Fitzgerald Mountain
Fitzgerald Mountain
At Fitzgerald Mountain near Bayyari Park in Springdale, you’ll find ribbons of dirt punctuated by stretches of boulders that have been expertly knit together into swelling waves of trail.
You can find everything here from the advanced technical terrain, rocky descents, and punchy climbs to a Strider skills course for the kiddos. Stage Coach, Coyote Cave, and the affectionately named Best Trail Ever are worth riding for the stonemasonry alone. The builders took what Northwest Arkansas’s geology had to offer and turned it into rock gardens, jumps, and bridges, so all the features are built with stone sourced from the property. Trails added to the south side of the park will let you session up and down the hill trying out multiple lines.
They also packed Fitzgerald with everything from a beginner-friendly miniature flow trail to an expert-only line that includes a 10-foot drop with an 18-foot gap that sends riders ripping into a 30-foot jump. The mountain is also located just minutes from downtown Springdale and the Runway Bike Park, which is home to the largest asphalt pump track in North America.
Fitzgerald was an opportunity to develop and utilize natural landscape to offer trail users a unique experience and help drive the local community to connect with nature. Interesting features include a lookout, cave, rock features, and rock climbing. An advantage of this trail is it's natural layout and copious amounts of stone proved beneficial to build unique technical trails. The trail network has a proximity to an elementary school as well as medium to low-income community and allows these residents to have a greenspace to use with zero cost to them. Why is the project special? Fitzgerald is a unique layout of rocky technical and picturesque landscapes tucked into the base of the mountain and surrounded by homes. With rock climbing routes, users can come ride, climb, hike, and trail run in the same place located centrally in Northwest Arkansas.
Trail Profile
• City: Springdale
• Number of Miles: 13
• Type of Trail: Beginner to Advanced Singletrack, Flow, Jump, Technical Trails
• Trailblazer role: Project Management
• Designer(s): Rock Solid Trails
• Permitting Agencies: City of Springdale
• Contractor(s): Rock Solid Trails, Jagged Axe Trails, Ptarmigan Trails
• Easement & Property Acquisition: 10 Parcels
• Construction Administration: Trailblazers
• Date of Build: 2018 - 2021
• Funding Partner(s): Walton Family Foundation