A familiar road trip from Michigan to Bella Vista, Arkansas materialized in mid-October for Josh and me. Why do we drive? So we can take our mountain bikes, of course. Over time, the 11-hour trip has shifted from a long, arduous drive to a routine two or three times a year.
With two drivers, we’ve developed a system. Pack plenty of snacks, and each person takes two 3-hour shifts. Presto, you’ve arrived. Plus, traveling a familiar route, you can plot stops with the lowest gas prices (Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas). Try to avoid fueling up in Michigan and Illinois!! Most important tip: don’t drive on I-80 near Chicagoland during rush hour. Otherwise, be patient through Illinois’s cornfields until the Arch and St. Louis come into view.
In Missouri, you can start to count cattle and be sure to make a pit stop at the Uranus Fudge Factory in St. Robert. This tourist attraction is worth getting trapped for a half hour. Besides tasting the fudge, buy a few of the magnets with sayings that will keep you laughing for a while down the road. Here are a few of my favorites, and you can find them on many billboards on the final approach on Interstate-44.
The Best Fudge Comes from Uranus
We’re Having Big Fun in Uranus
Missouri’s #2 Tourist Attraction
From Uranus, it’s a mere 3 hours to NWA (Northwest Arkansas) and Bella Vista’s rolling Ozark landscape and one of our favorite mountain bike playgrounds. Plan your next ride and dine adventure in Bella Vista.
Home Sweet, Bella Vista
It’s not just the drive that’s become familiar, but the house in Bella Vista, right next to Kingsdale Golf Complex, with access to the Tunnel Vision Trail across the street. It’s a happy place for sure – if you’re a biker (gravel grinder, roadie, or mountain bikers like us), you inherently know why we return many times each year. You get access to 100+ miles of trail, park infrastructure and amenities, the new OZ Trails Bike Park, post-ride hangs, and food trucks in the Gear Garden. Plus, it’s all connected to the Razorback Greenway and Bentonville’s network of trails.
The Cyclotherapy house has a well-appointed deck with comfy outdoor seating and a gas grill. We skip hotel stays because we love having a full kitchen for home-cooked meals. A soak in the hot tub is the perfect nightcap to get your legs ready for the next ride day. Bonus: bring your furry friends too; many Bella Vista rentals are pet-friendly. With 400+ vacation rentals to choose from, we find our home away from home in Bella Vista more affordable and comfortable than nearby hotel stays.
Sugar Sweet Timing
Mid-October was warm; we forgot the chill of Michigan’s fall season as we rode in short sleeves and cracked open cold beers on the deck at dusk. A sugar-buzz of excitement filled the air when we arrived Oct. 9th. The Big Sugar Classic (mountain bike and gravel races) is held annually in Bella Vista and Bentonville, with plenty of activities like vendor expos, Team USA meet-and-greets, group rides, and more. We chose to support rather than ride the mountain bike race and happily walked the expo booths at the OZ Trails Bike Park. We collected free samples from all sorts of bike brands like Liv, Muc-Off, Stans, Maxxis, and more.
The OZ Trails Bike Park is conveniently located in Bella Vista across from the Sugar Creek Shopping Center. It’s quickly become the hub of activity and a fun spot to meet up after a trail ride or some downhill rips in the park. Ozzy’s Ride & Dine in the main lodge (also brews Onyx Coffee) serves up burgers, sandwiches, and pizza with a good selection of local craft brews. There’s a sweet rooftop seating area and plenty of loungy rockers on the main patio level, inside or out.
New Trails, OZ 7 & 8
The speed at which new trails are built in the OZ network is unrivaled in the biking community. Each time we visit, there’s a new trail to explore and plenty of new features or upgrades to existing. We consistently ride a Down Under Loop in the Little Sugar system, and now it connects to OZ 7 & 8 Trail for more rambunctious and rowdy riding. The new trails were built by the Trailblazers. They are Down Country style, which means hand-cut singletrack with lots of descending plus some rocky, techy sections. Access them from the top of the bike park gate or from Down Under Trail off Cedar Crest Drive at the water tower. I dropped in with Josh and Steve in the lead and found myself ye-hawing on steep rollers, narrow exposed ridges, and a very scenic switchback that drops you in near Hwy 71.
