Bikin' Bits: Hot Springs, Arkansas - Fun, Flowy, No Tech Lunch Time Ride

Welcome to Bikin' Bits - a bit about bikin' - so you don't have to look forever to find the trails you want to ride. Where we tell you the loops to ride, the loopdy-loops to ride, the uphills, the downhills.

Where we summarize the trails, so you know exactly where you want to go, how long you want to spend, how much elevation you want to gain and how much descent you want to fly down. And of course there'll be a brewery recommendation or two at the end.

Hot Springs, Arkansas and Northwoods Trails

The Northwoods Trail System is around 3 miles outside of Hot Springs, and is very well maintained and marked, making for fun, flowy rides. With two main sections that connect well together, there are trails for beginners to experts, and all of them are worthy of your time.

Here's the Ride!

For this ride, we only had a limited time, and we wanted to check out the green trails (and a few blue) to explore what they had to offer. While they are green trails, they were still a lot of fun, making them a great ride with a group of friends with varying levels.

Stats: 4 miles, 200 feet of elevation gain, about 40 minutes - perfect for a quick lunch time or afternoon ride, to at least claim some movement before you grab a beer!

Start at Waterworks Trailhead at Bee's Knees to Dewdropper. Climb back up Dewdropper to hit Sidecar (a bit of a climb but not punchy) to take you to your choice of going down Cat's Meow or Yaupon Yop.

Yaupon Yop is a 1/2 mile down green trail that's fast and flowy with some roller coasty action without any gaps or tables.

Cat's Meow is a 1/2 mile down only blue trail allowing you to tear it up for with roller coaster vibes, berms, and intermediate jumps - but can skirt around the jumps - All fun, flowy, awesome!

Those two runs join together at an intersection where we went on Freeman (for a short distance) to Sanderson Pass (transitional trails) to your choice of either Funguy (green) or Rockhound (blue). They both meet back down at the bottom together.

Funguy is green and just over 1/2 mile but fun, flowy and fast.

Rockhound is blue and a mile in length and gets you climbing right out of the gate. You'll ride along a ridgline overlooking the lake and the last 1/3 you can open up into downhill with flowy action along with a couple of switchbacks and a few almost techy rock sections.

The last part is Bearcat Pass, a gravel forest road bringing you back to the parking lot where you can even wash your bike.

Check out northwoodstrails.org for all the details. And of course, you can find this ride and many more on Trailforks.

Here's the Beer!

Where to drink the beer after biking here? Superior Bathhouse Brewery!

Just three miles back into town, you'll hit up Superior, the only brewery in a national park that also happens to brew with the hot springs potable water. Beer, food, bikes, and patio seating! What more can you ask for?

Check out Superior Bathhouse Brewery's unique story here.

Check out all of the Bikin' Bits podcasts episodes here.

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