Devil's Den 4 10 21 - Bentonville Area MTB Trail

Here's a recap of our Mojo Shop ride "sneak peek" ride at Devil's Den, pre-approved by the AR State Parks. It has been really hard to wait to uncork this one, because of how blown away our entire group was! It's phenomenal! I don't think it can be over hyped.
Devil's Den is the birthplace of MTB'ing in Arkansas, and following the facelift from Rogue Trails and the added trail from Rock Solid, it seems like poetic justic that it now plays second fiddle to no trail. It's absolutely amazing, and while the video gives you an idea of just how amazing it is, you lose the broad scope of how high the bluffs are, and the beautiful setting itself.
Special thanks to Amber Brown, Joe Jacobs and Tim Scott, as well as the entire Devil's Den staff! I will never forget that ride, and I Iook forward to many more in the years to come!!
goo.gl/maps/SF...

[@mojocycling8806]

It was an amazing ride! I will DEFINITELY be back to ride it again...soon!

[@christieclaypool7667]

What is your audio setup? It sounds really good. Devil's Den looks EPIC! Hopefully I'll be able to make it out there sometime soon.

[@willbros1499]

Thanks for the kind words! That's just a Hero 7 with mics set to "stereo" and a foam wind cover. The 7 has really good audio compared to almost every other GoPro, and IMO doesn't need an external mic or anything. I also think when it's upside down, it puts the mics in a better position to pick up my voice. I've considered using a small digital recorder and mic with a dead cat, and synching the video...but as a hobbyist, it's just more hassle and expense.

[@christieclaypool7667]

@@willbros1499 I have a hero 9 with the media mod and I hear wind noise sometimes. The hero 7 has good audio, then. 😊👍

[@willbros1499]

@@christieclaypool7667 ....I just put a foam cover on it, and set the mics to stereo. I agree that between the 7, 8, and 9...the 7 has the most crisp sounding audio for whatever reason. But the 9 is much better than the 8...the 8's audio stunk. I wonder if you could add a dead cat to the media mod, and help with the wind noise? I wonder if you would get better audio with the 9 and just a foam wind guard?? Do you think maybe the directional mic works against you, and picks up the wind, because of that feature? Maybe it works great for vlogging, but not as much for a bike that's moving fast?? Just a thought.... Those foam covers are cheap, and I just buy the cheapo ones, and don't pay for the official GoPro ones. I experimented with actually putting dead cats on the camera, and even on the foam cover to deaden the wind even more, but it's just a hassle, and it sometimes gets in the way of the lens and jacks up the footage. So I just decided that as a hobbyist, that's as good as it's going to get from me. :-) Stability wise, on the chin bar, I actually prefer the Hero 7, and feel it's plenty stable, and I prefer that view. It doesn't give the appearance of going as fast, but the tradeoff for seeing what the rider is looking at, is completely worth it to me. It's some of the amazing footage that "Skills with Phil" got at Whistler with the 7 on the chin bar, that really solidified my opinion on it as being superior. I am toying with the idea of trying the 9, but with that additional Max Lens Mod that is required, I'm inclined to just wait until the 10, or even 11...when there's an improvement that doesn't cost another $100.00 just to get good footage. (eye roll)

[@mattkock]

Awesome!!! I can't wait. I will be up in 2 weeks from Texas and then again in 4 weeks with a BIG Group.

[@larryhughes4403]

My wife and I rode there today!

[@RunBikeMike]

This looks amazing

[@willbros1499]

Well...it's even more amazing in person!

[@flattopwill]

Wow. Looks awesome!

[@CK21422]

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trail I’ve wanted to ride more! Slow and technical in spots, a little flow, unique features, and tons of scenery.

[@willbros1499]

You nailed it, and the terrain and scenery is much more impressive in person!!

[@ironscott]

Great stuff. Judging on all the KZbin and Instagram videos I'm the only person in NWA who hasn't ridden these new, unopened trails. Excited for the grand opening this week, though.

[@willbros1499]

Yeah, they needed tires on them, but trying to limit the hype and poaching so they could finish tidying up, but get wheels on them, is a balancing act. I think they managed to keep mostly local experienced riders on them, so it worked out well!

[@ironscott]

@@willbros1499 Yeah, I totally understand. Just found it funny given how many people I've seen post videos of it in the past week or two. I'm also jealous. lol. Nice to have more options close to Fayetteville. Hoping it is somewhat good at handling rain.

[@MikesBikes2020]

Great trails!

[@scottolivier8636]

What is the best approach to devils den. Parking, starting point, direction. (Least amount of climbing) etc. How many miles is the trail and is it easy to navigate.

[@willbros1499]

Hi Scott. I addressed your questions on the other newer video. Please get back to me on your riding style preferences, and I can help you with directing you to the best trails to match those. Thanks!

[@paddyoohh3882]

Nice video!!!

[@clintyoung6482]

How many miles of that ?.....shale rock shit looks badass.

[@willbros1499]

The new trails, as I understand it, are about 11 miles, and the older original Fossil Flats is about 7. The new 11 are the ones with the newer style build. And yes, it's badass, but the old trails are some good hand cut single track, so you get a really good blend if you do all 18.

[@rabrumf]

Looks like some rad trails!

[@willbros1499]

It lives up to the hype, and then some.

[@BJLatta]

Which trail is this at devils den?

[@willbros1499]

These are parts from the entire system. I created a route that loops you on all of the best trails, the best direction. If you have an iPhone it’s by far the easiest and best way to ride the system. Put the FREE app and download the tour to your phone, and go ride it! www.trailpilot.co

[@JLising]

Looks so pretty!! Can’t wait to ride this trail!

