In true Our Accidental Odyssey fashion, this trip started the way a surprising number of our adventures do: packing up after work and pointing the car toward somewhere else.
This time, somewhere else was Bentonville, Arkansas, with the mountain bikes strapped to the back and an entire weekend to see just how much we could squeeze in.
Spoiler: quite a lot.
We broke up the drive with a night in southern Arkansas, which made the next morning much more manageable—and conveniently put us in position to knock another National Park off the list along the way.
A Morning at Hot Springs National Park
Our first stop was Hot Springs National Park, and this one felt completely different from most of the national parks we’ve visited. Instead of driving into some vast stretch of wilderness, we basically found ourselves in the middle of downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas.
We spent the morning exploring Bathhouse Row and hiking along the Grand Promenade behind it, stopping to see some of the springs and learning a little more about history of Hot Springs.
There’s the geology, of course—the rainwater that sinks deep underground, heats up, and eventually makes its way back to the surface as the thermal springs that made the town famous. But there’s also the centuries of people coming here to soak in the waters inside of the elaborate bathhouses. Not exactly a typical National Park, but still very interesting.
The Geology of Hot Springs National Park
Obviously, We Had to Stop for the Dinosaurs
From Hot Springs, we continued north. But not directly to Bentonville.
Because Caitlin had found a dinosaur park in Mountainburg.
Dinosaur Park | City of Mountainburg
And really, what were we supposed to do? Not stop at the random dinosaur park on the side of the road?
We’ll let the photos speak for themselves on this one. The Google reviews had prepared us. They had not prepared us enough.
It was weird. It was wonderful. It was exactly the kind of completely unnecessary detour we support around here.
Mountain Biking at Coler
Eventually, we made it to Bentonville and headed straight for Coler Mountain Bike Preserve. Bentonville has earned a reputation as one of the best mountain biking destinations in the country, and it didn’t take very long to understand why. Also, Coler has a ride up coffee shop? How awesome!
We spent the afternoon getting in a few laps at Coler, exploring the trails and getting our first taste of what riding in Bentonville is like. Then we headed downtown, checked into our hotel and discovered something that immediately told us we were in the right place: The hotel had a bike valet. Not a bike rack. A bike valet. Bentonville takes this stuff seriously.
Riding From Our Hotel to Slaughter Pen
The next morning might have been one of the coolest parts of the trip. We got up, grabbed our bikes and simply rode from our hotel to Slaughter Pen. That may be one of the biggest perks of mountain biking in Bentonville. The trails aren’t something completely separate from the city—they’re woven into it.
And despite the slightly intimidating name, Slaughter Pen Trail turned out to be a ton of fun. There was plenty that was approachable for a less-experienced mountain biker like Caitlin, while Marc could still find enough features and lines to keep things interesting. Which, honestly, is kind of the perfect combination when your household contains two very different definitions of the phrase, “That looks rideable.”
We rode for a few hours, played around on the trails and then eventually traded the bikes for swimsuits.
Finding Our Own Swimming Hole on the Buffalo River
From Bentonville, we headed north toward the Buffalo National River for a completely different kind of afternoon.
After hiking in, we found a beautiful stretch of river with no one else around. Just us, the water, a few playful fish and the surrounding Ozarks.
After a morning on the bikes, swimming in the Buffalo River felt incredible. For a weekend built around doing as much as possible, this was one of those rare stretches where we actually slowed down for a little while.
Eventually, though, it was time to head back toward Bentonville.
Downtown Bentonville, Rogers & the Walmart Museum
That evening, we spent some time exploring downtown Bentonville and Rogers. We also stopped at the Walmart Museum, which felt almost mandatory while visiting the town where Walmart began.
Regardless of what you expect going into Bentonville, it’s hard not to notice how much investment has gone back into the community. Between the trail systems, parks, museums, bike infrastructure and downtown development, the city feels connected, easy to explore, and cared for by residents.
And, because apparently we had not walked or biked enough yet, we also wandered some of the trails around Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
One of our biggest takeaways from Bentonville was just how much there is to do without ever feeling like you’re leaving town. You can be downtown one minute and on a wooded trail a few minutes later. We definitely understood the appeal.
One Last Detour: Crater of Diamonds
The next morning, it was time to head home, so we pointed our car towards one last adventure: Crater of Diamonds State Park.
Because if there’s a state park where you can potentially dig up an actual diamond and keep it, obviously we’re stopping. For the uninitiated, the park sits over an ancient volcanic crater that brought diamonds and other minerals toward the Earth’s surface millions of years ago. Today, visitors can walk into a giant plowed field, start digging and keep whatever rocks, minerals—or diamonds—they find. And yes, people still find diamonds here.
There is, however, one tiny catch: You have to find them yourself. So we rented some gear and headed into the dirt, fully prepared for our impending early retirement.
Update: We did not find a diamond.
We did find some pretty volcanic rocks and pieces of jasper, which we enthusiastically carried home like the priceless treasures they clearly are. Financial independence will have to wait.
Just a Normal Weekend Road Trip Around Here
And with that, we finally headed south. In one (3 day) weekend, we’d visited a National Park, stopped at an extremely questionable dinosaur attraction, mountain biked two of Bentonville’s trail systems, swam in the Buffalo River, explored two downtowns, visited a museum, walked the trails around Crystal Bridges and dug for diamonds in an ancient volcanic crater.
Which sounds slightly ridiculous when you put it all in one sentence.
But that’s usually how our favorite weekends happen. Pick a direction. Pack whatever gear seems appropriate. Leave after work. And make room for a few detours along the way.
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