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What to Pack for an Epic Mountain Bike Trip to Bentonville, According to a Local

Insider advice on how to nail a visit to Northwest Arkansas’s mountain bike capital.

By Gear Patrol Studios

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If Bentonville, Arkansas, isn’t already on your trail radar, it should be. Why? The reasons are as numerous as the trails, 218 miles of which can be accessed right from town.

Outside magazine once called this recreation boomtown “Disneyland for Mountain Bikers,” a claim that sounds hyperbolic — until you visit.

In the last half decade or so, Bentonville has exploded into a proper bucket-list destination for fat-tire riders, up there with the likes of Moab, Crested Butte, and Whistler.

As with planning a trip to any of the aforementioned destinations, it pays to be prepared. To help with that, we caught up with local rider and prolific trail advocate Gary Vernon for the inside scoop on what to bring.

gary vernon mountain bike rider
Gary Vernon
Gear Patrol Studios

Bring the whole family

If you’re the lone rider in your family, you know the conundrum — is it a family vacation or a mountain biking getaway? In Bentonville, it can be both. “We’ve had professional riders come here and say that this is the only place that their family will ride bikes with them because the riding is so approachable and whimsical,” says Vernon.

Because the trail development, much of which Vernon spearheaded, has happened through the lens of inclusivity and interconnectivity, Bentonville is a true Choose Your Own Adventure destination. “We’re famous for being able just to fly in to downtown and never have a car.”

With singletrack accessible directly from your hotel, Airbnb or campground, and trails for all skill levels, Bentonville is the ultimate place to ride with your family.

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And literally whatever bike you want (or no bike at all)

To echo the point above, Bentonville is no one-trick pony when it comes to riding opportunities. Which bodes well not only for riders with different skill levels, but also riders of various persuasions.

Have a gravel bike? Perfect. Bring it and explore the hundreds of miles of quiet, unpaved country roads surrounding Bentonville.

Have an enduro bike? Also great — test your mettle on some serious gravity trails at Coler Preserve or nearby Eureka Springs.

Got a hardtail or trail bike? That’s perfect, too. Start with a ride at Slaughter Pen, whose storied, sinewy trails connect directly to downtown via bike paths and singletrack.

Option D: Leave your bike at home and rent one from one of the more than a dozen bike shops in and around Benonville. The advantage to this approach, apart from the ease of traveling without a bike, is that you can swap rigs throughout your trip to match each day’s ride.

Pack riding gear that’s ready for trail and town

If you’re headed to a lift-accessed downhill park, it pays to have DH-specific apparel and pads. But in a place like Bentonville, versatility is the name of the game.

During a trip to Bentonville, you could conceivably ride gravel in the morning, XC trails midday, and gravity trails in the evening. Layer onto that the likelihood that any of those rides could include impromptu stopovers at trailside coffee shops, restaurants, or art installations, and the necessity of versatile gear becomes apparent.

“When I head out for a ride, I’m almost always planning to ride right to dinner or a cafe,” Vernon says. “So I like to have normal-looking shorts and a jersey that isn’t overly tight-fitting.” Vernon typically reaches for his Fox Racing Flexair kit, which feels as comfortable on trail as it does in the tavern.

Footwear is equally as important, and often the crux when it comes to cycling. Vernon says Fox Racing’s Union clipless shoe does the trick.

“I do trail work in them. I ride my bike and then wander around restaurants. I’ve even worn them to work. That’s pretty amazing that a shoe that’s effective and efficient on a bike doesn’t kill your feet, after walking around on them all day.” To protect his noggin, Vernon relies on the Speedframe Pro, an open-face trail helmet that is low profile and offers enough protection, including Mips®, for Bentonville’s more technical trails.