$100K Grant to Fund 1,100-Mile Arkansas MTB Route

The money will help create Arkansas’ new High Country Mountain Bike Route, paving the way for one of the country’s most epic trails.

Mountain bike advocates in Arkansas are celebrating a recent gift from the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) that will greatly expand the state’s MTB access.

Last week, the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) announced the $100,000 grant from the WFF to the Arkansas Parks and Recreation Foundation. The grant will help create the 1,100-mile High Country Mountain Bike Route in northwest Arkansas.

In addition, the money will underwrite the ACA’s cartography work developing updated maps and digital navigation products.

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Arkansas High Country Mountain Bike Route

Expected to take two years, the ACA will develop the High Country Route with existing natural surface routes.

“This cycling route through the Ozark and Ouachita mountains will feature many of the unique and beautiful vistas, valleys, and quaint towns in northern and western Arkansas,” said Kane Webb, executive director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

When completed, the trail will connect Little Rock, Conway, Russellville, Fayetteville, and Bentonville. Along the way it will pass through three national parks, eight state parks, 15 Forest Service campgrounds, and nine Corps of Engineers parks. Officials say fishing opportunities on the route will be abundant.

Additionally, the new route will include portions of four of the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Epic trails: the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail, the Womble, the Buffalo Headwaters Trail, and the Syllamo Trail.