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Haven't heard anything- but maybe that will make Arkansas the "Mecca" for real like the Bentonville Mayor claims.
One of Gravity Logic's boss men went to Arkansas this past summer to bid on some new constructions.
I'd say very plausible.
About all i have seen of it so far.
Draft NEPA decision can be found here.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63649&exp=overview
Based on the NEPA and planning process so far I would say early 2026 would be as fast as it could be for starting construction and maybe early 2029 for lift service.
That shit is hilarious. It's like the Mayor has never been to California, Utah, Colorado, or any of the other amazing states with massive peaks in all directions. I live in the middle of nowhere in California and we have multiple 5,000ft descents at our doorstep. It ain't even close, Arkansas.
Arkansas is getting 2 bike parks with lifts! One in Mena with multiple lifts and one Bentonville / Bella Vista with one lift.
The big Q: How many of em are gonna be paved?
Turkey Mt needs a lift!
That would be sweet because those are my home trails!
Props to Arkansas actually building legit features and jumps though. CA could improve quite a bit in that regard IMO.
Big Bear, Mammoth, North Star, etc would like to have a word with you.
I won't take anything away from their dedication to MTB, but everything I've seen man made in Arkansa is sterilized.
Those are privately owned resorts, I'm talking about public trails. I've seen better features and jumps on public trails in Arkansas, than the million miles of sterilized blue trails that make up the 'sanctioned' trails in CA. at least they have dedicated, bike specific trails that are public property. CA is too chicken s%$t to do that, even though bikes are 80%+ of the users in certain areas.
But it seems like the Bentonville "model" is not something that can be duplicated anywhere. For years its been heralded as some great example for other communities to take inspiration from, but it's a ridiculous notion. I've seen it firsthand at People for Bikes industry events and the like where people from Oz Trails, Visit Bentonville, or even the mayor are guest speakers, enlightening everyone about all the trails they've built, all the events, yadda yadda yadda. Honestly, good for them, I'm glad they've built all those trails and I enjoy the riding there. But NONE of that would have happened without BILLIONAIRES making it their special project and Walmart recognizing that in the digital age, in order to attract top talent to NWA they needed to make it "cool" with outdoor sports, culture, etc.
So when it comes to trails, basically, they can do whatever they want. I highly doubt they have to cut through nearly as much red tape (environmental, legal, etc.) as anywhere else. They can build bike park style trails straight from downtown, road gaps, and big jump trails, when people get wrecked they just throw some more money on the table.
Plenty of towns in America looking to attract employers, employees, and tourists and plenty of rich people looking to do some charity to improve their standing in peoples minds. Sure bentonville probably is not repeatable on that scale but plenty of places can certainly look at it as a model where investing in the outdoors is paying off for the community.
People complain as is about government spending, look at the shit show going on right now. Too many people hate money being used to assist those in actual need, if public money was spent on bike trials there would be a revolt!
You sound like you need a break from CA.
Yep. Doing it exactly like Bentonville would be pretty tough, but there are certainly lots of municipalities looking to the model as inspiration. The Trail EAffect podcast is a pretty awesome listen to get some glimpses into volunteers, professionals, builders, and advocates doing the work around trails.
Sure, plenty of towns, cities, regions, and even neighborhoods/developments have recognized that trails could be a draw, but it's the scale of what's been going on in Bentonville and NWA generally that's clearly an outlier. It's really unprecedented. A benefit of that scale, and the amount of influence Walmart and Walmart-adjacent groups have in everything, is what makes it possible, I presume, to have trails and features you elsewhere only find at bike parks. I remember riding there the first time and being surprised at some of the size of stuff, like drops and wood features, that's just out there in the open, available to the public, no waivers, etc. Very unlike the "blue flow trail" mediocrity that seems to be about as progressive as it gets anywhere else. It just seems like liability is quite a ways down the concerns list, whereas everywhere else it's #1.
Not bagging on it, it's precisely why I think it's fun to ride there. If the spice wasn't dialed up quite bit with those trails and features, it'd otherwise be pretty meh.
https://adpht.arkansas.gov/office-of-outdoor-recreation/economic-opportunity-zones/concessionaire-opportunities/
If anyone wants to run the future bike park they should start drafting their proposals 😅
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