July 29, 2025 • 16 mins
Get the inside scoop on Hand Cut Hollow—Bentonville’s signature hand-built trail system—from the man who helped bring it to life. Uriah Nazario, VP of Soft Surface Trails at Trailblazers and lifelong local, shares the story behind this 16-mile masterpiece, designed for flow, progression, and connection to nature. Learn why Hand Cut Hollow stands apart, how to ride it right, and what to pack before you drop in. With expert tips, trail history, and a look at how this system fits into Bentonville’s 500+ miles of rideable trails, this episode is your ultimate guide to Hand Cut Hollow in the Mountain Biking Capital of the World.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nat Ross (00:11):
Welcome to A New American Town.
I'm your host, nat Ross.
Today we're joined by UriahNazario.
He's a lifelong NorthwestArkansas native and the VP of
soft surface trail constructionwith we Are At Trailblazers.
So you've got a background inarchitecture, years and years of
trail building experience, tonsof advocacy, work.
(00:32):
You've helped shape trails andtrail projects across the region
and made a big influence ontrail builders in general.
So let's start talking aboutseveral systems and trailblazers
, as well as Handcut HollowTrail System one of my favorites
and how these trails can bestenhance folks' visits to
Bentonville.
So, uriah, super pumped to haveyou here, tell me about your
(00:53):
passion for trails, where itcame from and how you ended up
as the VP of soft surface trailsat Trailblazers.
Uriah Nazario (00:59):
Oh man, thanks, nat, thanks for having me.
I got into this position kindof as a fluke.
It was really, uh, just mevolunteering to take care of
some trails that were kind ofgetting dilapidated around here
and one thing kind of led toanother.
It started turning into aprofessional career and started
with that and volunteering andadvocating for trails.
(01:21):
It just led me to a positionwith uh trailzers, which is
pretty much the nonprofitdevelopment side for Oz Trails,
and so we help oversee a lot ofdevelopment of the Greenway and
the soft surface trails.
Nat Ross (01:37):
Well, soft surface one of my favorites.
And for those folks that arecoming into the Bentonville area
, they're doing their research,doing their homework.
There's tons of soft surfacetrails that make Bentonville
area.
They're doing their research,doing their homework.
There's tons of soft surfacetrails that make Bentonville
famous.
But also the interconnectivitybetween the cities and you.
Growing up here, I think that'ssomething that was pretty
unique.
That's been a big part of yourlife.
Uriah Nazario (01:56):
Absolutely.
That's.
One thing that really sets usapart is being able to stay in
town and then ride directly totrails.
There's no shuttle needed,there's no, you know, getting up
and repacking and heading to atrailhead.
You can simply ride to it, andwe've worked really, really hard
to make the connectivity to allthe major trail systems around
(02:17):
town.
So really, with that and theGreenway, you can ride up to
about 500 miles of trail.
Nat Ross (02:23):
And I noticed the trails have been packed since
that New York Times article cameout sending everybody to
Bentonville.
We want more people to come.
The zone that I saw you lastand the trail network system
that I saw you last working wasHandcut Hollow, with your crew.
Fill us in on how specialHandcut Hollow is, where it is
and how to get there.
Uriah Nazario (02:44):
So Handcut, it's kind of my hidden gem and the
place where I go when things getpretty chaotic around town.
But it's a beautiful plot ofland that we developed a trail
system on it to be kind of thehidden gem to be, you know, for
the adventurous that want to geta little bit further outside.
And it's just a short ride fromslaughter pin and you can
(03:07):
connect to it and then there's16 miles of trail over there and
if you really want to get awayor feel like you've gone well
into the, the woods is you, youget out to hand cut hollow and
it's really it's got its ownkind of unique, unique
characteristics to it becauseyou've got a lot of hand-cut
trail that people meticulouslyworked hard to literally pick
(03:32):
axes and shovels and trail tools, mcleods, everything to sculpt
these trails and this trailexperience to where it was a
minimal impact on nature, towhere it was a minimal impact on
nature but it was a big impacton the rider engagement and how
you could really just go out,get as many miles as you wanted
(03:55):
to chew off of and then easilyride back to your place and town
.
Nat Ross (04:01):
Great.
