in the downtown square.
This is the soundtrack to Bentonville, a city of about 60,000 near the state’s border with Missouri that has dozens of immaculately kept trails for every level of biker.
“Pure joy — it’s the reason I got up at 6 o’clock this morning to be out here,” said Dani Shamburger, 33, pausing during an early Sunday ride in the woods a few miles from the city’s center. “It’s my sanctuary.”
The investment in biking has come largely from the billionaire Walton family and its business, Walmart, which is headquartered in Bentonville.
Over more than a decade, Tom and Steuart Walton, grandsons of the Walmart founder, have steered at least $74 million through the family foundation toward the construction of 163 miles of paths and trails for recreation and competition. Those arteries now snake through the city, connecting to hundreds of trails in the surrounding mountains.
“Cycling is clearly a passion of ours and it’s something that we believe in, and I personally believe that cycling can be a solution for complex problems,” Tom Walton said in an interview. He added, “We never had a huge vision like this. We just never stopped.”
There has always been biking in the foothills of the Ozarks in northwest Arkansas; some longtime residents recounted learning to bike on unkempt gravel roads and unsanctioned trails.
But the new infrastructure is among the cultural amenities that the Walton family has championed, in part to attract corporate employees and tourists to a relatively rural, remote region. The Waltons have also poured money into a major art museum, schools and a new health institute, among other things.
“Twenty years ago, we were not a leisure destination — we were a business destination,” said Kalene Griffith, the chief executive of Visit Bentonville and who now owns a mountain bike, a gravel bike and an electric bike. “Cycling and sports is what changed our weekends for us.”
The web of connected trails, the construction of which began in earnest around 2012, means smooth rides close enough to downtown that cyclists seeking a longer journey do not need to drive out to a starting point. A regional greenway connects Bentonville to other towns in the region.
Some veteran bikers eyed the city’s offerings skeptically at first. Manufactured elevation, after all — the jumps, twists and steep curves built into the trail network — may provide less adrenaline than the more dramatic terrain of the Utah desert or the Colorado mountains.
“My heart kind of sunk a little bit, and I looked at my wife — I was like, ‘We might have made a mistake,’” said Doug Roberts, the owner of a cycling apparel company based in Bentonville, describing seeing the city for the first time from the window of a plane. “Where could the trails possibly be, right?”
Now, however, he said, “I’ll get on my bike and I’ll ride 30 miles in my two hours on trail and not hit the same thing twice sometimes.”
Nor does the lack of extreme elevation bother Tom and Steuart Walton, both of whom are dedicated bikers.
“I’m fine that we don’t have large mountains, or a super long history of being an outdoor mountain bike town,” Tom Walton said. “We have a model that is replicable for lots and lots of other towns that look and feel like Bentonville, that are across the middle of our country.”
There is at times an undercurrent of unease about the influence of Walton and Walmart money in Bentonville — and about one billionaire family and one business wielding so much influence there. And descriptions of Bentonville, which has seen an influx of tourist dollars, as a Disneyland or paradise for cyclists can feel dissonant when much of the rest of Arkansas struggles economically.
“You take the bitter with the sweet, for sure, if you’ve been here long enough to see some of the trade-offs,” said Jesse Turner, who builds custom handlebars and is a longtime resident of Northwest Arkansas, pointing to the uptick in congestion, the spread of development and increased costs of living.
Last year, more than a third of Bentonville residents reported riding a bike at least once a month. The biking opportunities also draw thousands of tourists, some of whom had never considered visiting the state before hearing its offerings.
“I could’ve never told you I was going to be in Bentonville, Ark., for four nights,” said Jon Carroll, 48, a visitor from Lexington, Ky., who was standing near the starting line of one of the city’s many cycling races. “It’s very well done.”
Bicycle engineers and manufacturers have flocked to the city, seeking to capitalize on new cyclists and business opportunities. So have serious competitive cyclists: Haley Batten, who had the best performance of any American in mountain biking at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where she won a silver medal, trained in Bentonville with the rest of the U.S. team.
The city also has become a destination for professional cycling events: The Life Time Grand Prix, a series of off-road cycling races that begins this weekend, will conclude in the city later this year.
“Bentonville’s intoxicating,” Alexey Vermeulen, who competes on the off-road bike circuit, said after winning the men’s Big Sugar Gravel race last fall. Stained with gray dust, he recounted curving through the course — at one point looping into Missouri — before cruising to a triumphant finish in the center of the city.
“Every year,” he added, “I start spending more and more time” there.
Bike racks abound along the streets and on the backs of cars. The Ledger, a co-working space in the city, has six stories of public bike ramps winding around its exterior. And there is now a rebate program for city residents who purchase electric bikes.
The fervor has expanded beyond Bentonville: There are plans to build a bike park with a chairlift in Bella Vista, Ark., an enclave outside the city, that would connect to the existing trails.
Cyclists will tell you that the genuine interest of locals in Northwest Arkansas has powered the explosion in biking. Volunteers spend their weekends cleaning up debris along the trails, including after a series of tornadoes swept through the area last year.
For a sport and hobby that has long been expensive and predominately white and male, Bentonville also presents an opportunity to bring more people safely into the cycling fold. There are trails for all levels, including those learning to ride and people who cannot use a traditional two-wheeled bike.
“It was like a dream come true — we only went four miles, but that was good for their first time,” said Bekah Murphy, a teacher, recounting her young children’s first bike ride. “Everyone’s welcome and everyone feels like they can do it.”
Stacey Brickson, a Wisconsin resident who scheduled a recent visit around one of the races, marveled at how she could safely leave her bike unlocked while eating in a restaurant downtown — and at the welcome shown to cyclists of all levels.
“Everybody here just wants you on a bike,” she said.
Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville.
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