People of Northwest Arkansas
The People of Northwest Arkansas is an award winning podcast celebrating the power of storytelling by providing a platform for individuals living in Northwest Arkansas to share their unique and inspiring life experiences. We believe that every person has a story worth telling, and through our podcast, we aim to amplify these voices through thoughtful interviews and engaging storytelling.
Subscribe to our newsletter for giveaways and updates on our next episodes using the link below:
https://form.jotform.com/243515630886159
People of Northwest Arkansas
Inside Oz Trails Bike Park with Gary Vernon
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We sit down with Gary Vernon to explore how Oz Trails Bike Park in Bella Vista was intentionally designed for riders of every skill level, along with families and even hiking enthusiasts. We also dive into how Northwest Arkansas evolved into a global mountain biking destination and what it takes to keep trails safe, welcoming, and connected.
@garyk.vernon
@oztrailsbikepark
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2241892/support
Mountain Biking Curiosity In Bentonville
SPEAKER_02Danielle, have you been out on the trails here in Bentonville recently?
SPEAKER_01Recently? Yes. Recently. I mean, my kids go probably a little bit more than I do. Oh, they do. Tell me about your trail experience.
SPEAKER_02So I have not been out on a bike this season.
SPEAKER_01Are you out there what is it like ripping it on the mountain biking trails? Is that a thing? No. I know they say ripping it for like surfing, but is that I feel like the terms are similar.
SPEAKER_02Have a goal to I don't know if I can rip it just yet, but I have a goal that this year is the term for me that I'm going to get into mountain biking because I have so many friends that are into it. Yes. And have invited me to come and Allison with Women of Oz. Yes. Jesse that we've had on has invited many times. So I'm I'm taking them up on it this year. Our guest today can tell us more about all the trails here locally. We have Gary Vernon here, who's the general manager of the Oz Trails Bike Park. And he's also done a lot of work with the Runway Group and the Walton Family Foundation with trails in the area as well. So welcome, Gary.
SPEAKER_04Well, thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Excited to have you. Yes, very excited. And we actually have some more details on the member-only sneak preview
Oz Trails Bike Park Sneak Preview
SPEAKER_02this weekend.
SPEAKER_04We have been working really for the last 18 months to build this park from really nothing. And we're our plan was to open it up June 12th as our grand opening. But we have a membership model where we have members. You know, we're gonna have normal day pass holders, but we have a membership model that we have several members that have signed up early. So we're gonna let them see the park nearly a month early starting this weekend.
SPEAKER_02That's so that's so exciting. That sounds like we should become members. I know. And but would I know how often I'd use it? But I think I would, especially if I got a membership. Yeah, but I it does sound kind of daunting to go on that bike lift, but Gary assured me that young children can do it as well, right?
SPEAKER_04That's right. If you can sit down on your own on the on the bench, then you can ride the lift. My 86-year-old mother, I took her on a ride on the lift, and she loved it. And it's you know, it's just not just not just for cyclists. It's it's fun just to ride the lift up and you can get off and hike down, but it's really fun coming down the lift.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. When you said that, it gave me some hope because I love to hike.
SPEAKER_04So well, we've got a statue of a bear, a 14-foot-tall bronze bear on the top of the lift. That's definitely worth seeing.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's cool. And you have a restaurant, which is gonna be, and then you said eventually a cafe as well at the top.
SPEAKER_04Yep, we've got a restaurant at the base. It's uh actually it's gonna be, I think, the best restaurant in Bella Vista, if not in northwest Arkansas, but definitely in Bella Vista. But uh its competition is is oven and tap and towney because that's the owner. Okay. Luke Wetzel is gonna be managing our our restaurant. And he's got a we just we've been doing taste tests over the last three weeks. That's fun. It's been really fun, and he's got a bunch of great, you know, he's got a wonderful hamburger, of course. His pizzas are fantastic, and he's kind of changing up his pizza selection a little bit, so it's not gonna be just eating the same you would eat at oven and tap. Okay. And he's got a little different burger, he's got breakfast tacos with homemade tortillas that are so good.
SPEAKER_02My Texan heart is just like growing right now because I love a breakfast taco.
SPEAKER_01You always find a way to mention Texas.
SPEAKER_02I do oh, and I always will.
SPEAKER_04You always will. I was glad to get you away from Texas and get you up here in Bentonville.
SPEAKER_02Exactly, exactly. Well, if they're burgers, I know you said it'll be a little different, but the towney burger, I just had one for the first time the other day, was so good. It was really, really good.
SPEAKER_04Well, and he has super fine ice cream. Oh, yeah, that's right. And we were sampling some shakes, he's gonna have all kinds of shakes, but one that I really like is it's called Hero Dirt, and it's one of the best vanilla shakes I've ever tasted, but it has ground up like Oreo cookie crumbs on top, and that's the
Lift Access And Family Amenities
SPEAKER_04dirt. And it's you know, it's like a really, really good sonic blast.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I love Sonic Blast. This is how I'm gonna get my kids to do this. I'll tell them that there's there's milkshakes.
