Bicycling in Central Arkansas
This is not an ad from a Chamber of Commerce member or a local business. This is a simply a personal article written by a guy who began bicycling about five years ago and is proud of a naturally beautiful area I call home and grateful that it includes a great bicycling trail.
If you are part of the growing love of "on road bicycling" in America, you might want to put Central Arkansas on your list. Cities like North Little Rock are growing as a bicycle friendly community and are adding more riding areas each year. There are also great group bicycle rides throughout the year sponsored by many different charities for fund raising; the most popular being the Tour de Rock that raises funds for the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI).
Many of these rides have a variety of difficulty levels to accommodate all riders, from a family friendly 12 mile to a grueling 100 mile ride that includes steep mountainous areas if you really crave a challenge.
The river trail, as we locals call it, is a paved riding surface reserved for bicyclists, walkers and runners. I think I've seen a unicyclist once too.
There are many different parking locations to begin your ride. You can begin with a view of the Little Rock skyline by parking at the Riverfront Park and include a tour of the USS Razorback submarine before or after your ride. Perhaps you want to start your ride with the relaxing view of a golf course and a few fishermen as you start at the Burns Park landing area.
If you like crowds of people to socialize with you can start at the Big Dam Bridge, a unique structure where you ride over the Murray Lock and Dam on a bicycle and pedestrian bridge that span exactly one mile to the other side of the Arkansas River, taking you from one city to another.
Another option for you to enjoy is to start your ride with the relaxing view of Pinnacle Mountain State Park. You would begin at Three Rivers Park and ride west to the state park area or ride west to the Three Rivers Bridge and into the river trail. Or if you prefer to begin on the Little Rock side of the river, you have Murray Park as your starting point just off Cantrell Road a few blocks. It is surrounded with various activities like soccer, golf, rugby and volleyball just to list a few. Finally, you have the downtown River Market area, which includes an open area style farmers market every Friday and Saturday.
These are just a few options on where you can begin your first ride in this great area, full of a variety of scenery which includes an occasional spotting of wildlife, like a deer on a hillside to a chipmunk near the trail.
Overall, it's a very easy trail to ride as far as elevation is concerned, with only a small climb at the Burns Park area and if you want to detour a block off the trail, there's one extremely steep climb up to Fort Roots. It's a slow and tough climb for about a half mile. It is pretty challenging for a novice rider but the view over the city is worth it if you hang tough, stay in low gear and ride up there.
If you complete the circle, you will have ridden about 32 miles which includes riding through downtown Little Rock. For this you will need to ride the busy streets for about 10 blocks, so you'll need to be cautious and wear proper safety gear for protection and visibility. Before long you will be back on the trail finishing your ride at the River Market and the Clinton Presidential Center, crossing the river once again and ending back at the submarine.
So next time you are in the area bring or rent a bicycle and enjoy some time down on the river. You can enjoy walking, running, bicycling, or just sitting on a park bench taking it all in.
But if you'd prefer something much tougher, Colorado is always waiting.
If you are part of the growing love of "on road bicycling" in America, you might want to put Central Arkansas on your list. Cities like North Little Rock are growing as a bicycle friendly community and are adding more riding areas each year. There are also great group bicycle rides throughout the year sponsored by many different charities for fund raising; the most popular being the Tour de Rock that raises funds for the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI).
Many of these rides have a variety of difficulty levels to accommodate all riders, from a family friendly 12 mile to a grueling 100 mile ride that includes steep mountainous areas if you really crave a challenge.
The river trail, as we locals call it, is a paved riding surface reserved for bicyclists, walkers and runners. I think I've seen a unicyclist once too.
There are many different parking locations to begin your ride. You can begin with a view of the Little Rock skyline by parking at the Riverfront Park and include a tour of the USS Razorback submarine before or after your ride. Perhaps you want to start your ride with the relaxing view of a golf course and a few fishermen as you start at the Burns Park landing area.
If you like crowds of people to socialize with you can start at the Big Dam Bridge, a unique structure where you ride over the Murray Lock and Dam on a bicycle and pedestrian bridge that span exactly one mile to the other side of the Arkansas River, taking you from one city to another.
Another option for you to enjoy is to start your ride with the relaxing view of Pinnacle Mountain State Park. You would begin at Three Rivers Park and ride west to the state park area or ride west to the Three Rivers Bridge and into the river trail. Or if you prefer to begin on the Little Rock side of the river, you have Murray Park as your starting point just off Cantrell Road a few blocks. It is surrounded with various activities like soccer, golf, rugby and volleyball just to list a few. Finally, you have the downtown River Market area, which includes an open area style farmers market every Friday and Saturday.
These are just a few options on where you can begin your first ride in this great area, full of a variety of scenery which includes an occasional spotting of wildlife, like a deer on a hillside to a chipmunk near the trail.
Overall, it's a very easy trail to ride as far as elevation is concerned, with only a small climb at the Burns Park area and if you want to detour a block off the trail, there's one extremely steep climb up to Fort Roots. It's a slow and tough climb for about a half mile. It is pretty challenging for a novice rider but the view over the city is worth it if you hang tough, stay in low gear and ride up there.
If you complete the circle, you will have ridden about 32 miles which includes riding through downtown Little Rock. For this you will need to ride the busy streets for about 10 blocks, so you'll need to be cautious and wear proper safety gear for protection and visibility. Before long you will be back on the trail finishing your ride at the River Market and the Clinton Presidential Center, crossing the river once again and ending back at the submarine.
So next time you are in the area bring or rent a bicycle and enjoy some time down on the river. You can enjoy walking, running, bicycling, or just sitting on a park bench taking it all in.
But if you'd prefer something much tougher, Colorado is always waiting.
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