I visited Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart’s new headquarters is expanding. The city was a tourist’s dream.

• I recently visited Bentonville, the home of Walmart, in northwest Arkansas.
• The city is modern, upbeat, and diverse, with many new restaurants and plenty of history.
• Bentonville is one of the greenest cities I’ve been to, with miles of hiking and biking trails.

Everyone in Bentonville either works for Walmart or a supplier for Walmart — or knows someone who does, an Uber driver said as he showed me around the downtown.

Bentonville, a city of slightly over 60,000, sits in the northwest corner of Arkansas, nestled in the Ozark Mountains and north of the University of Arkansas. Walmart was founded one town over in Rogers, and the retail giant opened a home office and distribution center in Bentonville in 1970.

The Walton family, including Walmart founder Sam Walton, has made its presence known around the city over the years. In January, Walmart opened the first phase of its 350-acre headquarters, which is nearing completion. The campus boasts a fitness center, public bike and running trails, and a large food hall, in addition to soon-to-be-open restaurants and shops.

About a mile west, the Walmart Museum sits on one of the corners of the Bentonville Square. Sam Walton’s daughter Alice Walton led efforts to develop the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, and Northwest Arkansas National Airport.

Bentonville has seen rapid development as Walmart continues to bring its employees to its rapidly expanding campus, and as nearby companies like Tyson Foods and J.B. Hunt Transport Services grow. New and renovated houses have popped up across the city, alongside more office buildings and restaurants.

The city has also embraced its role as the “mountain-biking capital of the world” and maintains its many parks. Some older buildings, such as the Peel Museum & Botanical Garden, stand next to much more recent builds. The area also pays homage to its Native American heritage through institutions like the Museum of Native American History.

I spent a day in Bentonville to see how new transplants and long-time residents are living.

The Walmart Home Office is east of downtown.

The new 350-acre Walmart Home Office, what the company calls its campus, was quiet on a Friday, though some tourists were also walking around taking photos.

Many employees gather at Sam Walton Hall.

Sam Walton Hall is over 200,000 square feet and includes a large auditorium and conference spaces.

Walmart’s new campus has plenty of green spaces.

Much of the new Home Office is bikeable or walkable, including this section near the Walton Family fitness center and the welcome center. I was struck by how green the campus is, given that it uses native plants to promote sustainability.

The Home Office is still undergoing construction.

Many construction workers were busy getting storefronts ready for new businesses like an Arvest Bank and a Sweetgreen.

Bentonville’s downtown hosts the Walmart Museum.

About a mile west of the campus, Bentonville’s downtown, off the Square, hosts the Walmart Museum, a two-story exhibition space in Sam Walton’s first 5 & 10 store.

A hologram of Sam Walton is the centerpiece of the museum.

Visitors to the Walmart Museum can hear Sam Walton speak, at least in hologram form. Walton’s AI-powered hologram answers questions about the history of the business.

The city is home to the first bikeable building.

A few blocks from the Bentonville Square, Ledger is the first-ever bikeable building, meaning riders can navigate its six floors using an outside ramp. Ledger includes co-working, office, and retail space.

There are miles of trails north of downtown.

Compton Gardens & Arboretum, directly north of downtown, makes up the southern tip of miles of hiking and biking trails. These trails include sculptures by artists like Yayoi Kusama and James Turrell.

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art features work by Norman Rockwell and Georgia O’Keeffe.

Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, the museum includes paintings by Thomas Eakins, Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, and Winslow Homer. The museum, which is expanding and free to the public, also runs a contemporary art space called the Momentary, closer to downtown.

Bentonville has a Frank Lloyd Wright House.

In 1954, Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Bachman-Wilson House, which was originally built in New Jersey, acquired in 2014, and relocated to Arkansas. The house is a short walk from Crystal Bridges.

Bentonville is known as the “mountain-biking capital of the world.”

The Bentonville area boasts over 150 miles of mountain-bike trails, particularly in the city’s northwest. This particular trail is a 20-minute walk from Crystal Bridges.

The city includes many new science facilities.

Alice Walton opened her namesake private medical school in 2021 and the first five classes received free tuition. The school is a short distance from Crystal Bridges and the Amazeum, a science museum for kids. The city is also home to the NWA Space and Science Center and the Heartland Whole Health Institute.

Many homes are being built or renovated.

Many homes are being erected or undergoing major renovations. Bentonville’s population has grown from just over 20,000 residents in 2000 to almost 50,000 in 2017. It’s estimated that nearly 62,000 people lived in Bentonville in 2024. The average home price in Bentonville is nearly $500,000, according to Zillow.

The Bentonville Square has many types of cuisine.

In and around the Bentonville Square are upscale and casual restaurants serving up Mexican fusion, “High South” cuisine spotlighting catfish or venison, barbecue, Japanese, and bagels.

Some visitors trek to Sam Walton’s grave.

On the outskirts of Bentonville is the gravesite of Sam Walton and his wife, Helen. His tombstone is covered in small Walmart tokens.

Overall, I found Bentonville to be charming, modern, and unexpectedly vibrant.

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