SPEAKER_01I think your kids are gonna love it anyway. I feel like it will be a destination for a lot of families, and that you can bring kids on the lift, you can take the lift yourself, whether you're into cycling or into mountain biking, then you can do this. Because you were telling me at one point that some of the trails are specific for a younger audience, right? Is that correct?
SPEAKER_04Well, we have we we what we've learned over the past 20 years building trails in and around Bentonville is you want to build for beginners and have progression all the way to that expert level in pro, but really focus on beginners because a lot of places that are trail destinations, if you go there, you've got to be a a a skilled rider to really ride any of the trails. And so what Tom Walton did, his his vision many years ago was to develop mountain bike trails for everybody. And that's where it's starts with the Bentonville Square. It fought the All-American Trail follows the paved, you know, greenway, and it allows people to try going off the pavement for the first time, and you can sample some dirt and then get back on the paved trail. And then as you get better and better, you can you can go from a beginner trail to an intermediate trail and to that expert trail and above. And we've done the same thing at the bike park. We've built actually, we've built the the best beginner trail in Arkansas, which is saying a lot, which means it's it's going to be one of the best beginner trails in the history of trails. And I mean, just this weekend, my wife, who has a little specialized e-bike, a little greenway bike, it's not even it's not even a knobby-tired mountain bike. She rode downhill on her greenway bike on this beginner trail and had a blast, and it's really beautiful. There's bluffs, and when it rains, there's waterfalls flowing on this trail. It's it's really, really amazing.
SPEAKER_02But we okay, I'm sold. Yeah, me too. Let's go.
SPEAKER_01Waterfall. I think we should go this weekend. Maybe. This is giving me hope as a beginner.
SPEAKER_02I want to see it's it seems way less intimidating now. Because I'm glad we were having you on to talk about it. Because when you see it in the headlines, in the news, I'm thinking, okay, this place has got to be for the people that this is their life. But now I feel like I can take my kids and go and still have a great time.
SPEAKER_04If you drive by it, you see the bigger jumps, you know, for the pros. And when you're riding the lift, by design, we put the big jumps under the lift, around the lift, where you can have a live action show as you're riding the lift up. But all the beginner trails and all the easier trails are kind of hidden away on the south side of the park. And and so when when people have seen the video, we we've really overdone the the shredders, you know, not rippers, but shredders.
SPEAKER_01Not rippers, but I figured it has to be different. Similar, we're just making words up, it's fine.
SPEAKER_04Maybe that's a new term we can well.
SPEAKER_01She's okay. Maybe not everyone like rips it, right? No, I mean, I don't even know if that's true. That's not even a real word, I think. I think I just made that up. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But but everybody has seen the high flyers and the you know, the young guys doing backflips and all that. So we're we're gonna put out some more video. We had we shot it last week of families riding the trail and and older and younger, you know, people riding the trail and and having a great time.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. That sounds really great. Okay, so we gotta take it back. We gotta back it up. One of the biggest things how we like to start our podcast usually is we like to ask people how they ended up in northwest Arkansas. So, did you grow up here? What is your kind of origin story of getting to Northwest Arkansas?
SPEAKER_04I am a Missouri boy. I grew up in in Joplin, Missouri, and was obsessed with motorcycles and bicycles my whole life and and actually came down here and raced BMX bikes many, many, many years ago in the early 80s in
Gary’s Path From Walmart To Trails
SPEAKER_04Springdale. They had a BMX was just you had a small little bike and they they put a you know a couple of dirt hills together in a starting gate, and we would race each other. Well, that happened in Springdale. You know, from really they were doing that as early as the late 70s, all the way till 82 or 83. So Springdale was ahead of the biking competition before anybody else. But went to work at Walmart because I was saving up for a new dirt bike in high school, and and that led me to Bentonville with a 30-year career at Walmart. So I I had a really good job at the home office. I was in the environmental division. We were doing all kinds of really neat, you know, environmental sustainability projects. And but all along I'd I lived in Bella Vista and I was making some trails over there, you know, with some buddies. We were, you know, mountain bikers make trail, you know, if you don't have a place to ride. Because I was living in Springfield before I moved here, and there was trails, and I moved here to Bella Vista, it was really prime for trails that just wasn't any, so we built some. And Clem Morgan was the park director of Bella Vista back at the time, and he found out about us, you know, building trails, and he said, keep doing it but quietly, you know. So we kept doing it and went, went double time. But I also heard there was a rumor about trails being built in Bentonville. The city was going to build them, and I didn't, you know, didn't believe it. But uh what I did know was there was a 23-year-old kid named Tom Walton that had moved back to Bentonville from college, and he had gone to the city council and got approval to build a five-mile trail system. So my son and I were driving in the town and you know, some December 2006, Saturday, and I looked up and I saw a trail going in through the hillside. So I pulled in and grabbed Grayson under my arm and we hiked over there and ran into Tom Walton and his aunt Alice hiking the trail, and he was showing her around. And so I became