Putting the "Down" in "Downcountry" - Mount Nebo
Words & Images By: Greg Heil
I dropped into the steep, forested trail, a mix of pine needles and dry leaves from last fall sliding down the hill behind me.
I popped off a small rock drop in the middle of the slope, landing in an eroded trench in the center of the track while trying to maintain the perfect balance of speed, traction, and control. Thankfully, I was able to smash the rear wheel into a catch berm at the bottom, narrowly avoiding one of Arkansas’s many trees and setting myself up for the next brake-burning descent. This steep, technical test piece is known as “Haney’s Ridge,” and it’s renowned as the steepest descent on the flanks of Mount Nebo.
Arkansas is now on the international map for mountain bikers,
thanks to the many tens of millions of dollars invested in professional trail building over the past 15 years. While Bentonville in Northwest Arkansas has long been the state’s trail building hub, the terrain there is decidedly… rolling. While the trails are entertaining and feature-filled, when you only have a few hundred vertical feet to work with, you can only do so much.
Over the past seven or so years, the professional trail building trend has swept across the state, bringing world-class trails to communities across Arkansas. And some of these trails offer radically more aggressive terrain than Bentonville.
Like Mount Nebo State Park.
My wife and I had rolled into Mount Nebo,
parking the van in the State Park's campground with no intention of moving it for the next five days
as we spent day after day in the woods pedaling the superb 25-mile trail system. Unlike the rolling hills of Bentonville, Mount Nebo rises 1,350 vertical feet above the relatively flat terrain below. The flat-topped mountain is a geographical anomaly in the region, dominating the skyline from below and offering spectacular views from its summit. We had plenty of time to enjoy those views as the State Park campground rests atop the massive Arkansas mountain.
Mount Nebo was constructed as part of Arkansas's Monument Trails project.
"The Monument Trails are a collection of world-class, mountain biking destinations within Arkansas State Parks," reads the official description."
These shared-use trails are professionally crafted by some of the world’s best trail builders to showcase natural iconic beauty through innovative and sustainable design and build. Monument trails are seamlessly woven into the beautiful landscape of Arkansas State Parks to highlight unique terrain, historic landmarks, and scenic vistas.”
The Monument Trails have been built through the collaboration of the Walton Family Foundation, the Arkansas Parks and Recreation Foundation, and the Arkansas State Parks. Four Monument Trails have been built so far, and of all four monuments, every local Arkansas rider I spoke with named Nebo as their favorite. In fact, many riders picked Nebo as their favorite mountain bike trail system in the entire state.
That’s high praise, so naturally, I had to go check it out.
Rock Solid Trail Contracting
Rock Solid Trail Contracting was selected as the primary builder for Mount Nebo, and they brought their world-class talent to bear, fashioning spectacular rock structures, gnarly rock gardens and obstacles, perfectly sculpted berms, and jumps of every variety. Jagged Axe was also hired for subsequent trail development, and they dug in a series of steep, enduro-oriented lines, like Haney’s Ridge.
Phase one was completed in 2019, and phase two was finished in 2020, bringing Mount Nebo to a total of 25 miles of top-tier mountain bike trails.
What will you find on the trails of Mount Nebo?
I laid into the corners on the Chickalah Downhill, railing around a berm which set me up perfectly for a feature combination: step up jump off a rock lip to step down drop, followed by a rock wallride. Despite its “intermediate” rating, the optional black diamond features allow advanced riders to get creative with how they paint their ride on Chickalah’s blank canvas.
At least five steep descents rip down the flanks of Nebo, and Chickalah is just one of them. Since I began every ride at the top of the mountain, after dropping into Chickalah, I knew that I’d be in for a grunt to get back up. There’s only one way to pay the piper for the radical fun of that descent, and it’s with sweat.
On Chickalah in particular,
riders have the option to cut across and head straight back up a climb trail or add in some more up-and-down pedaling on the Chickalah Valley Loop Trail — one of the most remote trails in the park. The longer pedal loop leads to a great overlook of central Arkansas and is well worth it for the pedal-inclined.
The flanks of Nebo are veritably covered in rock,
including boulder fields, rock slabs, and towering cliff bands just below the rim of the mountain. Rock Solid has crafted these rocks into a slew of chunky features, with some fast downhill rock gardens, rock kickers, rock drops, and technical slow-speed test pieces with up-and-down rock gardens on trails like Lizard Tail.
The combination of high speed downhills, brutal rock gardens, and punishingly steep climbs to follow made the Trailcat SL the perfect bike choice for these trails.
With 120mm of rear travel and a confidence-inspiring 140mm up front, the Trailcat felt right at home, railing berms and blasting through rocks. Even though I pushed it to the limits on some of the larger ledge drops, I never heard a whisper of a complaint.
When it inevitably came time to pay the piper, the efficient pedaling platform and light weight paid off. On one 30-mile ride, I logged over 4,500 feet of climbing (and descending) — not too shabby for Arkansas.
If steep fall-line trails, rocky ledge drops, and brutal rock gardens sound like a bit too much for you, never fear:
all Monument Trails are designed to offer something for everyone. For true beginners, the mellow Three-C’s trail on top of the mountain provides kid-friendly pedaling. Stepping up to in difficulty, the Miller’s Goat trail provides a continuous 5-mile loop that circumnavigates the mountain, traversing a bench located roughly 200 vertical feet below the summit. This trail is useful for connecting to all of the steeper descents, but even in its own right, it provides an entertaining beginner-friendly pedal through the deep forest on entertaining terrain. Keep your eyes peeled for all of the alt lines, too, including a technical test piece that’s been artfully constructed through a massive boulder field.
All good things must come to an end
All good things must come to an end, but on Mount Nebo, the end of the day is one of the highlights. One must-do on any visit to Nebo, especially if you’re spending the night in the campground, is a quick pedal out to Sunset Point with a cold beverage in hand to watch the churning sphere of incandescent plasma slowly sink below the horizon.
The view from this free-standing monolith is stunning. Thanks to the elevated perch and the consistent horizon that the sun sinks behind, the dramatic sunset reminds me of watching the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean. As the light slowly fades, the afterglow lights up any clouds in the sky with a picture-perfect pink glow.
Yes, the ending of an epic mountain bike trip can be bitter — but with a sunset this epic, there’s a healthy dose of sweetness to balance it out.
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