Arkansas will get an operating chairlift for the first time in 50 years come 2026. Runway Group, owned by members of the Walton Family, today announced it will build a lift-served bike park in Bella Vista. The OZ Trails Bike Park will feature more than 20 miles of gravity trails designed by Gravity Logic & Rock Solid and connect to existing trail networks. The site lies just 15 minutes from the Walmart home office in Bentonville and will feature a bike shop, full-service dining, hiking and public art.
As part of the project, Leitner-Poma will construct a state-of-the-art detachable quad beginning this spring. The lift will span roughly 2,700 feet and carry bikers and hikers 270 vertical feet from a base plaza to the top of the park. Every other chair will be a dedicated bike carrier. “As Northwest Arkansas’s first purpose-built gravity cycling facility, the park’s location strengthens the natural connection between Bella Vista and Bentonville, positioning both communities as premier global cycling destinations,” said Tom Walton, Runway Group CEO. “Its focus on progression ensures everyone from beginners to experts will find their place here.”
Once the lift is complete in early 2026, there will be just four states without an aerial ropeway: Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
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Your move, Hawaii/Delaware/Louisiana.
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Louisiana used to have a Poma gondola going over the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
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“Once the lift is complete in early 2026, there will be just four states without an aerial ropeway: Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana and Oklahoma.”
You’d think Hawaii would have one considering its geography? Surely there must be/have been some plans to get people up to some mountaintop via gondola?
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what lift operated in Arkansas 50 years ago?
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Marble Falls Ski Area operated a Chairlift in the 70’s/80’s
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1972-1976 according to my research.
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The map doesn’t show how it’s going to “seamlessly” connect in to existing trails, given that the nearest ones to this are across a 4-lane highway. Bridge? Tunnel? I’d love to know that
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Good question. I don’t have a full answer as I too am curious how/where it’ll cross 71, but what I do know is the top of the lift will come up to the intersection of Cunningham and Oldham where you can hop right onto Tunnel Vision, one of the trails in the Little Sugar trail network. There is a traffic light on 71 at Mercy Way which will be right around the bottom of the lift, but that’s certainly far from ideal, a bridge or tunnel would be better. As soon as you cross however, you’ll have quick access to Blowing Springs, Wonderland, The Back 40, and you can also head south on Creekside (or the Razorback Greenway once they replace the bridge that we lost earlier last year due to flooding) to make your way to Slaughter Pen.
There is also a way to get under 71 near the Lowes further south, but that would require a good amount of riding on the Little Sugar trails to get there.
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Is “270” a typo? How do you get 20 miles of gravity trails if you only have a 270 foot vertical drop? Mountain Creek, which packs about as many trail miles as I can imagine into the footprint of a single lift with about 1000′ vertical rise, claims only 40 miles of trails, and many of the outlying trails there are really XC trails for much or all of their length. I can’t imagine how you could get 20 miles of “gravity” trails into 1/3 the vertical…
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270 is not a typo. I mapped it out on Google Earth and it’s exactly as the press release says, about 2700 feet from bottom to top with an elevation gain of 270 feet. Having said that, the area is pretty small and I agree, I really don’t see how they are going to put that many miles of trail there. I was just talking about this to some fellow riders and we theorized that might include some cross country trails and/or climbing trails, but I just reread the article (including the one on Oz Trails) and it does say “over 20 miles of gravity trails.”
Having said that, Bentonville does manage to pack in a ton of trail in small areas, so even though I have a tough time imagining it, I have faith they will manage to do it. There are a lot of wooden bridges over other trails here such that I suspect they will be able to crisscross trails over each other in various ways so they can really pack in the mileage. But they are building this for all rider levels, so there are sure to be some green trails that will involve some pedaling. So “gravity” might just mean it’s lift accessed and not mean you won’t have to pedal at times.
And nice to hear from another Mountain Creek rider, I used to ski there when it was Vernon Valley / Great Gorge back in the day, and then rode there a couple of times when it was the Diablo Freeride park. I’m certainly not expecting this park to be anything like that, but if it’s even a third as good, I’ll be excited to have it in my back yard!
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You say that the lift will be built by Leitner-Poma, but I don’t quite understand how they plan to carry bikes. I have seen custom designs by Deasonbuilt, on some lifts they will just remove the seats, and some will just have the seats raised. Does anyone know if any of these designs are the plan, or if L-P may have something new in store for us?
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