a volunteer, you know, helping the trails and led to a I was the president of the local friends at Slaughter Pen Trail Club, and then and then a few years later, you know, it turned into a job. So I left my great job at Walmart to lead the work for Tom and Stewart starting in 2015. I came over and and have been l leading the trail development cycling advocacy events and anything to do with bikes, you know, for their foundation. And then so all of this, you know, we we started building these trails with Tom's vision, and you know, I had a knack for being able to ride pretty well and had a little bit of an imagination. So and then Stuart would come in and have his feedback, and and we started bringing in the the best trail builders in the world really to help us imagine you know, trail builder what you know, trail builders are artists, and they all have an idea of what they love to build. So Bentonville was a place that they could really build what they've always thought about building, and that's why you have a castle that you can ride, and you have the masterpiece, you know, which is a a a wonderful trail system on the north side of Crystal Bridges Museum that is made of stone, metal, and you know, wood that you could it's it's a work of art you can ride, and there's all kinds of what Tom calls memorable moments on the trail, and there's art on the trail. So all of that we've learned how to do and you know been able to I've been able to recruit some of the best trail builders to help us think about it. So we decided to do this in Bella Vista and make a bike park with a lift and take everything we've learned over the past 20 years and really compress it into a 200-acre masterpiece of a bike park. And you know, really it's just the the funnest part of riding a mountain bike, especially, you know, I learned with my children, my daughter Abby, who's a school teacher in Springdale now, and Grayson, who's 20, and he's working at the bike park in the bike shop. But I've you I've kind of studied their you know what they like to do. And Grayson just loved going downhill and jumping, even as a six-year-old. So what this bike park with a lift allows you to do is just have all the fun parts of using gravity, and it is really fun, but also it really teaches you skills. If you're riding a lift and rolling down and doing different trails, anywhere from you know raw technical trails to to smooth trails with just bank corners to high flying jumps and even the beginner trail. As you go and repeat and go and repeat, you know, the you'll you'll actually enhance your skill level to a new level. So you will see children that have grown up with a park become champions across the world. I mean, that I mean and I learned this from I went to Whistler, British Columbia with with Grayson when he was twelve, and he was already a pretty good rider from just being here, but we were going down Whistler's downhill trails, and in two days he doubled his skill level. So it is real. So we're gonna see it happen here.
SPEAKER_01That's so awesome.
SPEAKER_02I know I'm getting excited.
SPEAKER_01I don't want to say anything. Keep going.
SPEAKER_02Oh no, I'm I'm like all ears here because the I mean it sounds like a great place to just bond with your family too.
SPEAKER_01And to well, and it's kind of cool because it's one of a kind. It's the only thing that exists that's specific for mountain biking. It's not it's not a ski lift turned into mountain bike lift in the dry season. So talk a little bit about that. Like why is it unique? Why here? Why Betonville right now?
SPEAKER_04You know, the the when when Tom had this idea, we we we talked about what's what's the next thing. We we've built all these wonderful trails, what's next? And Tom would always challenge me to come up with a strategy, you know, for what's what's 10 years from now and five years from now. And you know, it was always on the list to put a lift access bike park in in Arkansas, but he wanted it closer to Bentonville.
Why A Purpose Built Lift Park
SPEAKER_04So when he said Bella Vista, that was a tough, tough task to make something really special. But so we went out and hired Gravity Logic, they're the uh build team that designed and built Whistler Bike Park. Wow. So we had them come here, they're the best in the world. They traveled around the world and build bike parks at ski resorts, and so they came here and I Dave Kelly is the mastermind trail designer for Gravity Logic. He's he's the one that grew up at Whistler and actually came up with the idea to build the Whistler Bike Park. And I said, Tell us if we're crazy. And he said, I think we can do something here. But he came back, that was in the summer. When he came back in the winter and saw how magical this piece of property is, it's got rock bluffs and the waterfalls and a blowing spring cave, just like blowing springs park. It has one of those, and the ravines are so unique. He said, Oh, we can do something really special here. So we had them go ahead and design it. But what is unique about this small of a park having a lift is the is beginner, the beginner ability. Because if you go to to Colorado and you put a beginner on a lift and take them to the top and have them ride down the trail, that is frightening. It's rough, it's long, you're worn out by the time you're done, and you're done.
SPEAKER_02Now you're done. You're done.
SPEAKER_04This little hill you can repeat, it's fun. The whole family can spread out if you know if if and we have some fantastic young female riders here that outride their dad and their mom. So, you know, if if little Emma goes down the you know the downhill, well, dad can take his beginner trail or easier trail and meet her at the bottom, and it's only of just a matter of you know, five, ten, fifteen minutes. And you and grandma can sit on the plaza and and have her little margarita and just and just watch the laps, you know.
SPEAKER_01Or mom.
SPEAKER_04Her mom's mom with her margarita. We have a we have a elevated patio that has a bar, and you can sit there and watch all the live action as the kids come to get back on the lift line. You can just sit there and watch them.
