Introducing the Oz Trails Bike Park with Gary Vernon and Brandon Kelly

A chairlift bike park in the Ozarks sounds like a wild idea until you hear how Oz Trails Bike Park was actually built: carefully, deliberately, and for everyone. We’re joined by Brandon Kelly, director of Bella Vista, and Gary Vernon, who runs the bike park day to day, to share the story behind the park’s long path from rumor to ribbon cutting, with the grand opening set for June 12.

We get practical about what a day looks like at the park, from rolling into the base area to loading your bike on the lift, cruising to the top, and choosing trails by skill level. Gary explains how they focused on families and first-timers without watering down the experience for serious riders, including a standout beginner trail called Firestarter that’s designed to build confidence fast. We also talk about what makes this a true destination beyond riding: the Oz Trails HQ building, Ozzy’s Ride and Dine restaurant, and a full setup for bike rentals, retail, and bike school, so you can arrive with almost nothing and still have a great day.

Not a rider? You’re still invited. We dig into lift rides for sightseeing, ADA accessibility, patio views of the action, and the way the park preserves the natural beauty of Bella Vista’s old-growth forest, limestone bluffs, and deep ravines. We also touch on the Whistler connection through Gravity Logic, why the trails will keep evolving, and how Bella Vista vacation rentals plus Bentonville’s downtown make trip planning easy across both towns.

If you’re curious about Northwest Arkansas mountain biking, family-friendly bike parks, or the next big outdoor attraction in Bella Vista, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a riding buddy, and leave a review so more people can find the show! 

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Transcript

Intro And June 12 Grand Opening

Nat Ross 0:03

Welcome to the bicycle edition of a new American town. This podcast proudly is presented by Visit Bentonville. I'm your host, Matt Ross. We are going to discuss the newest, coolest, most exciting topic for Bella Vista and Bentonville. It is coming up here. So I'd like to introduce two special guests, Brandon Kelly. He's the director of Bella Vista. And then Gary Vernon, who runs the bike park himself. So Gary and Brandon have both been highly involved starting several years back from the inception of the idea to the actual grand opening, which will be coming up here soon. So we're going to talk about the Ostrails bike park. We're going to dig in, and you're going to be there before you know it. So the grand opening is June 12th, and we're going to combine this experience of Bella Vista and Bentonville with this piece.

Why Bella Vista Wants A Bike Park

Nat Ross 0:51

So I think, Brandon, I want to understand a little bit more about the excitement in Bella Vista, what this means for the community. This is a resort. You have tons of golf resorts. You have uh the all the trails, you have all the community, but now you have an actual milestone piece just dead center.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Yeah, I mean, Bella Vista has been kind of in the recreational game since 1917. So that was established actually as a getaway place for folks down in Oklahoma and Texas coming up, that new oil money coming up. So we've been, you know, at the short-term rental side of things, at the recreational side of things since, you know, for a long time. The bike park is phenomenal because it really gives us a central place, uh, an actual, you know, you can see it from the highway. It's grand. It's a place where folks can come who have a lot of different kinds of interest, but uh really is going to be a national, international attraction. And I would say really that's our first sort of national, international attraction. A lot of that comes from the fact that so much has been put into making it a world-class bike park. You know, and and Gary can talk a lot about that, but no nothing, no expenses were spared, no expertise was spared. This is really if you're gonna come here, you will be impressed. Aaron Powell, Jr.

Nat Ross 2:08

We're gonna circle back to even the family experiences and what we can do there in a moment. But Gary, you and I have been to bike parks all over the world. This is something spectacular in our backyard in Northwest Arkansas. So fill us in on kind of the conception, the idea, and then to where

Family-First Trails From Beginners To Pros

Nat Ross 2:24

we are today.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Aaron Powell Well, this has been a 20-year journey. Now, you know, uh Tom Walton had the vision of building a rail system in the city limits of Bentonville, and people don't realize that that's not normal. You know, now it's normal because the world's doing it because Bentonville has been a model. So everything we've learned about building trail over the past 20 years, we packed it into the bike park, this 200-acre park. And what we've really led with is the fact that we're gonna build a bike park that a family can come for the first time and ride. So we have built the best beginner trail in the history of trail building and with our partners Rock Solid and Gravity Logic. And uh the trail's called Firestarter because it's gonna light a fire in these families to want to ride bikes and and we saw it this weekend. This weekend was our members only opening, and we had young uh kids on little 20-inch mountain bikes that loaded their bikes on the lift with the little help from our crew with their families and jumped on the chair and went up to the top and rode down lap after lap. And we had so many, you know, thrilled young kids and families. So we nailed that. But not only that, Nat, we you know, we have a a group of riders, you know, from 14 to 30 that are pretty particular about their jumps and they have to be built a certain way and they're and they'll complain. They love it. So we we nailed the first timers to the all-timers and everybody in between. That's that's what's really special about the bike park.

