Since I was a kid, Pinnacle Mountain has always been the most popular place in Central Arkansas for hiking. The last few years it’s become so popular it gets overcrowded on most weekends. But fortunately there is much more to this State Park then just the hiking trails. There are picnic areas and group pavilions, a playground and open play fields. It has access to the Maumelle and Little Maumelle Rivers available for paddling and fishing. They also have an Arboretum, a visitor center with meeting facilities, and educational programs conducted by the park staff. And now mountain biking at Pinnacle Mountain is the latest attraction – and it’s almost as popular as the hiking.
Mountain bike trails are actually not a new thing at Pinnacle. There have been two MTB trails in the park for over ten years. But although the quality of the trails was pretty good, the layout of them was not ideal. Enter the Arkansas State Parks Monument Trails program. Brand new world-class trails were first built at Hobbs State Park and Mt. Nebo State Park by professional trail-building groups. Thanks to Arkansas Parks and Recreation Foundation, Pinnacle Mountain State Park became the next destination for these awesome new trails. And boy are these new trails great! Click here to read more about Monument Trails and the foundations responsible for them.
Directions
From Highway 10 west of Little Rock, go north on AR 300 past the West Summit parking area. Turn right on Pinnacle Valley Rd and follow the signs to the Visitor Center. Or if you are coming from I-430, you can turn right off Hwy 10 onto Pinnacle Valley Rd. Drive past Maumelle Park and follow the signs to the Visitor Center. See the map below to find the three different parking areas close to the trails.
What to Expect
The Monument Trail system at Pinnacle Mountain State Park is a 7-mile network of interconnected trails. There are nine main trails and five connector trails. They range in length and difficulty to offer something for riders of all skill levels. As with any mountain bike park, it’s hard to know where to start when you first arrive, since all you can see is the beginning of each trail. So it’s important to have a trail app such as the MTB Project app to show you what you are getting into. This app will show you the difficulty and length of each trail, as well the amount of ascent and descent to expect. This is SUPER important if you prefer riding uphill, downhill, or flat trails. And just like snow skiing, you don’t want to send yourself down a black diamond MTB trail if your skill level is really green.
Once you have a little trail knowledge, then it’s up to you to pick your route. With this trail network, there are a lot of different combinations you can do to customize your ride. Whatever you choose, you’re going to see some of the best single track MTB trails in the state. There are embanked turns, rock gardens, gaps, jumps and other fun obstacles that you can do, and several scenic views. Careful planning has been done to create trail routes that minimize uphill climbing as much as possible. This keeps the trails flowing really well and makes for a much more fun ride. Although there are still plenty of uphill climbs, they are much more manageable than the old trails. And now, mountain biking at Pinnacle Mountain is worthy of mentioning with some of the best trails in Arkansas. All the MTB trails in the park are listed below, with distance and difficulty.
Pinnacle MTB Trails
- Coachwhip – Green (Beginner) – 2.2 mi.
- Armadillo Run – Green-Blue (Beginner) – 0.5 mi. Downhill only
- Middle Mountain Run – Blue (Intermediate) – 0.5 mi. Downhill only
- Carnasaw – Black (Difficult) – 0.4 mi. Downhill only
- Jackfork – Blue (Intermediate) – 4.7 mi. Downhill – big climb – more downhill
- Turkey Tracks – Blue (Intermediate) – 0.5 mi. Downhill from Upheaval
- Glade Runner – Black (Difficult) – 0.4 mi. Downhill, off Turkey Tracks
- Twistflower- Blue (Intermediate)- 0.6 mi. Downhill from Upheaval or Jackfork
- Dynamite – Black (Difficult) – 1.5 mi. Loop off Jackfork Read more about each trail below from the MTB Project app.
- Lower Stick – Green (Beginner) – 0.4 mi. Connector trail
- Upper Stick – Blue (Intermediate) – 0.3 mi. Connector trail
- Upheaval – Green (Beginner) – 0.3 mi. Connector trail
- Lower Stick – Green (Beginner) – 0.4 mi. Connector trail
- Centipede – 0.6 mi. Connector trail. Rated as Green (Beginner)
For a more detailed description of each trail, click here. Also, I have two videos below so you can see exactly what the new trails look like.
Plan Your Trip
Mountain Biking in Arkansas continues to grow increasingly popular. But we lack enough public bike trails in Central AR to accommodate all these riders on a busy day. Because the new trails at Pinnacle are so great, you can guess what happens on the weekends. The same thing that happens with the hiking trails – it gets crowded! Besides parking issues, the main reason I bring this up is for new riders. It can be a bit intimidating for new riders trying to learn with a lot of other cyclists on the trail. But my advice is, don’t worry about that, because everyone out there was new at one time. But if it’s an issue for you, then just know that weekends are really crowded. If you are able to go on a weekday, you’ll find it much less crowded.
Cell service is good all over the park, which is helpful for using trail apps such as the MTB Project app. Be sure to download one to help plan your ride. Another thing that I mentioned in the video is gloves. This really goes for any MTB ride, but I was reminded on my ride of the importance of gloves. There is a lot of downhill action at Pinnacle. Gloves are a necessity for maintaining a safe grip on the handlebars. There are restrooms at the visitor center, but be sure to take plenty of water and energy snacks. Aside from that, just remember to leave no trace by taking nothing but pictures and leaving nothing but tire tracks. Enjoy the ride!