SPEAKER_02That is really smart to design it that way, you know, so that you can see all the advanced things going on. I agree. And I do have a question about you said you can rent the bikes on site. Do you have to schedule that in advance or can you truly just show up?
SPEAKER_04You can roll in. I mean, if you flew in to Bentonville at XNA, you could drive over to the bike park where you have the helmet, the gear, the bike.
SPEAKER_02You can just show up and go.
SPEAKER_04You can just show up and go.
SPEAKER_02Okay. That's awesome. But being a member is nice because you get all the discounts on the colour. You get discounts on everything, you know.
SPEAKER_04Except alcohol. We can't discount alcohol.
SPEAKER_02Sure, that yeah.
SPEAKER_04Sorry about that, but everything else.
SPEAKER_01No one can discount alcohol.
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_04We're not allowed to, otherwise we would.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So what do you think separates like this type of trail system from other, you know, other ones that have been? And I know you said he's designed the whistler and he came up with that. What sets this one apart? What's the thing?
SPEAKER_04Well, the other magical part of this park is we hired Ethan Edman and Josh Hardy. Ethan is our director of trail development for the bike park, and he is he and his team are on staff every day making sure that it's perfectly manicured. It's they're building new trail, they'll always build new trail, just like Disneyland. You know, you you come back next year and there's a different ride. Okay. We'll have new trails, we'll have improved trails. And I mean, first of all, it's the trails are are beautiful and and well cared for. And that's that's not you that's unique. You know, a lot of times it's just they're just gonna take care of them as keep them clear of debris. Well, we're gonna make sure they're manicured and and enhanced.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome.
SPEAKER_04But also it's everything we've learned again over that past 20 years. We know how to build trail. And to combine that with the Gravity Logic team that knows how to build downhill trail, they're they're fun. They're they're you can see some high flying you know adventures out there. Like there's a there is a jump line that is right beside the lift as you're coming up the hill, there'll be riders taking off from the top of the hill, and they will jump beside you and they will be higher than you are in the chair lift.
SPEAKER_02Oh wow.
SPEAKER_04So you can almost feel like you can reach out and touch them. So But don't. Yeah, but don't. But but even if you aren't a cyclist, it is so fun to watch that. I mean, and here in the in the in the age of technology and AI, you can't even trust what you see on Instagram or or YouTube. You can't tell if it's real or not. Well, out here you'll see live action and it's real and it's amazing. So it it there's really gonna be a premium of getting your family outdoors because we can all sit in the couch together, we think, but we're all on our phones.
SPEAKER_02That's true.
SPEAKER_04Where are you gonna get outside at this park? You're gonna hike, you're gonna bike together, you're gonna hang out at the plaza, uh, you know, have a great meal, and just really spend time with your family in a quality way.
SPEAKER_02That's what I like about the trails here. I've always liked that that it's not just the nature and the quality of the trails and things that you'll see. I like that the good food is also a part of it. And especially, you know, we like to go out, we like to go out to Kohler. I love going down to the trails around Crystal Bridges as well, but there's always like a nice part where you can look forward to something at the end of your walk or to start at the beginning. That always makes it fun. And I I feel like it's definitely a community builder because I always think about what makes this area so unique and special is even though it's growing, it still feels like everyone stays really connected as a community and people are nice here for the you know, for the most part. And so I think that that mountain biking community is kind of like it's just a big piece of that, you know, what makes this area unique on top of the art. And of course, you know, Walmart, Tyson, all the big JBL hunt. But is that it seems like you found community in biking and have continued that on.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. And and we hear it from people traveling in from around the world to ride. They're like, people are so nice here and they're so inviting. And we had uh, you know, we had the tornado a couple years ago and the community came out. We had 500 people show up at an event, a trail cleanup event. Wow. And many times we had hundreds and hundreds of people showing up. So we had a big celebration at Kohler and you know, fed everybody and had a good time, and and I and I had everybody kind of raise their hand. I said, raise your hand if you have been here less than five years, and probably half or more of the crowd raised their hand, and and a lot of them were here less than three. And I said, you know, the thing about the mountain bike community in Bentonville, you become a local pretty quick. And because you find your your tribe, you know, and your people. You know, when you talked about Crystal Bridges, you know, like the North Forest Lights is such a popular I love that, yeah. So think about the bike park. So we've already we've already mocked up some Christmas lights. So what about Thanksgiving to Christmas where you show up at the plaza, there's a giant Christmas tree, the plaza
Year Round Events And Light Shows
SPEAKER_04is all lit up, and then you ride a the lift up to the top and and immersed in a Christmas light experience, and then you go to the top and you've got trees and and Santa Claus maybe up there or whatever. So that's gonna be our Christmas. And then we're gonna have the best. You know, if you look or what what do you what do you do as a family on on New Year's Eve? You know, what is really to do? We're gonna have the the best family-friendly New Year's Eve party ever.
SPEAKER_02And then I love the events you have planned already.
