Arkansas' One-Of-A-Kind Mountain Bike Park In The Ozarks Is Opening In 2026

For mountain bikers, there's nothing quite as luxurious as hooking your bicycle to a chairlift. You don't have to downshift to an easy gear, grind your way up a slope, or drench your helmet in sweat. Just sit back and enjoy the wooded scenery; the lift will handle the rest. By the time you reach the summit, you're energized and ready to go — and it's (literally) all downhill from there.

That's what visitors can expect at the OZ Trails Bike Park, which will receive its grand opening on June 12, 2026. "OZ" refers to the Ozark Mountains, as the new bike park is sandwiched between the Arkansas towns of Bentonville and Bella Vista, near the Missouri border. Covering 200 acres, the OZ property is crisscrossed with brand-new gravity trails. You'll find expert jumps and berms, but designers have created more than 35 trails for all skill levels, even absolute beginners. The lifts will run Thursday through Monday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

What makes OZ Trails Bike Park one-of-a-kind? The 2,500-foot chairlift is a great amenity, but this property will also boast a spacious plaza and base village, just like an upscale ski resort. Riders will find outdoor tire pumps and attractive picnic tables, and the landscape is peppered with murals and artwork. The underrated city of Bentonville is already considered the world's "Mountain Biking Capital," and this new bike park gives MTBers all the more motivation to visit.

The new bike park makes a lot of sense for Bentonville. Once known as a farming community and the birthplace of retail giant Walmart, the city of 65,000 has rapidly transformed its hilly environs into mountain bike stomping grounds. One in three Bentonville residents has reported riding a bike at least once a month, and more than 140 miles of dirt tracks loop around the town, which connect to 500 additional miles of trails beyond city limits. Indeed, these forests and mountains make this underrated southern state one of America's "best places to go" in 2026.

Where did OZ Trails come from? The network was developed by Trailblazers, a Bentonville-based nonprofit that creates bike-based infrastructure in the region. The bike park is a showcase project for OZ Trails, and its opening coincides with Bentonville Bike Fest, a citywide festival and series of races. Once the park is open, pricing is expected to be wide-ranging, from $10 for a single lift pass to $59 for all-day access. If you love the idea of weaving your tires around chairlift towers, here are 5 abandoned ski resorts that are now incredible mountain biking destinations.