Ride and Dine, in Bella Vista
Bikers are a thirsty and hungry sort, and my group fit right into that mold. That means we plot routes that intersect with key pit stops during and after rides. This trip, we rolled with a five-pack of Michiganders, including me, Josh, and Steve, plus Jill and Eric, who joined for their second visit to the MTB Capital.
New-It’ll Bluff Out Loop
Our five-some rolled on a sunny afternoon for a Bluff Out Loop, starting at the Kingsdale Connector to the Sugar Bridge Trail along the river. Josh led the boys through Danger Will Robinson (a tough, ledgy section with rock overhangs), while Jill and I took the low road for an easier warm-up along the river to the Sugar Bridge. We reconvened, then pedaled through the golf course and crossed to the Back 40 side for a quick stop at Pinion Falls.
From the Falls overlook, Back 40 transitions to the new trail, It’ll Bluff Out, that will test your bike handling skills. It’s fun, exposed, and narrow. It was new trail day and new bike day all in one for Jill. She unveiled her new Transition Spur, testing its suspension out of the gate. Bluff Out flirts with a rocky, scenic steep ridge for most of its five miles to Blowing Springs Park.
Also, got a surprise wildlife encounter when an Armadillo decided to cross the trail about an inch from my front wheel. Jill and I snapped photos of the creature to tell the boys about our near miss. At about 8 miles in, Blowing Springs Park materialized, and we plunked down on a picnic table for a rest in the Gear Garden. Eric returned with Hazy IPAs and a bag of peanuts, which we devoured along with bars and meat sticks in our packs. The sun was warm, the beer was cold, but we eventually mounted up to finish our loop on Tunnel Vision. After logging 15 miles, we agreed to clean up for a proper dinner out.
Gear Garden in Blowing Springs
Gear Garden is always a must and stays open through October and later seasonally. Located in Blowing Springs Park, this idyllic gathering area is tucked into an Ozark shelf with a stage for live music and picnic tables dotted around a babbling stream. The Gear Garden wagon doles out local craft beer plus we noshed on Lai Lai’s Chicken, kimchi, rice, and dumplings for dinner one night during our visit. Grindstone Coffee is a staple with other rotating food vendors.
Bella’s Table Kitchen & Bar
Ready to refuel after the Bluff Out loop, we settled on dinner at Bella’s Table for some Italian delights. Dinner began with cocktails, Ceaser salads, and an Italian red wine from Montalcino. We sipped and gabbed about our ride while demolishing an appetizer plate with fried squid, zucchini, and shrimp. Weeks later, I am still thinking about the family-style lasagna, layered with eggplant, plenty of cheese, and homemade bolognese sauce. Josh tackled a goat cheese pizza with fig and prosciutto. We were plenty full, but it didn’t stop us from pretending it was someone’s birthday! We ordered a large slice of double chocolate cake to share, putting a nice dollop on a perfect ride and dine day.
Check out the complete list of Bella Vista restaurants here.
OZ Trails Bike Park
The most recent addition is the OZ Trails Bike Park, unveiled in June. There’s already plenty of trail, but a lift-served experience and downhill riding have truly completed the Bella Vista riding experience. We fit in two days at the park, happily letting the Poma lift take us to the top where we could choose from 20 different downhill trails. My favorite, rubber-side down, is Kitty Hawk! This blue roller has the perfect approachable jumps for getting sendy and is a great place for beginners to progress and learn. I hit repeat and chased after my bike buddies until my legs ran out of standima!
See you soon, Bella Vista, can’t wait to come back to our home sweet second home!
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