SPEAKER_04And and of course, we're gonna have the big Fourth of July celebration. You know, it's the 250th anniversary of America. So we're gonna have a great time at the park over the that holiday weekend. So we we've got we're gonna program this park, and if you're a member, you know, of course, you're gonna be invited to all this, and we're just gonna make it a place that people can come have fun with each other and their families and and just really enjoy being outside.
SPEAKER_01That sounds great. All right, because I am a fan of taking it back. I have a couple of questions for you. Those original trails that you and friends built in Bella Vista, are they still there?
SPEAKER_04They are a lot of them are. The back 40 that is actually the back I lived I lived over by the Matt Phil golf course, and I would just take off and ride, you know, there's a ravine. And creek beds and old service roads for the power lines. I used to ride those and then I would connect, you know, get out there and quietly connect them together, and it turned into a little lap. And and then kind of showed some of my buddies as we started riding together and and they'd come and help. And and Dale Bailey is one of them, and Chuck Woods and Greg Poole. We just started building you know, finding ways to make a loop out there. And then when the Friends of Arkansas single track, which it was now the club, it used to be the Friends at Slaughterpin Trail Fast. When we had our Fast organization, we decided to make it a fundraiser, a membership drive to come out and try to ride this what we call the Epic Trail. It was our horrible handmade trails out in Bella Vista. And so we got we made them even better and better and and would actually when you build a trail, you have to make the trail surface level
Back 40 Origins And Early Trails
SPEAKER_04on a hillside. Yeah. It's called benching in the trail. And it's it's a lot of work. So we were using a garden tiller to do that, you know, which is not normal. But anyway, we it was really tough. And but some of those original trails were incorporated into the back 40. That's so awesome. When you leave Blowen Springs and head north, that is our old epic trail system.
SPEAKER_02All right. I have a question that's kind of a technical question. If let's say you're like taking your family out on a trail and and what would you say your essentials are, like first aid kit or tire, patch, pump? Like what do you bring with you just for like bare essentials on the trails in case you have a wreck or you're such a mom. I bet you bring nothing. No, he's like, I got my helmet on.
SPEAKER_04I know dads tend to just go and not bring anything, but it depends on you know, if you're going out for a long ride in in the middle of Bella Vista, then yeah, you need first of all, you need I I always wear knee pads. I wear a helmet and gloves, and but you need to have a way to air up a tire if you get a flat. We do have sharp rocks out there, and nutrition, you know, if you if you get hungry, a little you know, bottle of honey would even work for that. But now I'm pitching the bike park here, but if you're at the bike park, we have a full bike shop, we have a restaurant, we have what you know, water stations at the bottom, all over. You don't need anything except your helmet and your pads. Okay. So if you have a flat tire, you're gonna be down at the base in a minute anyway. So you just roll into the bike shop and they'll fix it for you, and you go out. So
Trail Essentials And Onsite Medical
SPEAKER_04that's what's great about having this kind of you know self-sustained little ecosystem at the bike park. You don't need to bring everything.
SPEAKER_02Okay. That's good to know. That's right. I'm a planner, so I'm always like, we need the bug spray, we need band-aids. And then my husband's like, Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm riding with her because she brought all of those. Yeah. And I didn't.
SPEAKER_04Well, and I'm glad you said I'm glad you said band-aids because we we have a bike patrol. We have Oh, I love it. That's one another really unique thing about this bike park is most bike parks with a lift will have a group of patrollers that are there to help you if you fall over and skin your knee and they'll help you out. But we hired uh 28-year Bella Vista fire department captain Joel Femster to lead our bike patrol. And so what Joel has done is not just hire some riders and train them on how to do first aid, he is bringing in paramedics on their days off. So, you know, most of the paramedics will work three days on, four days off, and they all there's lots of them want to work at the bike park as a part-time job. So we have a a rotating group of paramedics that will come in. So if you skin your knee at the bike park, you'll have some really good care at the bike park. So we're we're ready for you.
SPEAKER_02Okay, that makes me feel even better because she knows I'm like the I've gone over every scenario as a parent. My kids are younger and so they're more accident prone. So you never know. One's better at riding her bike than the other. And actually, we were talking about this and not on the podcast yet, but how training wheels are not the best way to learn because my eight-year-old has been very resistant to learning to ride a bike. And my uh 12-year-old daughter has a very nice, expensive mountain bike. She loves to ride her bike, and so kind of my youngest one is the last one to get on board and we're like, come on, you're the like, we need you to do this for the family so we can all go out. Because she likes to ride her scooter, and she's been very resistant. How old is she? She's eight.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, she's she's definitely we could get her riding in two days.
SPEAKER_02That's kind of what I I'm like, this and she told me the other day in the car, she goes, This is my summer to ride a bike. And I was like, All right, the training wheels are not we gotta ditch that bike. Ditch those training wheels.
SPEAKER_04She has training wheels, she's gotta get rid of them. And what you can do, you can can she if can you lower the seat to where she can touch the ground? I'd lower the seat, take the pedals off, and just let her walk around with it and learn how to balance. Yeah, that's like a strider. Yeah, and then and and then give her what I did to my daughter when she was young, this is before Striders, for I had one with my daughter, she's 24. You know, strider was a meter around about 22 years. So took her pedals off, lowered her seat, and just had her. I put some chalk marks on the driveway and said, See if you can pick your feet up and coast to this other chalk mark. Ah. And then, you know, got her to do this.
