The veil has been lifted on plans for the first lift-served bike park in Northwest Arkansas. On February 4, 2025, Oz Trails announced that a chairlift-served downhill mountain bike park is planned for a location between Bentonville and Bella Vista.
“The OZ Trails Bike Park [will feature] more than 20 miles of gravity trails that showcase innovative trail design,” said Oz Trails in their press release. “The park will offer unprecedented daily access to riders across the region.”
Earlier this year, we reported that the Waltons acquired 2,700 acres of land in Bella Vista, and now we’re getting a sense of their group’s ambitions. The planned 20 miles of trails will connect seamlessly to the existing Oz Trails network, specifically the Little Sugar Trail System and the Razorback Greenway.
“What sets the Bike Park apart is its integration into the ever-expanding OZ Trails network,” said Tom Walton, Runway Group CEO. “As Northwest Arkansas’s first purpose-built gravity cycling facility, the park’s location strengthens the natural connection between Bella Vista and Bentonville, positioning both communities as premier global cycling destinations. Its focus on progression ensures everyone from beginners to experts will find their place here.”
Additional development at the Oz Trails Bike Park
The bike park will be served by a state-of-the-art Poma-Leitner high-speed chairlift. In addition to the lift and trail infrastructure, development will include:
- OZ Trails HQ with full-service dining facilities
- Comprehensive bike shop and rental center
- Community plaza and gathering spaces
- Purpose-built pump track
- Dedicated hiking trail
- Art installations throughout the property
How much vert will the bike park offer?
The Trails at Mena project is already working to bring lift-served mountain biking to Arkansas — but in a location with substantial vertical relief. The Mena plans call for downhill runs with up to 1,300ft of vertical drop.
But there aren’t any mountains of that stature in or around Bentonville.
I analyzed topographic maps for the approximate area where Oz Trails said the new bike park would be located, and the tallest hills I could find offer just 200 feet of vertical relief.
Is the Runway group truly going to build a chairlift for a mere 200 vertical feet of elevation? This is one of the questions that we’ll ask Oz Trails once we’re able to connect with them for an interview.
Construction timeline
The project team includes Hufft for architecture, Gravity Logic and Rock Solid for trail design and construction, and Crafton Tull for engineering. Construction is set to begin this spring.
Stay tuned as we cover this developing story.
1 Comments
2 hours ago
Will be interesting to see how much elevation they have to play with on site. In an interview with Sean Leader at Southern Gravity, he said as long as you have 200ft of elevation, it makes sense to run shuttle vehicles. Or rather, most people will opt for an assist over pedaling.