Benton, Arkansas—not to be confused with Bentonville—is opening their first-ever mountain bike trail on May 24th. This new facility, simply known as “Benton Bike Park,” is a progressive bike park with a skills course, downhill trail, dual slalom, and multi-use perimeter trail.
Since the bike park is located in a fairly small city park, the trail system is short on mileage but big on features. The park is naturally separated into two distinct zones by a drainage channel. In the lower park you’ll find the downhill trail with a second alternate line splitting off halfway down. The lower park also provides a beginner jump trail and an intermediate jump trail. The multi-use cross country trail around the perimeter is one mile long.
However, there are plenty of fun features to play on in the park, according to Progressive Trail Design (PTD), the firm that designed and built the project. The upper park includes a dual slalom course; an advanced jump line “with fly-over the dual slalom, split wood drop, and two options at the bottom;” an “industrial/semi-architectural start hub;” and an intermediate jump line. The starting hub is visually impressive, as it is fabricated from four 40-foot shipping containers and one 20-foot container. Finally, there’s also a dedicated session zone near the base area with jump lines ranging from beginner to advanced.
New visitors to the park will have a hard time envisioning how run down this property used to be. This project is a fantastic story of renewal, “as the site [had] been heavily impacted from years of excavation where large volumes of material [have] been harvested, leaving a raw and eroding landscape,” according to PTD. “At some point the city began using the property for composting, natural debris removal, and materials storage. PTD inherited the site in the aforementioned condition and was tasked with the vision of making something truly special and unique for the community.”
PTD regraded the entire upper section of the park and has completely transformed this once-abandoned property into a beautiful new bike park that promises to be a fantastic amenity for the local community for years to come.