[@jeffneisler1405]

Charles - Great ride video, as always! Can't wait to check these out. Trail build plus scenery looks absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing.

[@everywherelocal]

yeah! 🤘

[@cdygreen]

Charles, did this come before or after our most recent rains? I'm hoping the storms we have coming in tonight won't dampen the official opening on Thursday. I'm looking forward to checking these out. Devil's Den is one of the best places in the state. I love it there.

[@willbros1499]

I think it will be fine if that's the only rain we get. That valley causes Lee Creek to go up and down pretty quickly, so I would anticipate it being fine for Thursday, but I'm sure the Monument Trail folks will put out an announcement if something changes.

[@mtnbikfrut]

I couldn't find a dry spot to cross Lee Creek. Is this one or was it just that the water was low? kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4CQY4GXj9xgjpY

[@willbros1499]

Hi Garrett....Hmm, not sure?? It had rained pretty recently, and that creek goes up and down quickly, and as you can see there was water in the main creek as we were exiting to the campground, so it definitely wasn't dry all the way down! If you follow the West side trails all the way to the furthest north point, that's where it crosses by default, and where we crossed. It's very possible that you were there when it was higher, but I can't really say for sure. I know this...I've never been there when we couldn't cross at that north crossing, but that doesn't mean it's not too deep at times, because I have heard that can happen!! I'm sorry if that doesn't help, but you might try reaching out to Tim Scott via FB Messenger, and see if he can shed some light on that. He knows every square inch of that park!!

[@patheticmtb9750]

Rode em’ yesterday with OORC, AWESOME!

[@willbros1499]

Yeah, it's phenomenal!

[@mattpatterson5012]

When these open where is the best parking to access this? This looks like so much fun.

[@willbros1499]

Enter the park, and PASS the visitor's center, and you will take the last left hand turn, before the main road makes a sweeping right hand turn. Follow that down with the lake on your right side, and park past the end of the lake. That's where the most parking is. From there, I think there may be access open directly across the spillway creek, but it wasn't open when we were there. Trailforks will likely show that if it's available. We just rode out the main road to the campground road, and to the trails form there. It's simple either way!

[@emtbarkansas8138]

How would you compare the trails to Hobbs Karst and Nebo? I haven’t been to Pinnacle for the other monument trails. Looks pretty great!

[@willbros1499]

Very different than Hobbs. More elevation, more technical, and the bluff lines you ride under are as much as 75' tall in places, and the camera just doesn't show that at all. The scope...is MUCH more grand than the GoPro captures! Believe it or not, I have not been to Mt. Nebo. I've been saving that for a trip when we can all be in the same car, instead of driving the 2.5 hours in separate cars, and ride the shuttle without worrying about COVID. But...now that most of my riding group buddies have had both shots....it's on the VERY short list of places to go, along with the Buffalo Outdoor Center!!

[@emtbarkansas8138]

@@willbros1499 thanks for the insight. Your video was great and I could tell that the GoPro effect likely meant even better scenery and trail “wow” in person. I’m excited to get out there! I think you’ll really like Nebo. So far it’s my favorite trail system in Arkansas but I haven’t ridden up by eureka or down by hot springs. I’m thinking Devils Den may beat Nebo out on scenery. Hayes Creek at Nebo is pretty great.

[@willbros1499]

@@emtbarkansas8138 ....I don't know if there's ever a way to say one is better. A few people have ridden both and the sentiment seems to be that Mt. Nebo is geared more toward at least intermediate riders, whereas DD is built to accommodate all but the newest of beginners. I think your comment nails it when you said, "My favorite." That's really what it comes down to, because we all like slightly different things. That's what makes the proliferation of trails in the state so amazing....there's something for EVERYONE. Have you ridden Pinnacle yet? I've had people say they prefer it over Mt. Nebo....so it must be pretty incredible! I cannot wait to get to Mt. Nebo to ride!!!

[@emtbarkansas8138]

@@willbros1499 I rode DD this afternoon. I think I went the wrong direction (clockwise) and did a ton of climbing for short downhill. Somehow I missed the downhill run too. But it is beautiful and creative. I’ll go back and try the other direction and hit more new trails. But my early lean is toward Nebo.

[@willbros1499]

@@emtbarkansas8138 ....I think it's a matter of what you enjoy...I really do. I could easily argue that there's not really a way to make every trail the best by riding the outer loop one way...CW, or CCW. Some trails are better the other way, and I think...that may be by design, so it has some interest regardless of direction. There are rock rolls, little kickers, and optional challenges going either way. As for the DH runs...they are more or less in the center on the East side. You have to climb up one trail, "We can take it," to get to them, and then for each run down "Sparky" and "Orville," you climb back up it. There's no other way there. The outer loop doesn't connect to them. I think that's likely by design, so that it takes riders determined to ride things that demand that skill to seek them out. Which...is smart, because getting hurt there...WOULD SUCK. Pretty remote, and it might be a bit before getting drug out of there. We didn't have a map...went before the ribbon cutting, to hit the DH runs. We STILL managed to not really understand where "Orville" actually started, and ended up on "Sparky" on an alternate line, and then followed it on down. That put us to the time for the ribbon cutting, so we headed out for that. After seeing the map they handed out, I see what we did wrong. But "Sparky" was still pretty fun. Good excuse to go back!! And...I'm definitely going to check out Mt. Nebo!! It looks visually stunning, and the rock work looks phenomenal as well.