Which Trails are Hikeable?

Some trails in Northwest Arkansas are bike-only, and hikers are not allowed on them at all. Others are technically open to foot traffic, but due to the nature of the trail, putting hikers and bikers on the trail together is dangerous, so avoiding them is our recommendation. And a few are perfectly fine to hike but sit off on their own or run only a few hundred feet, so there is no real sense in hiking them.

This page is our recommendation for every trail we have mapped so far in Bella Vista and Bentonville—the ones to hike, and the ones to avoid. Every trail marked Don’t Hike is one we leave off our own mapped routes. If you are building your own route, or you’re standing at a kiosk map trying to work out where to hike, search a name below before you commit to it.

Look up a trail

Why we tell you to stay off some trails

A trail lands on the don’t hike list for one of three reasons. Some are posted bike-only, and that is almost always because of what the trail is—a gravity or downhill line where the traffic moves one way and moves fast. Others are technically open to foot traffic, but due to the nature of the trail, putting hikers and bikers on the trail together is dangerous, so avoiding them is our recommendation. And a few are perfectly fine to hike but sit off on their own or run only a few hundred feet, so there is no real sense in hiking them.

Trail / Trail system	Our recommendation

139 of these 211 trails are good ones on foot, so there is plenty left to hike. Crystal Bridges & Compton Gardens Trails, Osage Park, and Walmart Home Office are not listed here because every trail in them is fine to hike.

Ready to get out there?

Would you rather not build your own route? Our Route Library has routes we have already walked and mapped, filtered by distance and difficulty.