How to Bike the Razorback Greenway – Northwest Arkansas – 2024

Dom and I visited his family in Southwest Missouri earlier this summer, and while we were there we decided to drive another hour down to Northwest Arkansas to bike the Razorback Greenway. It’s a 40-mile, paved trail that leads from Bella Vista, AR (the north end) to Fayetteville, AR (the south end), so it was an 80 mile round-trip ride. We had an okay time, but I’m not sure it’s one we’ll do again any time soon – there are some more fun trails that we like more, including the 240 mile Katy Trail that runs from the Kansas City area to the St. Charles, MO area. Since this is an urban trail (it runs through many towns), there was a little too much traffic on the trail and too much starting / stopping at road crossings for it to be a relaxing bike ride. There were definitely some enjoyable and calm parts and it’s worth checking out if you’re in the area and have a bike anyway, but it’s not one I would go out of the way for. (For one of our favorite biking day-trip trails, check out my post about the Badger State Trail in Southern Wisconsin.)

Table of Contents

Packing and Gear

Dom and I both rode our Specialized Diverge bikes with Topeak rear racks + DX bags. These are the only gravel bike either of us have had so we don’t have anything to compare them to, but they’ve never given us any issues. Since the Razorback Greenway is paved, any road bike would work – we just wanted to try out our Diverges with the Topeak racks and bags before we did the Badger State Trail in southern Wisconsin later in the summer.

The Topeak bags generally worked out well; the racks took maybe 30 minutes each to mount on our bikes and we had plenty of extra room in both of our bags. Unfortunately, one of Dom’s bars had an incredibly annoying squeak noise – we tried a few different things to get rid of it when we stopped for water or snack breaks, but couldn’t figure out how to make it stop for longer than a mile or two. Once we got home, we realized it needed an extra washer somewhere that wasn’t on the instructions – once we added that, it fixed the noise entirely. So, if you try the Topeak system, I’d bring the extra washers / screws and a screwdriver on your rides in case you need to try to fix any squeaks or noises.

My gear packing list for a day trip is below – let me know if there’s anything you think I should add.

Planning

For this trail, I would estimate riding a little slow due to a few things:

a (relatively permanent) detour from mile markers 32-35 that has a lot of road crossings
a trail closure due to summer storms from mile marker 35-36 with no marked detour
the amount of normal trail traffic and street crossings since it’s an urban trail

We ended up going quite a bit slower than we expected – we averaged 12.6mph, but had planned for closer to 13.5mph. It also may be faster if you ride during the week when there is less trail traffic; we went on a Sunday when there was really great weather so it felt like everyone was outside.

The trail is exposed in a few areas, but generally there are a lot of trees around to block some of the wind. There’s enough exposure that you’ll want to use plenty of sunscreen, though.

Since we started from Bella Vista on the north end of the trail, we parked in the trail parking lot across the street from the Arkansas Welcome Center. The parking lot is on the east side of the road; the visitor center on the west side of the road is at: 13750 Visitors Center Dr, Bella Vista, AR 72714. You may have to make a U-turn and come back to the parking lot if you’re coming from the north.

If you’re starting the trail on the south end (in Fayetteville), you’ll want to park at Kessler Mountain Regional Park. The roads are a little confusing, but you’ll probably want to park in the first parking lot on your right after you turn onto W Judge Cummins Rd.

Stops Along the Trail

These are in order from the north end of the trail (Bella Vista) to the south end (Fayetteville).

Mile Marker 23: Lowell: Workman’s Travel Center, Wendy’s, Tropical Smoothie Cafe

We stopped at mile marker 23 on our way back to the car (so around mile 63 of our trip); I went to Wendy’s for a lemonade and refilled our water bottles, and Dom got a smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe. There was also an Einstein Bagel Bros and a Dominos Pizza there, so it wouldn’t be a bad spot to plan a meal/snack break.

We didn’t stop at Workman’s Travel Center, but they had a giant sign along the trail that said “Cyclists Welcome: Free Ice Water”.

Mile Marker 16: Trailside Coffee Company (Springdale)

We didn’t stop here either (it was too hot for coffee to sound good) but it looked really cute. It’s also right next to a bike shop (Phat Tire Bike Shop). There’s also a giant sign here that says “mile 16” if you want to get a picture with it.

Near Mile Marker 4: Siam Thai Cuisine (Fayetteville)

When we stayed in Fayetteville for a few weeks last summer, our apartment was about 200 yards from Siam Thai and we were obsessed with it. If you like Thai food, this is a great place to stop. We recommend the yellow curry, the Thai fried rice, and – most important – the fried vegetable rolls. They are the best egg rolls we’ve ever had outside of our trip to Thailand in 2019. The food is ready really quickly, and it was the perfect mid-ride meal; I felt like a new person afterwards. My only regret was that it was I didn’t have a good way to take my leftover curry and rice home with me. They do have a break between lunch and dinner when they’re closed, so watch the timing and check their website if you plan to stop here.

There are a few other places along the trail that would be easy to stop at, especially in the towns. Off the trail in Fayetteville, there was at least one gas station where we stopped to refill our water and bought a Gatorade, and I know there’s a Chipotle off the trail near there too. We didn’t really have a plan other than Siam Thai in Fayetteville, but since it’s an urban trail there were plenty of options along the way.

Sights and Views

Again, this is an urban trail so it’s not the most scenic. Some of my favorite spots that we stopped to take pictures and videos were: (roughly in order from Bella Vista to Fayetteville)

Mile marker 39 post (the first one we saw after we left the parking lot)
Sam’s Clubhouse
Bella Vista and Bentonville bike statues
Mile 16 sign
Lake Fayetteville
Fields with wildflowers near mile marker 0
Mile marker 0 post

Other Things to Do

Mountain Biking

While this is a trail that you can do on any kind of bike since it’s paved, the Razorback Greenway also connects a ton of mountain biking parks. We saw a lot of mountain bikers on the trail who were probably heading to different mountain bike parks. It’s a great area for that.

Fayetteville area

If you’re staying in Fayetteville over night, a few of my favorite things to do there are:

Coffee at Summer Moon
Book shopping at Pearl’s Books
Food and drinks at Cheers at the OPO (Old Post Office – a very cool building. Loved their drinks and fries)
Thai food at Siam Thai Cuisine
Clinton House Museum (the first house Bill and Hillary Clinton lived in when they got married and lived in Fayetteville)
Visit the Fayetteville Public Library – it’s huge and has fun outdoor rooftop seating on one of their top floors
Hiking or mountain biking at Kessler Mountain Regional Park