SPEAKER_02That is smart. I have all those things at my house. I could do this today. You could do it today. I know you should do it today. No, I should, yeah. Because I want to bring her there and I want her to be able to ride with the family, you know. Because the scooter, she there's only it's not an electric scooter, so it's only so fast she can go.
SPEAKER_04Well, once she learns, she'll she'll probably be your best rider.
SPEAKER_02I probably, yeah.
SPEAKER_01No one I think she yeah, I I definitely think Juliet's gonna be more of a mountain biker.
SPEAKER_02She's extremely competitive, she's in competitive soccer, so she's yeah for sure. I could see her doing that. Yeah. So you've you've worked on over 600 miles of trails. Is that still an accurate number or more now?
SPEAKER_04Wow, you know, and Tom, when we really started moving, you know, when I started in 2015, I could really focus because before it was just the foundation was, you know, hiring a builder and and it was just kind of a slower pace. So when when I started in 2015, you know, I got to go out there and just send Tom and Stewart ideas and hey, we could put a trail here. This is what it costs, here's the bid prices, and we started building at a crazy pace. And we hosted the International Mountain Bike Association's World Summit, big conference in Bentonville in November of 16. So we broke ground on the back 40, which is uh a 40-mile trail system in on the east side of Bella Vista, and hired we really learned how to hire multiple groups and have them compete with each other to build. So we built 40 miles of trail in 10 months. That's a record that probably will never be broken. And we were at some times we were building in the state of Arkansas, we were building two to three miles of new trail per week. Oh wow. And so if you were a visitor and you came to Arkansas to ride mountain bikes, you could come back the next year and have a hundred new miles to 120
Trail Expansion And Centerton Connections
SPEAKER_04new miles of new trail to ride every year.
SPEAKER_02That's probably why there's so much tourism, like such a boost. So many people are coming.
SPEAKER_04So much. We went from very little trail, and there was some good trail out in the National Forest and other places, but we went and you know, this northwest Arkansas region just came a destination pretty quickly. And the word got out and the media started coming here, and really by 2018, 2016 with the World Summit was really kind of our first big, you know, worldwide splash. But by 2018, you know, we were somebody, and then during COVID, everybody moved here.
SPEAKER_02I have a question, and maybe you don't know if this will ever happen, or maybe it's in the idea you know, maybe it's in the idea phase. I live in Centerton and it is a short drive if I put my bike rack on to go park at Kohler and start, you know, on the trail system. Do you think Cinnerton will ever be connected in with the I'm so jealous of people in Bittonville because they just hop on their bikes anywhere and just take their family, they can go out. We're a little more remote because I'm, you know, up, you know, between like closer closer to the bypass. And so my kids go to Bentonville schools, but we're still kind of out there secluded. So do you think we'll ever be connected in?
SPEAKER_04There's a map, you know, a secret map of all the future trails. Secret map. And it it has all that connected. But you know, there's property owners, so you can't just force a property owner to give you an easement or you know, even buy the property. So if you don't have a connection, it's because you have a neighbor that's not wanting a trail. So you gotta do the work.
SPEAKER_02I need to do the work. You gotta do the work. Okay, tell me how to okay. I we'll talk we'll talk afterwards.
SPEAKER_04Get a neighborhood group together and and and talk about hey, how can we connect our trail and and connect to with the trailblazer, which is a nonprofit that Tom and Stuart support that actually help make those connections. Really? So if you get with the Trailblazers and say, we would love a connection, and maybe they can help you with some some ideas.
SPEAKER_02Okay, we need to talk about that because that's been my wish is to be able to because like bike bike to school week, we cannot bike the school where we're it's like high the only people that are on their bikes are either staying within the neighborhood or they're on road bikes and they're doing yeah, and I'm not sending my kids.
SPEAKER_04No, you're not. No, no, no. There is a there is a path to getting a path.
SPEAKER_01Okay. There is a path to getting a path.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the trailer.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, you do have Tom Walton on speed dial, I imagine. So can we ask him right now? I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_04I'm kidding. I'm not sure. He's the one wanting it all to happen. You know, of course he does. It's your neighbor, you're right.
SPEAKER_02I know. Okay, no, that was actually good information because I was kind of wondering, I'm the key to that, right? You are the one you have to help if you want to. You have to get your neighborhood help.
SPEAKER_01Yes, for sure. And maybe the neighborhood next to you, too. Oh, I think you got that. Yeah, I got that. You can convince people you make really good cookies.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Well, just go near the toss.
SPEAKER_01I mean, don't say that.
SPEAKER_02She does. She makes really good cookies. I do make good cookies. She made really good cookies for my birthday last year. No, but now you're making me feel like next time I better have some cookies. Those were so good. Brown butter. That's how you make them really good.
