Arkansas River Trail - Hot Time in Little Rock

Arkansas River Trail

Distance: 16 miles

Route Map

Next time, we’ll plan a cycling trip somewhere cool. After the heat in Little Rock, Death Valley might be a good choice.

After arriving in late afternoon, we pointed the tandem in the direction of the Arkansas River for a short spin before dinner, pedaling towards the riverside trail where we expected a cool breeze along a leafy path that would take us out of the stupefying summer heat. We were rewarded with air that hung over us like a damp blanket and a skimpy hopscotch of shadows thrown off by trees struck dumb in a sun-blasted landscape.

Hot time in the city

This is not to criticize Little Rock for its Arkansas River Trail, even though it is a bit oversold by its Internet literature. Cities that maintain cycling trails are to be held in high esteem and Arkansas’s capital is no exception, regardless of its unfortunate status as magnet for summertime solar ferocity (all those solar panels along the interstate are there for a reason).

Call us naïve, but when we left the cool mountain air of North Georgia, we were unprepared for triple-digit heat. I feared a complex mechanical problem would leave us roasted like chestnuts in a parched and barren riverside meadow.

But, hey, ride or die, right?

Earlier in the month, we spent a few days in Greenville, South Carolina, riding the Swamp Rabbit Trail, a fine tabletop of asphalt that runs a straight shot from downtown to Travelers Rest about 10 miles away. It’s shady, cool and has an excellent store a few miles from town that’s perfect for a cold drink and snack on the return.

By contrast, the Arkansas River Trail curves through sections that range from pleasant with smooth asphalt to chunky road that dips through slightly ominous highway underpasses. Along one section, we veered off the trail and onto a gravel section that appeared to lead to a railyard. As we approached a dark underpass where the shadows hid who knows what, my Garmin flashed a red warning, prompting us to turn quickly around as we dodged old mattresses and threaded our way out of a sea of discarded plastic bottles and assorted trash.

For the first full day of riding, we were better prepared. We filled two extra water bottles and reserved them for pouring over our heads when the heat began to melt our helmets. We left the hotel and crossed the Broadway Bridge, picking up the trail that led to the Big Dam Bridge around 8 miles away.

The trail zigged a bit through Little Rock’s funky section of downtown restaurants and shops before dropping us onto wide asphalt that led out of town.

Rough patches

Little Rock seems to be a town that has tamped down a seediness that is working to reclaim its ground. The trail is smooth enough most of the time, but the rough sections pop up along the way, untended. There were more than a few homeless people on the trail and city streets, some of them muttering or screaming, clearly suffering from mental illness.

We rode through overgrown portions of the trail until we left the brush and were once again in the open, exposed to the blast furnace heat.

A turn onto the road leading to the Big Dam Bridge was a welcome stretch of smooth tarmac. We pedaled up the steep access and onto the span, pedaled across and swooped down into the woods and out again. I stopped along the river to take a picture as a swarm of dragonflies circled drunkenly in the heat.

We cruised back to the hotel and gulped chilled Gatorade from the ice chest.

Little Rock gets high marks for recovery time after a hot ride. Downtown is a cool, low-traffic cluster of fine eateries and shops along strollable streets with plenty of parking. We made our way to Cachet, refueling with calamari and fish, along with copious amounts of ice water.

Our final day of riding took us along the Southeast Trail, which is also known as the Airport Loop, a spur off the Arkansas River Trail that makes its way to Clinton National Airport.

From the Wyndham Hotel, we crossed the Clinton Bridge and cruised along the well-tended trails at the Clinton Presidential Library, pedaling up onto the shared-use trail along the levee for the short ride to airport.

After winding back to downtown, we pedaled over to the capitol where we posed for a selfie in front of the stately seat of power while pouring water over our heads in the blistering heat.

From there, we crossed the Broadway Bridge and retraced a portion of the ART from the previous day. As we were finishing up, a cyclist pulled alongside to admire our tandem and offer some of the town’s unmistakable hospitality. The heat, he told us, is not unusual for midsummer in this part of Arkansas.

That evening, we had an extraordinary meal at Brave New, referred to by many as the city’s finest restaurant. And the next morning, as we pulled out of the hotel parking lot with the tandem racked, the thermometer was soaring through the 90s.

Our impressions? Well worth the trip to Arkansas to explore the trail and enjoy the city’s fine restaurants and walkable downtown. No regrets. If we had it to do over, we would travel there in early fall after the summer heat is dulled. In a nutshell – interesting trail ride even if the landscape is somewhat scruffy in places. And as a destination, Little Rock is great for a short stay.

Along the Arkansas River Trail

The Arkansas River Trail is one of the most popular bicycle trails in Arkansas.

A ribbon of asphalt along the Arkansas River Trail

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