So there's a special, uniquefeature right outside of the
parking lot there that has somehistory and heritage too and
describe kind of like where thetrailhead for a lot of folks to
start, if they want to justdrive and start from the
trailhead and go that route,what that looks like yeah,
there's some uniquecharacteristics and on Punka
Hall Road there's an oldschoolhouse there that you know
(04:23):
we we actually allow people toto reserve it and use it for
events.
Uriah Nazario (04:29):
We love to help.
You know other other nonprofitsthat that want to station up
there and or if we have a raceevent or something like that, it
works great.
But it's a it's an old schoolhouse that was that was
completely renovated and itmakes for a great hangout spot
or someplace where you know if,if Anybody gets separated, they
can easily meet back at.
(04:49):
It's the base of the trails,essentially, and then directly
above it you have the start hub,which is an old barn silo, and
then you ride out of that andit's just several gravity trails
that you can just pick andchoose.
Nat Ross (05:05):
That hub is kind of a great feature and it's something
that you guys do all across theregion and that allows folks to
become more skilled, more adeptwith their skill set and
progress.
So what do you see in thefuture at Handcut Hollow and
what would you like to do whenyou get free time to go to make
that even more?
Uriah Nazario (05:23):
of a special place.
You know, trails are anevolution.
They're an evolution you getyour first trail portion built
and then it slowly goes throughthe weathering process and it
slowly gets its own kind ofcharacteristics to it.
But we also are able to seewhat some of the things that
(05:44):
aren't properly working for thattrail, and so we go in and
trailblazers with our crew kindof massage and redirect some of
the trails.
And especially after lastyear's storm events, you know we
went through and we really hadthe ability to kind of dissect
each trail and figure out whatwere the main things that we
were missing the mark on.
(06:06):
And now we've got an incrediblespectrum of trails from, you
know, from green, from beginnerto intermediate to expert level,
and it's really just becausethey're shorter runs you can
just pick and choose andcontinue to just, you know,
really get a full realm of likea full spectrum of riding styles
(06:27):
in there, from technical tosingle track.
To, you know, a traverse trailaround that goes around the
entire property.
To, you know, there's evengravel routes through there if
you want to ride gravel.
And then we've got some somereally advanced, uh, technical
sections and then there's asecret, uh little zone four in
(06:48):
there for people that want totest themselves, and it's, it's
one of those trails that it's,it's specially, specially built,
uh, that it's really to see whois probably the most proficient
at climbing and technical movesand who has the ticker, you
know, to push them through andget them all the way through.
And it's, and it's a.
(07:09):
If you can go through withouthaving to dab or touch the
ground, then it's, it's a, it'sa victory, because there's only
a handful of people that haveever done it.
Nat Ross (07:17):
Was that a special Jersey at one point in time,
Like if you were to do itwithout dabs from start to
finish?
Was that a Jersey that wasawarded for Hank?
Uriah Nazario (07:24):
Ahala.
So there was.
There was never anybody thatreally tried to claim a jersey
for so long that we kind offorgot about it.
And because it is, it's it'ssuch a trying uh trail and so
and it's and it really it takesyou having to to really be uh
precise on your bike and uh andso.
(07:45):
But the thing was is, ifsomebody tried to claim it, we
wanted to make sure that theycould do it, but we never had a
good way to make sure that theywere being honest about their
ability there, man, I love it.
Nat Ross (07:58):
Well, one thing about Handcut Hollow.
You did mention the gravelconnector.
Can you speak of the uniquenessof how you started the gravel
connectors and what gravelconnectors purpose is?
Because folks, if they're alsoa green rider or a first-time
mountain biker, they can ridefrom hand cut and ride, like you
were saying, the gravel roads,yeah, um, and be have their own,
(08:18):
go their own pace, their owntrajectory and while their group
or their friend group sessionsat the other trails yeah, no,
it's.
Uriah Nazario (08:26):
You know, gravel is really unique and we're
really fortunate.
You know, growing up it wasalways like when are they going
to pay this?
And now, and when you get moreinto cycling, you're like I hope
they never paved this or whydid they pay for that?
But you know we, you know we'vegot our greenways and that's a.
That's a great way to exerciseand get out, you know, without
having to interfere with traffic.
