Trail One List: Coler Mountain Bike Park

 

The Trail One List is our guide to the best mountain bike trails in the world. We know your riding time is precious and travel is expensive. We want you to finish these rides with a giant smile on your face and a heart full of stoke, knowing the juice was worth the squeeze.

The Trail One list is focused on finding the MOST FUN mountain bike trails in the world, and I don’t think there’s another place on Earth that packs more fun riding into every mile than Coler Mountain Bike Preserve in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Bentonville gets a lot of skepticism from folks who think great mountain bike trails need mountains. Great mountain bike trails can be built just about anywhere, you just need great, creative trail builders. Northwest Arkansas has plenty of those!

If you start your ride on the south side your first trail has to be Thunder Dome. You and a friend can race down this super speedway dual slalom over and over. After about 5 runs on Thunder Dome you’ll want to get a downhill run on Family Flow, one of the best green-rated trails ever.

There’s a few other trails worth trying out in this zone, Here’s Johnny! is manically tough and techy adventure. But after checking out Thunder Dome and Family Flow most folks zoom up the paved Applegate Trail to The Homestead where you’ll find the awesome walk-in only Airship Coffee shop.

After a little refreshment keep heading north to The Hub, which has another handful of just fantastic singletrack. Fire Line is a local favorite, with tons of fun jumps. Cease And Desist gets into the BIG jump territory where you can take on the mythical Drop the Hammer.

It’s easy to get lap after lap because of the paved climbing trail called Pedal Assist.

Rock Salad, Rock Soft and Rock Solid are all INTENSE treats worth trying once. Then you pick your favorite and run it back three or four times.

Heading back to the car on Copperhead Road is a fun challenge, but you can always just take the paved trail and soak in the beautiful views as you decompress.

The Trails

Logistics

Bike lanes make it easy to ride into Coler from Downtown Bentonville.

Restrooms, water fill up, bike repair stations and seating are available throughout the park.

It’s really priceless to have an accommodation that is close to the Bentonville town square. This AirBnB is very centrally located and makes it easy to bike everywhere.

Camping is available near the north end of the park. The Coler Campground has hot showers, water bottle refill, a community fire pit, camper van spots, large tent sites and small tent sites.

Friends of Arkansas Single Track (FAST) and Ozark Off-Road Cyclists do trail work and support the trails at Coler.

Some food favorites in Bentonville:

• The Spark Cafe for a post-ride ice cream
• Spud Doctors for a fully stuffed and delicious baked potato
• The Meteor Cafe for great coffee and a dang good burger
• 8th Street Market for lots of different food options

Nearby Rides

The Bentonville area has SO MANY rides to choose from, and if you’re willing to drive a couple hours you can basically stay here for a month and do a different ride every single day. Here are some great rides closer to the Bentonville Town Square.

Slaughter Pen

The endlessly expanding Mountain Bike Disneyland is arguably just as fun as Coler. Most Bentonville vacations are spent in this zone. Keep exploring or you will miss some of the best hidden gems, like the Castle Trails to the northeast.

Mount Fitzgerald

Well worth the drive down to Springdale, this zone has the “Best Trail Ever” and some REALLY fun, short flow trails to the south. The route below is a good way to ride this area.