SPEAKER_01She makes good cookies. So tell us a little bit about what are your favorite trails? What what kind of a bike are you riding when you're out and about, and how often are you riding?
SPEAKER_02Oh, this these are good ones.
SPEAKER_01We gotta ask him about him.
SPEAKER_04Yes. I I mean, right now the park is my favorite trails. Um, and I'm not just saying that because I mean I I live a full two miles from the park, so I, you know, I just pedal down and ride. But there's so many, you know, there's so many trails. I used to think that Mount Nebo was my favorite destination. It's wonderful. And then Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, you know, was another project we did, and I loved going out there to, you know, sample the trails because, you know, it's just so beautiful out there in the Buffalo River. But agreed.
SPEAKER_02It's one of my favorite places to go. We've got land in Jasper, and anytime we can I don't know what we're gonna do with it yet, if we're gonna build or sell it and try to find a cabin or I don't know, but I love being in the Buffalo. It's my favorite place.
SPEAKER_04We we just spend as much time down there as we can every year. And but anyway, the my favorite trails Love and Mount Nebo, Love Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, Devil's Den, you know, is is is a favorite. That's the original uh Arkansas mountain bike destination. That that was really one of the one of the first mountain bike
Favorite Rides Near The Buffalo
SPEAKER_04trails in Arkansas was was the Devil's Den State Park, was a hiking trail, and they converted it over to a mountain bike trail in the late 80s. And Tim Scott, who's retiring, he was a he was a ranger there for many years, and he and his supervisor, superintendent of the park, Wally Sherry, I believe his name was, they went out to Crescer Butte, Colorado, back in eighty seven or eighty-eight, and went to their mountain bike festival and learned how to have a festival, and they brought it back to Devil's Then and they've been having it every year since I think '89. So and then the the Ozark Off-Road Cyclist are a volunteer group that started in '97 in Fayetteville, and those guys have been building wonderful trails. Lake Fayetteville and Kessler Mountain in Fayetteville was the trail system of the Ozark Off-Road Cyclist helped build. And so love those trails. But really, the bike park is is my new favorite because we have really some of the best talent we've ever had building, and the trails are so fun. And plus, all your friends are there. When you come down to the bottom, you get to see all your friends. Oh, yeah. And you get to eat a pizza, have a great burger, or a salad. You know, curious.
SPEAKER_02How many bikes do you own? I'm curious. Oh my gosh, that was my next question. I'm just curious. Well, I'm curious about it.
SPEAKER_04I have to think about it when I count them.
SPEAKER_03So whoa.
SPEAKER_04But you know, my problem is my son and I, we are into motorcycles and bicycles, so we have a barn full, but I probably have a barn full, four or five bicycles.
SPEAKER_02So do you like to build your own? Have you ever built your own?
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah, that's normally how you do it. Okay.
SPEAKER_02That's how my husband built my city city bike. He just built it up, and I don't know. Maybe he could build me a mountain bike.
SPEAKER_01How often do you bike with your son?
SPEAKER_04Well, it's it was all the time, but he's he's got a girlfriend and a job, and he learned how to fly planes. But now that he's at the bike park, I'll be able to hang out with him a little more. That's exciting.
SPEAKER_01We're into fly a plane now, too. That's exciting. That is exciting. Yeah. You're gonna ask some like rapid fire questions here before we close it out. I feel like that's like your thing right now.
SPEAKER_02Oh, to do like the this or that this or that, yeah, rapid fire. Oh man.
SPEAKER_01I don't know if Gary wants to do that.
SPEAKER_02He's turning away from the microphone. Because I'm not as familiar with the biking world, so I wouldn't even know like to have this brand or that brand, or this trail or that trail. He would have a hard time picking. That's fair. That's fine. But uh, but I will say the Buffalo, tell me again which trail's at the Buffalo, because next time I go, I wanna because usually we just float or hike.
SPEAKER_04You need to go to Horseshoe Canyon Range.
SPEAKER_02Okay, that's what I thought you said was there.
SPEAKER_04And that's on Highway 74. It's between Ponka and Jasper when you drive on Highway 74. That in that highway, by the way, it's it's a it's a highway, it's a scary one. Yeah, but when you when you go by there, there's a zip line that you can Oh, I've seen the sign for that. The zip line is fun. You can if they put you in a harness and they send you from one side of the bluff to the other, and you're, I don't know, 80 feet in the air flying. It's go do it.
SPEAKER_02I love a zip line. So speaking of, you spoke about pizza. Do you ever go to Jasper Pizza?
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh, we have to go there every time. We're obsessed with that.
SPEAKER_04Well, we we go there, I we go there on our venture motorcycles, and that's you know, we ride all around the state, and we go to Jasper and we have breakfast at Ozark Cafe a lot. Love that. Low Gap Cafe is my favorite. I haven't been there. That's the best food in that whole part of the country.
SPEAKER_02Really? So my husband's family has some family that were from Low Gap, and so he really kind of he's kind of debating on like selling the land in Jasper, maybe buying some in Low Gap. I don't know. I love Jasper, so I don't know if that will happen. But I always we always drive by there and see that cafe. I haven't been yet.