But if you want to start to getmore adventurous, we've got
(08:47):
thousands upon thousands ofmiles of gravel roads and, and
so what we do is we try tointerconnect, intertwine these
gravel sections and then have,you know, these mountain bike
trails surrounding a lot ofthese.
So it's really a kind of achoose your own, you know,
adventure, but what's neat aboutit is if you know if the time
(09:08):
it gets away from you or you gotto get back and the sun's going
down or something like that,you can get on these gravel
routes and hightail it backquickly, you know.
So it just kind of gives thatthat amenity, I guess, to being
able to kind of pick and choosehow you want to route.
Nat Ross (09:23):
Absolutely Uriah.
How about some insider tipswhen visiting Handcut Hollow?
Uriah Nazario (09:29):
Insider tips definitely like come with strong
, fresh legs.
A lot of the times, becausethere's a lot of the remarks
I've gotten from folks visitingis they were having so much fun
that time got away from them.
Or they chewed off way moremileage than they're expecting.
Or even fans of the gravitytrails, they did so many you
(09:52):
know laps, uh, because they'rethey're so easy to do that, uh,
you know they, uh they kind ofwore themselves out, maybe for
for multiple days, um, but it's,it's that fun trails, it's that
fun of riding and that uniqueexperience there.
But, uh, but yeah, it's forsomebody that's coming out say,
you know, especially when westart to get in the hotter
(10:14):
months, to definitely be leeryor be privy of the water
scenario and to make sure andpack more than you think you'll
need and you know, have a goodflat tire kit and you know, just
make sure that this is a placewhere you, even though you are
close to down to you're also inthe woods and so just make note
(10:38):
of that.
And sometimes you don't havecell phone service in some of
the deeper haulers down there.
So it's kind of one of thosethings that have the mindset
that you're going to be on anadventure.
Nat Ross (10:51):
Love it.
Where are we going to find you?
In Handcut Hollow, you mightnot give us away your deep trade
secrets, but where do you toride you I?
Uriah Nazario (10:58):
have to ride, uh, my hero zero and interplanet
janet uh trails out there, uh,because it's it's just they're
the fastest, funnest uh for me.
I love uh fast jumps and rockysections and stuff like that.
Nat Ross (11:13):
So, um, um, and and there is some, maybe some secret
uh, dirt jumps down there, ifyou look so, um, and I did see,
I brought a person out the otherday to ride the trails and they
were fascinated with therepurposing of the surfaces out
there.
Uriah Nazario (11:29):
Yeah, it's uh.
You know we're doing as much aswe can to keep these trails low
maintenance and sustainable,and sometimes doing that is
doing less.
On some of these hand-cutsections With native materials,
a lot of times these will helpsustain long-term.
(11:51):
We get so much rain in thespringtime that it can be really
difficult on some of our widertrails, and this one just kind
of continues to get better andbetter.
Nat Ross (12:07):
Man, can you fill us in on when you're riding out
here, like for access and theaccessibility element, how you
would access kind of HandcutHollow or how you would include
that into your trip toBentonville?
Uriah Nazario (12:14):
Yeah, so there's three main trailheads if you
want to go directly to HancockHollow, and there's one on J
Street and then there's one onPumpkin and then there's one on
Bowter which is kind of a Iguess would you say kind of a
corporate business park, thatall three of those you can park
at and ride and mostly just toconnect with a traverse trail.
(12:36):
That kind of is on the outsideof everything.
If you have a beginner with you, I would say that the J Street
parking lot you can get right onthe elbow room or the gravel
connector from there and thenthey can meet you at the hub if
you want to take maybe a moredifficult line or maybe want to
chew off some more mileage, andthen you all can meet at the hub
.
Nat Ross (12:57):
I love that trajectory .
That business park reminds meof something in Colorado that
has Yeti Coman Sol.
Uriah Nazario (13:02):
Feedback, sports and Spot all out of there.
That sounds way funner.
Nat Ross (13:07):
I think we see some trajectory coming down the road.
Well, we're super excited.
What do?
If somebody wants to learn moreabout Trailblazers, where do
they learn about whatTrailblazers does or how to join
the initiative?
Uriah Nazario (13:18):
Sure, yeah, we are.
