Here in Arkansas, we are fortunate to have some truly awesome State Parks. Most of them are located near lakes, rivers, or mountains offering a wide variety of outdoor recreation. Most of the State Parks have at least a few hiking trails, and some of them also have mountain bike trails. If you’re a mountain biker, there are four State Parks that should be on your favorites lists. They are the ones that have been blessed with Monument Trails. Those are Pinnacle Mountain, Mt. Nebo , Devil’s Den, and Hobbs State Park. I’ve been on a mission to ride them all. And this year, I finally got to do some mountain biking at Hobbs State Park, where the Monument Trails were born.
You may be wondering, “what are Monument Trails?” The best description is straight from the Arkansas State Parks website. “The Monument Trails are a collection of world-class, mountain biking destinations within Arkansas State Parks. These shared-use trails are professionally crafted by some of the world’s best trail builders to showcase natural iconic beauty through innovative and sustainable design and build”. They were created through a partnership with the Arkansas Parks and Recreation Foundation. Private donations and grant money funds the foundation, most notably by the Walton Family Foundation. Click here to read more about Monument Trails and the foundations responsible for them.
Quick Glance
Total Trails: Twelve
Distance: 39.5 total miles of trails
Skill Level: Mostly Intermediate. Some Difficult
Directions
There are so many ways to get to Hobbs State Park Visitor Center. AR-12 east from Rogers/Bentonville. From Fayetteville/Springdale, US-412 east to AR-303, and north through War Eagle. AR-127 to AR-12 coming from the East. Whichever way you are coming from, just use the Google map below to navigate to the Visitor Center.
What to Expect
Explore Hobbs State Park
First and foremost, wow what a beautiful park! Just driving across Beaver Lake and through the hills into the park is enough to get you excited. The scenic beauty here is exactly what you come to expect from the Ozarks. Catching glimpses of the trails winding through the hilly forests as you drive through, you know you’re in for a good day. I do recommend exploring Hobbs State Park by car first before riding. Maybe even venture down to War Eagle Mill. This will give you a good idea of what’s out there so you can decide which trails you want to ride. You’ll want to have the MTB Project app handy while you’re doing this so you can get the details on the trails near you.
In addition to the scenic beauty, Hobbs State Park has fantastic facilities. There are several large parking areas near different trailheads. They have a nice visitor center, restroom facilities, and plenty of signage to help you find your way around. One thing that stood out to me is how remarkably clean this park is. Everything here was pristine the day I visited. And even if you’re not a mountain biker, Hobbs is worth a visit. Because they also have hiking trails, horse trails, and beautiful access points to Beaver Lake. There is no RV camping here, but there are some hike-in and bike-in primitive campsites. Those are going on my to-do list! Find out more about Hobbs State park here.
Two Trail Systems
One thing to note about mountain biking at Hobbs State Park is that there are two different trail systems. First is the older Hidden Diversity Trail System that existed at Hobbs before the Monument Trails were built. Then there is the Monument Trail System that was built later and takes the MTB riding up a notch. I rode one trail from each of the two systems and did not realize this while on my visit. The two systems are connected, so I thought they were all Monument Trails. But thinking back now, I can recognize a few minor differences in the trail systems. Maybe it was just the few trails I rode and not all the other trails. But it did seem that the Monument Trails utilized more of the latest trail-building techniques and features. Considering I didn’t even notice it at the time, I’d say the differences are pretty marginal, if you can even notice them at all.
The Monument Trail System is located on the east side of the Visitor Center. The Hidden Diversity Trails are on the west side, and the two are connected by a trail in the middle. All of the MTB trails at Hobbs State Park are listed below, with links to more detail for each trail. I highly recommend reviewing those before your trip.
Monument Trails
- Karst Trail – Blue (Intermediate)- 8 mi. Loop
- Wolf Den West – Blue (Intermediate)- 2.3 mi.
- Timberjack- Blue (Intermediate) – 0.9 mi. Downhill only
- Tunnel Connector – Blue (Intermediate) – 2.2 mi.
- Wolf Den East – Blue (Intermediate) – 2.2 mi.
- Return Trail – Green (Beginner) – 1.1 mi. Slight uphill, return from Sawtooth and Timberjack
- Sawtooth – Blue (Intermediate) – 1.1 mi. Downhill only
- Visitor Center Trail – Blue/Black (Intermediate/Difficult) – 1.3 mi.
For more detailed descriptions of each Monument Trail, click here.
Hidden Diversity Trails
- Dutton Hollow Loop- Blue (Intermediate)- 2.9 mi.
- War Eagle Loop – Blue (Intermediate) – 6.0 mi.
- Little Clifty Loop – Blue (Intermediate) – 8.1 mi.
- Bashore Ridge Loop – Blue (Intermediate) – 3.5 mi.
For more detailed descriptions of each Hidden Diversity Trail, click here. Between the two trail systems, that’s 12 trails for a total of 39.5 miles!
Quality Trails
If all the trails are like the few I rode, then they are all top-notch. Mountain biking at Hobbs State Park was some of the best riding I have done yet. Most of that has to do with the trail design. First, I rode Bashore Ridge Loop. It has a fast and flowy downhill section, followed by a very forgiving uphill ride back. Even the return trip of the loop has some downhill sections and is designed to minimize the difficulty of pedaling back uphill. There are no steep climbs, just short ,moderate uphill sections, followed by short downhill and winding flat sections. Repeat, repeat until you’re back at the top. I’m not in great MTB shape and was able to pedal through it all with a few short breaks. That’s good trail design.
My second ride of the day was the best. It started with an adrenaline-pumping run down Sawtooth. It’s a blue downhill, MTB-only, single-track trail. It’s one-way (downhill) only, and it’s all GAS!!! Sawtooth winds it’s way along the sides of hills and hollows, steadily descending towards a creek bed. Along the way, there is a multitude of small jumps. I’m not a jumper, but found myself hitting some of the safer ones. But you can also roll over these if you want. There are fun downhill turns, two banked and curved wooden bridges, and some ledges to avoid. This is a super fast and fun trail. From the bottom, I took the green Return Trail back up the hill to the Tunnel Connector, to the parking lot. Again, the ride up the hill is aided with some downhill sections and flats, with short, moderate climbs in between. Check out the videos below to see my rides on the trails at Hobbs.
Plan Your Trip
You don’t want to go mountain biking at Hobbs State Park in the rain. So obviously you’ll be checking the weather forecast. But you might not want to go right after a rain either. Trails can get sloppy, and in some cases may be closed. This is done to keep the trails from getting rutted up and destroyed. You can check on the latest trail conditions on the Hobbs Trails Conditions Facebook Page. I also recommend downloading a trail app such as the MTB Project app or something similar. This app will show you the difficulty and length of each trail, as well the amount of ascent and descent to expect.
Cell service is available at Hobbs State Park but may be spotty in some areas. The park does have public restrooms, and the Visitor Center has basic snacks and drinks. But there is not much else close by, so bring food and drinks with you. You can easily spend a whole day or even a weekend here. They have a limited number of hike-in and bike-in campsites, so call ahead to plan that. Plenty of lodging and restaurants can be found nearby in Rogers and Bentonville. From Bella Vista to Fayetteville and everywhere in between, there are more MTB parks than you can possibly do in a weekend. I’ll be writing about some of those in the near future. I hope you enjoy mountain biking at Hobbs State Park as much as I did. I can’t wait to go back!