Nat Ross 3:56

And that's not easy to do. So I think, Brandon, if you were to come to Bella Vista and start what we're calling ground zero, what are the experiences that you're already hearing, the excitement in the community, and basically for folks to learn about even coming for the first time or to come just to see the

Bentonville Plus Bella Vista Stay Options

Nat Ross 4:12

bike park?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Aaron Powell Yeah. So to give the listeners a little bit of context, what's really great about this, we have two towns right next to each other, got Bentonville, got Bella Vista. Bella Vista has um is is very you know outdoor focused. We've got seven lakes, we've got seven golf courses, it's a very backcountry feeling, and we've got beautiful vacation rentals. You know, we don't even have hotels. So no hotels in Bella Vista, all vacation rentals, all run by people who are crazy about biking, crazy about hiking. So but the great part is that we're right next to Bentonville. And Bentonville's got some great museums and a lot of wonderful um entities. It's got a beautiful downtown. And so we when you come to Northwest Arkansas, when you come to the bike park, right, you have everything that Bella Vista has to offer, you have everything that Bentonville has to offer. So overnight experience, under the stars, wake up to the birds, boom, that's Bella Vista. You want to you know, stay right off of downtown, maybe have a micro brew, boom, Bentonville. So come stay in Bentville, stay in Bella Vista, mix it up. And that's one thing that really makes this area so strong is that all of our communities are working together for the betterment of the visitor

Chairlift Basics And Ozzy The Bear

SPEAKER_00 5:20

experience.

Nat Ross 5:20

And you're not kidding, it is a park for everyone. So let's talk about the chairlift, riding up the chairlift and what that experience is like. Because some folks um they may not know that it's open, that you can come ride the chairlift and uh go to the top. So what would that look like rolling into Bell Vista, parking?

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Well, you know, it was a big wild, crazy idea that Tom Walton had to put a a world-class ski lift on a hill. You know, this is not a mountain, this is a hill. But what it turned into is a wonderful experience, you know, just riding up the lift with your bike, you know, in a in a carrier, and you're sitting in a seat watching your bike go up in front of you, and then we have a staff that grabs your bike and has it waiting on you. That's great. That's fun. We we love it. And you just roll down and pick your trail, depending on your skill level. That's the best day ever. We're actually gonna try to eliminate this painful pedaling uphill, Nat, that you love to do. Well, I don't know about that. We gotta we have to do that. Well, we we we we do have an uphill climbing trail that's even magnificent. You've seen it.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

But what what is really the surprise that we try to tell everybody is really the best experience is riding up the lift and then getting off looking at the big bear. We have a 4,500-pound bronze statue of a bear up there that's fantastic. Ozzy the bear, great place to get your picture taken with your family. But then the best, the best experience is riding down the lift. If you don't have a bike, we want you to come out and just ride up and down the lift. Absolutely. It is it is fantastic. And just think about the fall colors. And then we're gonna have red buds and dogwoods planted over this fall to where this the early spring experience will be wonderful. But we're also got some really fun ideas like what if we lit up the lift line with Christmas lights and we ran it as a Christmas experience. Maybe we do it with for Halloween, you know, Halloween experience. Maybe you ride the lift and in your costume and you you walk down a spooky trail. All right. You get you know chased down the trail with a chainsaw or something from our you know, trail builders. But uh, we're gonna we got a lot of fun

Oz Trails HQ Restaurant Rentals Coaching

SPEAKER_01 7:20

ahead of us.