Trailblazersorg is our websiteand that will kind of give you
just our mission statement andwho we are and what we do.
And it's like you know, if it'strails that are not for profit,
like we are usually the onesbehind it, profit, like we are
(13:40):
usually the ones behind it.
And we also work with thevolunteers to help out and try
to get big days formulated, andthen we also work for advocacy,
for even getting adults to ridea bike for the first time.
So we've got a big, broadspectrum of tasks that we do,
but everything is activetransportation related and, yeah
, we're just trying to make theliving and the tourism and the
(14:04):
experience that you have whenyou get to Benville that much
better.
Nat Ross (14:08):
Man, we are excited to have trailblazers here, and
your staff in particular.
They're energetic, they'realways helpful.
You guys are kind of more eventrail guides or trail gnomes out
there on a daily work.
Uriah Nazario (14:19):
So describe what it's like being a trailblazer
for a job you know, especiallyfor myself, is I was born here
in Bentonville and I've seen itthrough all the phases and you
know, just everybody wants tosee this place be the best that
(14:41):
it can be, and so that's what wedo is our mission is to to try
to make the best trails possiblewith with what we're given, and
make them the the mostprogressive.
Uh, you know, it's like when wework with our the adaptive
riding community, or we've got alot of people here that we have
to have that mindset that thisis the first time they're going
to ride that trail and we don'twant to surprise them with
(15:03):
anything that could be dangerous.
We want them to not only comehere and ride confidently, but
we want them to actuallyprogress in their skill level so
that they can take that backhome.
And so that's kind of our giftto the riders here is, we want
them to have just thisexperience that keeps them
coming back, and, you know, andthen we'll have more and more
(15:23):
goodies for them every time theyvisit.
Nat Ross (15:25):
And that's that Forrester.
He can guarantee that.
And you can find Uriah onInterplanet.
Janet, you can find me going onaround the traverse,
multidirectional.
On the traverse, the hand-cuttrails are absolutely
spectacular.
So, Uriah, thanks for joiningus today.
Uriah Nazario (15:41):
Yeah, thank you, Nat.
Nat Ross (15:42):
Well, we're pumped and we can't wait for you guys to
come to Visitville.
And when you're riding inBentonville, then come ride the
hand-cut hollow trails.
We will not let you down onthose trails.
If you want more information,go to visitbittenvillecom
backslash bike.
That way you can check out themaps, download everything you
need to prep for your localcycling adventure.
Uriah and I'll see you atHandcut Hollow next.
Welcome to A New American Town.
I'm your host, nat Ross.
Today we're joined by UriahNazario.
He's a lifelong NorthwestArkansas native and the VP of
soft surface trail constructionwith we Are At Trailblazers.
So you've got a background inarchitecture, years and years of
trail building experience, tonsof advocacy, work.
(00:32):
You've helped shape trails andtrail projects across the region
and made a big influence ontrail builders in general.
So let's start talking aboutseveral systems and trailblazers
, as well as Handcut HollowTrail System one of my favorites
and how these trails can bestenhance folks' visits to
Bentonville.
So, uriah, super pumped to haveyou here, tell me about your
(00:53):
passion for trails, where itcame from and how you ended up
as the VP of soft surface trailsat Trailblazers.
Uriah Nazario (00:59):
Oh man, thanks, nat, thanks for having me.
I got into this position kindof as a fluke.
It was really, uh, just mevolunteering to take care of
some trails that were kind ofgetting dilapidated around here
and one thing kind of led toanother.
It started turning into aprofessional career and started
with that and volunteering andadvocating for trails.
(01:21):
It just led me to a positionwith uh trailzers, which is
pretty much the nonprofitdevelopment side for Oz Trails,
and so we help oversee a lot ofdevelopment of the Greenway and
the soft surface trails.
Nat Ross (01:37):
Well, soft surface one of my favorites.
And for those folks that arecoming into the Bentonville area
, they're doing their research,doing their homework.
There's tons of soft surfacetrails that make Bentonville
area.
They're doing their research,doing their homework.
There's tons of soft surfacetrails that make Bentonville
famous.
But also the interconnectivitybetween the cities and you.
Growing up here, I think that'ssomething that was pretty
unique.
That's been a big part of yourlife.
Uriah Nazario (01:56):
Absolutely.
