Is Bentonville the MTB Capital of the World?

I made the pilgrimage every mountain biker dreams of and traveled to Bentonville Arkansas. Bentonville claims to be the Mountain Bike Capital of the World. Is it better than the Pacific Northwest? Let's go ride and see!
#outdoors
#bentonville
#mtb
#mountainbike
#visitbentonville
#specializedbikes
#trails
#slaughterpen
#allamerican
#choochoo
#thecastle
#bentonvillearkansas

[@TrailFReEK]

Dang, that Storm decimated that area! All those beautiful trees gone!

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

Yes, definitely sad to see. I'm hopeful they get some forest restoration going. Still beautiful area despite the storm damage.

[@huntstyle]

Used to live in Dallas, and from there it was probably the best option within range of a weekend trip. But now I'm in Idaho, and I really have no desire to make another trip to Bentonville. I feel it's very commercialized mountain biking. I prefer big mountain trails where you're truly out in the wilderness. Plus a lot of the "downhill" trails in Bentonville still require a lot of pedaling if you want to have some decent speed. They just don't have enough elevation change for it to be the "MTB Capital of the World" regardless of how many miles of trails they build.

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

I love Idaho MTB Trails. I've ridden in Boise and Coeur d Alene. Love it!

[@JacobWilson]

I fell so hard I moved here after only being here a couple days

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

I can definitely see why! Beautiful city, fun trails and amazing people.

[@douglaskaye1395]

The damage on All American is tragic, glad you had aged time though. My suggestion is to take a lesson with Annake Beerten. She’ll have you sending those jumps big time.

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

Yes that would be amazing! Maybe on the next trip?

[@MonsterChuck]

Storms def shutdown a lot but you missed tons of great places. Looks like you only rode some greens and maybe 1 blue in Slaughter Pen??? Lake Leatherwood DH trails, Passion Play, Marble Flats, Devils Den, Little Sugar Trails, Hand Cut Hollow, Mt Fitzgerald, Centennial Park..... Further out you have Ponca and Mt Nebo. I don't disagree that "MTB Capital of the World" is a little silly but in all fairness, you didn't even scratch the surface.

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

Definitely needed someone to show me around. So much to ride! But honestly everywhere I went had trail closed signs. I will be making another trip for sure. Amazing time!

[@TheArimatheus]

They've done a pretty good job of cleanup the past month. I live in Texas but we own a house in Bentonville, drove up to see how it fared. House was okay (it's at the gut stage of gut & remodel), but the trails were totally wrecked and blocked. They've cleared a lot for a month.

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

They had teams all over the city cleaning up. I was really impressed.

[@TheArimatheus]

And where in the PNW are you from? I grew up in Eugene and lived in Seattle for a while before moving to Texas.

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

We live in the Walla Walla area. I grew up on the West side of WA in Kitsap County area.

[@gilbertreid6923]

Did you stop by the Bentonville brewery while in Bentonville?

[@Bad_BadgerAdv]

Yes I did - I had my first shrimp po-boy and some tasty brews! Cool spot - actually on par with Pacific NW breweries. Loved all the pets that were welcome too. Bentonville has it all!