Nat Ross 7:20

This is incredible. So talk about bringing the community together. And not only that, but we've talking cycling. But if you just want to have a visit to the outdoors, like Brandon's saying, that's what Bella Vista is all about. So you could simply not be a cyclist, not even be um in your family radar, but you could park, um, walk up to the visitor center and what we're calling ground zero. And let's talk about that building for a second. What experiences can someone do once they walk into the building? Because you've got a restaurant in there, a lot of activities.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Well, you know, that was really a main piece of the puzzle is how do we make a really unique building and and plaza area that can be really, you know, Oz Trails is our brand for the region, but nobody really understood what Ozrels is. So this is really the first the first tangible little uh headquarters for Oz. So we call it the Oz Trails HQ building. Okay. And and we're really fortunate to have uh the team that has been running uh oven and tap and the new townie burger place, they're running Ozzy's ride and dine restaurant. We've been taste testing, you know, Nat, that's an important part. We've been taste testing, and and the menu is fantastic. Gonna have wonderful pizzas, great smash burger, chicken sandwich. All there's some healthy foods there that I'll never eat. But uh, we what I'm excited about is they're fine ice cream and shakes and all that. And but on the other end, we have Corey Cruz running our bike shop, bike retail, bike rental, and bike school. And this, we have an all-star cast of uh technicians, coaches, retail staff. This will be the best bike facility in Arkansas.

Nat Ross 8:59

So if someone wasn't really familiar with riding bike parks, but they like to ride mountain bikes, they've been here before, um, would it be easy for them to actually sign up for whatever tier of like experience they want, all the way to instruction? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

You can actually fly in and just have the clothes on your back. You roll into the bike park, we'll set you up with helmet and pads and a bike, and we'll put you with an instructor to just give you the basics and take you up the lift and take you down that fire starter trail, which I have followed a three-year-old on a on a tiny bike down that trail. Not that we recommend that, but it's it's been you know vetted by a by a three-year-old. So, and and it's fantastic. My wife rode her little Greenway bike down it and loved it. That's how fun this trail is. But once you get that under your belt, we just move you to trail number two, you know, which is another green trail. Excellent. And uh and then keep going and teach you the way.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Yeah, and that that was one of the things when Gary, you know, a while back sat down with us and kind of presented the vision. What one of the things that really excited me is about how inclusive it is for all different skill levels and for all different experience levels. So, you know, I I'm one of those folks that used to ride mountain bikes way back in the high school days. I won't tell you how long ago that was.

Nat Ross 10:19

Hardtails folks.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Hardtails folks, absolutely. That was down with John Tomack, if that gives you a little bit of a sense.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Well, you wore a skin suit.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

There you go. But what's great about that for me is you know, if I think about a bike park, I'm like, oh, well, maybe that's not for me. But I sat down with Gary and he made it clear, hey, it's for everyone. So whatever wherever you're at, if you're getting back into mountain biking, et cetera. And Bella Vista really is about families, et cetera, you know, especially with the short-term rentals. So we love to have families come, people of all ages, groups of all ages, and I feel really confident when they come to Bella Vista and stay, yeah, that I can have them go down to the bike park, they're gonna be taken care of, they're gonna be welcomed, and they're gonna grow as uh as a mountain biker. And and also if you don't ride, I was just there a couple days ago, walking up the hiking trail, taking photographs or other people hiking, it's just gorgeous.

Nat Ross 11:08

Aaron Powell So, Brandon, if someone wants to just watch their grandkids or um a family member, um, they can sit outside, they can go inside, they've actually got a really good view from the base of what is happening there. Um, and that's an acceptable thing

Sightseeing Without Riding And ADA Access

Nat Ross 11:24

to do at the park.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Aaron Powell 100%. When we were talking to the Bella Vista residents about the idea of having a bike park in Bella Vista, one of the big questions they had is hey, what about us? Is there something there for us? So they've really put some time into the fact that you can come there without a bike, have a vantage point, watch people come down, see what they're up to, and be out in nature. One thing that I don't think uh folks talk too much about, but it's so important, the bike park preserves the natural environment of that space. Yeah. So many different things could have gone into that location, but the bike park preserves the natural beauty of the space, the old growth forest in that space, and also is an attraction. So it's really the best of both worlds.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Well, and and that to add on to that, you know, we by design, the biggest jumps and craziest trails are in view of the lift as you're going up the hill. Love it. And so I and and the lift is is designed in a way where it actually slow you can slow it down for somebody who wants to take their time to get on the chair, or when you get to the top, we can slow it down and let you step off. It's it's even the ADA accessible. It is.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