That's.
One thing that really sets usapart is being able to stay in
town and then ride directly totrails.
There's no shuttle needed,there's no, you know, getting up
and repacking and heading to atrailhead.
You can simply ride to it, andwe've worked really, really hard
to make the connectivity to allthe major trail systems around
(02:17):
town.
So really, with that and theGreenway, you can ride up to
about 500 miles of trail.
Nat Ross (02:23):
And I noticed the trails have been packed since
that New York Times article cameout sending everybody to
Bentonville.
We want more people to come.
The zone that I saw you lastand the trail network system
that I saw you last working wasHandcut Hollow, with your crew.
Fill us in on how specialHandcut Hollow is, where it is
and how to get there.
Uriah Nazario (02:44):
So Handcut, it's kind of my hidden gem and the
place where I go when things getpretty chaotic around town.
But it's a beautiful plot ofland that we developed a trail
system on it to be kind of thehidden gem to be, you know, for
the adventurous that want to geta little bit further outside.
And it's just a short ride fromslaughter pin and you can
(03:07):
connect to it and then there's16 miles of trail over there and
if you really want to get awayor feel like you've gone well
into the, the woods is you, youget out to hand cut hollow and
it's really it's got its ownkind of unique, unique
characteristics to it becauseyou've got a lot of hand-cut
trail that people meticulouslyworked hard to literally pick
(03:32):
axes and shovels and trail tools, mcleods, everything to sculpt
these trails and this trailexperience to where it was a
minimal impact on nature, towhere it was a minimal impact on
nature but it was a big impacton the rider engagement and how
you could really just go out,get as many miles as you wanted
(03:55):
to chew off of and then easilyride back to your place and town
.
Nat Ross (04:01):
Great.
So there's a special, uniquefeature right outside of the
parking lot there that has somehistory and heritage too and
describe kind of like where thetrailhead for a lot of folks to
start, if they want to justdrive and start from the
trailhead and go that route,what that looks like yeah,
there's some uniquecharacteristics and on Punka
Hall Road there's an oldschoolhouse there that you know
(04:23):
we we actually allow people toto reserve it and use it for
events.
Uriah Nazario (04:29):
We love to help.
You know other other nonprofitsthat that want to station up
there and or if we have a raceevent or something like that, it
works great.
But it's a it's an old schoolhouse that was that was
completely renovated and itmakes for a great hangout spot
or someplace where you know if,if Anybody gets separated, they
can easily meet back at.
(04:49):
It's the base of the trails,essentially, and then directly
above it you have the start hub,which is an old barn silo, and
then you ride out of that andit's just several gravity trails
that you can just pick andchoose.
Nat Ross (05:05):
That hub is kind of a great feature and it's something
that you guys do all across theregion and that allows folks to
become more skilled, more adeptwith their skill set and
progress.
So what do you see in thefuture at Handcut Hollow and
what would you like to do whenyou get free time to go to make
that even more?
Uriah Nazario (05:23):
of a special place.
You know, trails are anevolution.
They're an evolution you getyour first trail portion built
and then it slowly goes throughthe weathering process and it
slowly gets its own kind ofcharacteristics to it.
But we also are able to seewhat some of the things that
(05:44):
aren't properly working for thattrail, and so we go in and
trailblazers with our crew kindof massage and redirect some of
the trails.
And especially after lastyear's storm events, you know we
went through and we really hadthe ability to kind of dissect
each trail and figure out whatwere the main things that we
were missing the mark on.
(06:06):
And now we've got an incrediblespectrum of trails from, you
know, from green, from beginnerto intermediate to expert level,
and it's really just becausethey're shorter runs you can
just pick and choose andcontinue to just, you know,
really get a full realm of likea full spectrum of riding styles
(06:27):
in there, from technical tosingle track.
To, you know, a traverse trailaround that goes around the
entire property.
To, you know, there's evengravel routes through there if
you want to ride gravel.
And then we've got some somereally advanced, uh, technical
sections and then there's asecret, uh little zone four in
(06:48):
there for people that want totest themselves, and it's, it's
one of those trails that it's,it's specially, specially built,
uh, that it's really to see whois probably the most proficient
at climbing and technical movesand who has the ticker, you
know, to push them through andget them all the way through.