SPEAKER_04So how well the Low Gap Cafe used to be on Highway 74 as you come out of Ponka on the way to Jasper, and they closed that and they opened one in on Highway 7, just right north of Jasper. Oh, okay. That's the new spot. Okay. And it's there's a seafood pasta that is unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02Okay, we're gonna have to put that on our our You'll never go to that pizza place again if you go to Red Play. Really? You'll never go to the pizza place again. No, we love that area. It's just it's it's a beautiful place. So, okay, I have that bike park now on my radar because usually we'll go to like Hymden Hollow and hike that or the Swedish, the Sweden Trail Falls, or but that's all on foot.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, there's so many great places down there, but Horseshoe Canyon, you pull off of Highway 74 and you go down into the canyon, and it's literally shaped like a horseshoe. It's kind of a round canyon, but you enter from the top and you just see this, you know, Shangri-La as you pull in there, and it's just amazing.
SPEAKER_02Cool. Tell us again the details. Well, actually, before we do that, Danielle likes to ask one question.
SPEAKER_01Your favorite thing about Northwest Arkansas? Yes. I feel like this is obvious, but maybe it's not. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, I mean, there's so many things about it. I I just I love how welcoming this community is. I love the that you can leave your house and be immersed in nature, you know, with our trails, but also just a quick drive down to the Buffalo. I mean, people drive from around the country to come to the Buffalo River and we're we're just an hour and a half away. That's pretty dang special. Super short. I love that, you know, this is really my where I where I grew up. You know, I didn't have to relocate somewhere else. I mean, it's it's where I would never want to leave Northwest Arkansas, you know. God willing, I'll die here, you know. But gosh, I just I just love living here because of all those things, you know. And and my mom still lives in Joplin, just an hour up the road, or less than an hour up the road, so I can go see her and my sisters and all that. So just a great place to be. I live in Bella Vista, I love Bella Vista. We live on a little lake out there, and just it's like being on vacation every night.
Why Northwest Arkansas Feels Like Home
SPEAKER_02That's awesome. That's awesome. I love Bella Vista. And also, so in Missouri, I went to college in Missouri. Have you heard of Westminster College in Fulton?
SPEAKER_04I have heard of that.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I went there and I would go to Columbia a lot, and we used to go to oh, this like little German town with a bunch of wineries.
SPEAKER_03Herman.
SPEAKER_02Yes. We used to go to Herman and Hermann Hoff Winery, and then we drive down to St. Louis. And anyway, been through Joplin and Springfield and love, Missouri, by the way. I love the Ozarks. But anyway, so I had to share the little Missouri love, and my my husband's family is from like Mexico and Jeff City and all over that part. And then also Northwest Arkansas. So he feels very connected to this area, and he's a huge history buff. And he actually built a canoe by hand, wooden canoe. It's like through strips and epoxy. I don't know. This was during COVID. He was like, I'm just gonna do this, you know, in my free time. And so whenever we take it to the buffalo, it gets a lot of attention because Oh, he takes it and actually uses it.
SPEAKER_04That's oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02And when it gets scratched up, I get way more upset than he does. Because he has to like re-epoxy it. But yes, we it's we don't know. And I'm not allowed to steer that. I have to do the solo kayak. Because he won't let me because I'm very bad, directionally challenged in the water. Somehow I just I end up like stuck somewhere in the kayak, and I'm like, good, you you're in charge of the kids.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Bye. Yeah, he's like, you get not steering. Duck. Okay, I see how that worked. I don't know. She's messing with you, I think.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, he's he's but we just went to the Buffalo to Steel Creek, and my kids caught their first and they became junior rangers, which we think is kind of funny. You know, because they come around and they'll give you all the stuff about the call your homestead. Anyway, this is geeking out on Buffalo River. I love when you geek out. And so anyway, so we love that area and we love Arkansas, obviously. And this is a good place to be. Yeah. So this, but this is I'm this is what my year is gonna be. The year my daughter wants to learn to ride the bike. You're giving me lots of inspiration. Danielle and I hope to come and get some pictures, get some content, and tell us real quick for our listeners where they can look up information to come um to become a member and everything about the opening this weekend for members.
SPEAKER_04Well, go to ozrailsbikepark.com. It's all there. And you can register to be a member. And if you do decide you don't want to be a member, we're gonna be open to the public starting May 28th. But the next two weekends are members only. Now, if you for Memorial Day weekend, if you've got a buddy that's a member, they can bring a guest. So something to think about.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming on and just sharing your story and giving us all the info about riding bikes and hitting the trails, and we'll see you on the trail.
SPEAKER_01All right. Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_02Thanks, Gary. Hey, thanks so much for listening today. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also follow us on Instagram at People of NWA. Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_00People of Northwest Arkansas with the two Danielle's produced by me, Brock Short of Brock Entertainment. Please rate, review, and like us on any podcast platform where you listen. For more information about today's guests and the show, please check the show notes. Thanks for listening.