They slowed it for me.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Yeah. Uh-huh. And and I took my 86-year-old mother on a lift ride, and she got to watch all the live action below us as people were crazy flying down the trails, and she loved it. Were you out there and uh I was and I was sitting next to her on the lift, just you know, giving her the tour, you know, and and took her to the top, let her look at the bear, and then we loaded back up and went down. She absolutely loved it and is going to bring my 91-year-old aunt out, and she'll ride it. So it is definitely something we want sightseers that may not ever step foot on the trail to come to the park, come enjoy the restaurant. You can just like Brandon said, you can get you can get your drink of a choice and sit on the patio and watch all the fun.

Nat Ross 13:16

It's an easy way to get above the canopy. So if you're riding the chairlift, there's a safety bar that goes down. It is uh I know some people are afraid of heights and say they'll never ride the chairlift, but it is quite the attraction.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

It is.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

That's an excellent point. You know, one thing about Bella Vista, we use it in some of our promotions that we have gazillions of trees. We are a fully canopied town, right? And it's actually hard to find a vista, a vista point where you can actually get a nice view because we are so the trees are so dense. The bike park gives you that opportunity to actually see the landscape, to see the rock formations, the limestone bluffs. Uh so one thing I love about the trail builders that that you guys have always employed, they really respect the landscape. They love the rock formations, and they preserve as much of that as possible when they build the trail. So if you're into that kind of stuff, you're gonna see it on the trail.

Whistler Builders And Ozark Terrain

Nat Ross 14:07

Aaron Ross Powell Well, let's tap on that real quick because there's a specific group that kind of built the trail and the formulation of the design that Brandon was talking about. But the Ozarks are pretty special. And the topography of the Ozarks, this is a way to get in and see it uh very easily on foot or by bike. And uh myself coming from the Rockies and and different zones, I had an appreciation for the Ozarks, but until you slide into what you're talking about, Brandon, the nooks and the crannies, you don't quite see the beauty, and this is the easiest way. It's so accessible.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Well, if you you know, really early on when the idea was was tossed around, this has been a rumor for nearly a decade, you know. So it was a crazy idea. And everybody, you know, thought it was crazy until they seen the park. But two years ago, we when Tom Walton had really kind of put his planted his flag in the ground and said, Let's do this park in Bella Vista, well, the first thing we did was got got with uh the Gravity Logic trail building crew who built Whistler Bike Park. And if anybody's in involved in riding bike parks, that is the number one in the world. Standard. Going up to Whistler, British Columbia, and you have to go once a year, you know. So we brought Dave Kelly, who who built A-line back in the 90s, which is the most famous trail in the world, correct, and uh had him get on site in August in the hot August heat. And we, you know, he's a he's a Canadian, so it was tough. But we traipsed around and I said, Do you tell us if we're crazy? And he walked around that property and he said, This has got potential. We can do something here. But it was it was not until November when he came back and the leaves have all fallen and it exposed all those bluff lines that Brandon's talking about and and the beautiful aspects, the deep ravines. That piece of property is so special it would not have worked anywhere else in Bella Vista. It just wouldn't. And it was fortunate for us that it was preserved. There was no development there. I mean, that that would easily become a nice place to put some condos, you know. But it's gorgeous, I think it was it it was untapped. So we uh just started, you know, started the design of the trails, and then uh a year ago, February, the team started building. And they the first trail they built was the Black Jump Trail. Mission Control is the name of it now. Okay. And uh we knew we had something special

Hours Vibe Kids Zones Future Trails

SPEAKER_01 16:25

coming.

Nat Ross 16:25

Well, Brandon, let's talk about in general the community and the offerings um from here on out. What are what have you seen since you've been um bringing folks for experiences to Bella Vista and what are we to look forward to now?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah, I think I think the central piece of the Bella Vista experience is that overnight experience. Like I said, our our short-term rental owners, uh primarily local folks, they love the outdoors, they love bikers, they love hikers. And so, you know, you're gonna be somewhere, a beautiful home, you're gonna be out on a deck, you're gonna be barbecuing, you're gonna be under the stars, you're gonna awaken up to the sound of the birds, and that's really the central piece of the Belavista experience. And then from there, we've got about 120 miles of soft surface trail. This is stuffed in a 55 square mile zone, uh, thanks to Gary's team and everything. That those trails are remarkable. So we've got session zones, we've got technical, we've got flow trails. So outside of the bike park, whatever you might want for hiking and biking you've got, plus seven lakes, beautiful lakes, and seven golf courses. So a lot of times folks come, they mix and match their activities, they go riding, they go golfing, and now they're gonna go whoop down the bike park. And so that's gonna be a full experience, especially good for families, small groups, uh, folks that like that environment.