And it's, and it's a.
(07:09):
If you can go through withouthaving to dab or touch the
ground, then it's, it's a, it'sa victory, because there's only
a handful of people that haveever done it.
Nat Ross (07:17):
Was that a special Jersey at one point in time,
Like if you were to do itwithout dabs from start to
finish?
Was that a Jersey that wasawarded for Hank?
Uriah Nazario (07:24):
Ahala.
So there was.
There was never anybody thatreally tried to claim a jersey
for so long that we kind offorgot about it.
And because it is, it's it'ssuch a trying uh trail and so
and it's and it really it takesyou having to to really be uh
precise on your bike and uh andso.
(07:45):
But the thing was is, ifsomebody tried to claim it, we
wanted to make sure that theycould do it, but we never had a
good way to make sure that theywere being honest about their
ability there, man, I love it.
Nat Ross (07:58):
Well, one thing about Handcut Hollow.
You did mention the gravelconnector.
Can you speak of the uniquenessof how you started the gravel
connectors and what gravelconnectors purpose is?
Because folks, if they're alsoa green rider or a first-time
mountain biker, they can ridefrom hand cut and ride, like you
were saying, the gravel roads,yeah, um, and be have their own,
(08:18):
go their own pace, their owntrajectory and while their group
or their friend group sessionsat the other trails yeah, no,
it's.
Uriah Nazario (08:26):
You know, gravel is really unique and we're
really fortunate.
You know, growing up it wasalways like when are they going
to pay this?
And now, and when you get moreinto cycling, you're like I hope
they never paved this or whydid they pay for that?
But you know we, you know we'vegot our greenways and that's a.
That's a great way to exerciseand get out, you know, without
having to interfere with traffic.
But if you want to start to getmore adventurous, we've got
(08:47):
thousands upon thousands ofmiles of gravel roads and, and
so what we do is we try tointerconnect, intertwine these
gravel sections and then have,you know, these mountain bike
trails surrounding a lot ofthese.
So it's really a kind of achoose your own, you know,
adventure, but what's neat aboutit is if you know if the time
(09:08):
it gets away from you or you gotto get back and the sun's going
down or something like that,you can get on these gravel
routes and hightail it backquickly, you know.
So it just kind of gives thatthat amenity, I guess, to being
able to kind of pick and choosehow you want to route.
Nat Ross (09:23):
Absolutely Uriah.
How about some insider tipswhen visiting Handcut Hollow?
Uriah Nazario (09:29):
Insider tips definitely like come with strong
, fresh legs.
A lot of the times, becausethere's a lot of the remarks
I've gotten from folks visitingis they were having so much fun
that time got away from them.
Or they chewed off way moremileage than they're expecting.
Or even fans of the gravitytrails, they did so many you
(09:52):
know laps, uh, because they'rethey're so easy to do that, uh,
you know they, uh they kind ofwore themselves out, maybe for
for multiple days, um, but it's,it's that fun trails, it's that
fun of riding and that uniqueexperience there.
But, uh, but yeah, it's forsomebody that's coming out say,
you know, especially when westart to get in the hotter
(10:14):
months, to definitely be leeryor be privy of the water
scenario and to make sure andpack more than you think you'll
need and you know, have a goodflat tire kit and you know, just
make sure that this is a placewhere you, even though you are
close to down to you're also inthe woods and so just make note
(10:38):
of that.
And sometimes you don't havecell phone service in some of
the deeper haulers down there.
So it's kind of one of thosethings that have the mindset
that you're going to be on anadventure.
Nat Ross (10:51):
Love it.
Where are we going to find you?
In Handcut Hollow, you mightnot give us away your deep trade
secrets, but where do you toride you I?
Uriah Nazario (10:58):
have to ride, uh, my hero zero and interplanet
janet uh trails out there, uh,because it's it's just they're
the fastest, funnest uh for me.
I love uh fast jumps and rockysections and stuff like that.
Nat Ross (11:13):
So, um, um, and and there is some, maybe some secret
uh, dirt jumps down there, ifyou look so, um, and I did see,
I brought a person out the otherday to ride the trails and they
were fascinated with therepurposing of the surfaces out
there.
