It’s about that time of year where I trade the road bike for the mountain bike a little more often. So my first mountain bike post will be about riding the Syllamo MTB Trails White River Bluff Loop. Before I post about mountain biking, let me preface by saying that I am NOT a mountain biking badass. Far from it. I end up pushing my bike up hills a lot when there are lots of rocks and roots. Not being in great shape sometimes doesn’t help either. But I still enjoy it and try to ride through the woods when I can.
The Syllamo Mountain bike trail is actually a series of different interconnected trails. All of the trails are loops and added together, they total around 50 miles of trails. It is one of Arkansas’ 5 IMBA “Epic” trails. (More on that here). The day I rode Syllamo, I was actually on my way home from a fishing trip. I planned ahead and brought my bike. But I didn’t have all day (and probably not the stamina) to ride the longer loops. So I chose the shortest of the 5, the White River Bluff Loop.
How to Get There
The different loop trail heads at Syllamo are actually very easy to find. Being an EPIC trail, there are plenty of signs in the area along Hwy 5 to help you find all the trail heads. From Mountain View, go north on Hwy 5 to Green Mountain Rd and turn left (You will see a sign for Syllamo Mountain Bike Trail). Follow Green Mountain Rd for a couple of miles. You will see a another sign for White River Bluff Loop with parking on the left.
What to Expect
I’ve only ridden this loop in the Syllamo trail. But from what I understand, all of the loops have some parts that are beginner-friendly. But I think the biggest part of them are mostly Intermediate to Advanced riding level (anyone in the know, please feel free to correct me in the comments). The White River Bluff loop is certainly no exception. It may be the shortest loop, but it is definitely NOT easy. It’s not the hardest trail I’ve ridden, but don’t go thinking it’s going to be easy.
The trail has some parts that are very technical and challenging. I don’t remember any really long or steep climbs. It is a clean trail, and a lot of it winds and flows pretty easy. But there are some parts that are very difficult where I had to get off and push. There are some large rock sections of the trail that I had to push or carry my bike over. I also came across some downed trees that were too large to ride over. I’m sure the downed trees probably get cleared periodically though. It wasn’t too bad – definitely worth the view I was rewarded with once I reached the bluffs. It is a large cleared out cliff area high above the White River. There are great views from the bluffs looking up and down the river. The section of the loop getting to the bluff is shorter than the rest of the loop coming AFTER the bluff. So just know that.
Planning Your Ride
There are a few things to know when riding the Syllamo MTB Trails White River Bluff Loop. There is a $3/day use fee. So make sure to bring $3 to drop in the box at the trail head. Don’t count on having cell service there. Either print or save a trail map to your phone. And you WILL want a map. Even though most of the trail is well-marked, I kind of got a little lost. I encountered a spot or two where another trail intersected and I was not sure which way to go. I had to improvise a little and guess my way back to the parking lot. But this was years ago, so it might be marked better now. Just to be safe, have a map available. Bug spray would be a good idea and of course, you’ll need some water.
This is another one of those trips I took before I knew I would have a blog one day. So I didn’t get as many pictures as I would like to have. But I did get a few pics from the trail and some good ones from the bluffs. Enjoy and thanks for reading.