Nat Ross 17:44

Gary, what are the hours of the bike park for folks that are uh already salivating and wanting once the grand opening starts? And then we'll talk about the grand opening.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Right now we're we're anchoring the lift will be running 10 to 7. Excellent. And that means when we have the restaurant open, which you know, we're still in our membership phase. So this weekend, we're gonna open the restaurant Friday. The restaurant will be open an hour before the lift starts and an hour later. And and one fun fact that we're finding is even this weekend without the restaurant, we we cook some hot dogs and some fun, but the vibe is so cool. People just want to hang out. So, you know, we're we're gonna we're gonna play it by ear on on hours of operation. Um, but we do know once we turn the lift off, people still want to hang out. And the vibe is so so great and talk about the day and have a have a beer and and eat a burger and just hang out. And the kids, it's such a great kid zone, and we're gonna add more for kids, playgrounds and little strider zone. We're building a strider world cup downhill in the grassy area right next to the building. Yeah. Uh but you know, it's just right now we're we're anchoring on the lift, we'll turn 10 to 7. Okay. We are gonna close Tuesday, Wednesday each week just to kind of recover, get the trails back in order and and uh just make sure everything's running right. Um we may we may open up those days on holiday weeks, we're just gonna see how the demand is. But right now the demand is high, and uh so we're we're having a good time doing it.

Nat Ross 19:12

Great. And I heard rumor you guys are working on some side country access. So for if folks uh don't want to get the pass and they're not into a full downhill experience, they need to enjoy what they're good at or what they're comfortable with. There may be other options to ride from the top of the park.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Well, Ethan Edmund and Josh Hardy, two legends in in this area that have been building forever. You know, Ethan is our director of trail maintenance and construction. Josh Hardy is his number two, and you know those two will be up to nothing but building sweet trail the the entire year and beyond. So just because you've ridden all the trails after a month of riding there, you'll see more. So Bella Vista's getting more trails, it's inevitable. Well, the bike park itself is going to be ever growing. You know, it's an organic thing, trails are. So we'll improve what's there and keep adding.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Wow. That is one element that that I hear consistently among folks that come back to this area that's northwest Arkansas and Bella Vista specific, is that the trails are always evolving. They're always developing, right? So you you can hit a trail one year and come back, and it will likely be improved. And that's a collaboration between the city of Bella Vista, between Oz Trails, um, all of the folks that are net the volunteers, we have a massive, massive volunteer network. And without that volunteer network, we couldn't do it. So really when you hear it takes a village, when you come here to enjoy this, it does take a village.

Where To Learn More And Visit

Nat Ross 20:37

No kidding. Well, I know uh we talked enough about it, so it's time to get folks there. Grand opening day is? June twelfth. Okay. So, Brandon, we'd like to uh welcome everybody to Bella Vista. Um, why don't you send them the invite?

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Awesome. Well, yeah, definitely come down to Bella Vista if you want a little bit more information. Come to discover bella vistaar.com and you can get more information on visiting Bella Vista and where to stay and where to eat and how to enjoy yourself and how to connect to the bike park.

Nat Ross 21:05

Gary, Brandon, thank you so much for the time and the uh the passion put into these projects. So we look forward to uh filling the bike park parking lot and experiences glore for families and fun for many years to come.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Thank you.

Nat Ross 21:23

Thanks so much for joining us. Check out the ozTrailsbikepark.com or visitbentonville.com for the information or something that will give you all the specifics. If you're interested in long-term staying here longer, check out visitbittenville.com for all the lodging opportunities that will get you a wonderful stay here. For maps, events, and local cycling resources, that's visitbentonville.com. So stop by, learn about the trails, upcoming rides, community groups, events, and connect with other cyclists. Thanks for listening. My name is Matt Ross, Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. You'll see you at the Oz Trails Bike.

unknown 22:00

Yeah.