Uriah Nazario (11:29):
Yeah, it's uh.
You know we're doing as much aswe can to keep these trails low
maintenance and sustainable,and sometimes doing that is
doing less.
On some of these hand-cutsections With native materials,
a lot of times these will helpsustain long-term.
(11:51):
We get so much rain in thespringtime that it can be really
difficult on some of our widertrails, and this one just kind
of continues to get better andbetter.
Nat Ross (12:07):
Man, can you fill us in on when you're riding out
here, like for access and theaccessibility element, how you
would access kind of HandcutHollow or how you would include
that into your trip toBentonville?
Uriah Nazario (12:14):
Yeah, so there's three main trailheads if you
want to go directly to HancockHollow, and there's one on J
Street and then there's one onPumpkin and then there's one on
Bowter which is kind of a Iguess would you say kind of a
corporate business park, thatall three of those you can park
at and ride and mostly just toconnect with a traverse trail.
(12:36):
That kind of is on the outsideof everything.
If you have a beginner with you, I would say that the J Street
parking lot you can get right onthe elbow room or the gravel
connector from there and thenthey can meet you at the hub if
you want to take maybe a moredifficult line or maybe want to
chew off some more mileage, andthen you all can meet at the hub
.
Nat Ross (12:57):
I love that trajectory .
That business park reminds meof something in Colorado that
has Yeti Coman Sol.
Uriah Nazario (13:02):
Feedback, sports and Spot all out of there.
That sounds way funner.
Nat Ross (13:07):
I think we see some trajectory coming down the road.
Well, we're super excited.
What do?
If somebody wants to learn moreabout Trailblazers, where do
they learn about whatTrailblazers does or how to join
the initiative?
Uriah Nazario (13:18):
Sure, yeah, we are.
Trailblazersorg is our websiteand that will kind of give you
just our mission statement andwho we are and what we do.
And it's like you know, if it'strails that are not for profit,
like we are usually the onesbehind it, profit, like we are
(13:40):
usually the ones behind it.
And we also work with thevolunteers to help out and try
to get big days formulated, andthen we also work for advocacy,
for even getting adults to ridea bike for the first time.
So we've got a big, broadspectrum of tasks that we do,
but everything is activetransportation related and, yeah
, we're just trying to make theliving and the tourism and the
(14:04):
experience that you have whenyou get to Benville that much
better.
Nat Ross (14:08):
Man, we are excited to have trailblazers here, and
your staff in particular.
They're energetic, they'realways helpful.
You guys are kind of more eventrail guides or trail gnomes out
there on a daily work.
Uriah Nazario (14:19):
So describe what it's like being a trailblazer
for a job you know, especiallyfor myself, is I was born here
in Bentonville and I've seen itthrough all the phases and you
know, just everybody wants tosee this place be the best that
(14:41):
it can be, and so that's what wedo is our mission is to to try
to make the best trails possiblewith with what we're given, and
make them the the mostprogressive.
Uh, you know, it's like when wework with our the adaptive
riding community, or we've got alot of people here that we have
to have that mindset that thisis the first time they're going
to ride that trail and we don'twant to surprise them with
(15:03):
anything that could be dangerous.
We want them to not only comehere and ride confidently, but
we want them to actuallyprogress in their skill level so
that they can take that backhome.
And so that's kind of our giftto the riders here is, we want
them to have just thisexperience that keeps them
coming back, and, you know, andthen we'll have more and more
(15:23):
goodies for them every time theyvisit.
Nat Ross (15:25):
And that's that Forrester.
He can guarantee that.
And you can find Uriah onInterplanet.
Janet, you can find me going onaround the traverse,
multidirectional.
On the traverse, the hand-cuttrails are absolutely
spectacular.
So, Uriah, thanks for joiningus today.
Uriah Nazario (15:41):
Yeah, thank you, Nat.
Nat Ross (15:42):
Well, we're pumped and we can't wait for you guys to
come to Visitville.
And when you're riding inBentonville, then come ride the
hand-cut hollow trails.
We will not let you down onthose trails.
If you want more information,go to visitbittenvillecom
backslash bike.
That way you can check out themaps, download everything you
need to prep for your localcycling adventure.
Uriah and I'll see you atHandcut Hollow next.
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