Slaughter Pen Trails: How to Ride the Heart of Bentonville’s Mountain Bike Scene

Castle hub at slaughter pen trails in Bentonville

The Slaughter Pen trails is where all the Bentonville mountain biking magic started. It’s where I first fell in love with the riding in northwest Arkansas and every time I make it back, I do a least one ride here. It’s one of the best networks to ride in town (although I’d argue Coler is the best).

Located just a short pedal from downtown, Slaughter Pen offers a little bit of everything: flowy jump lines, paved berms, chunky tech, art-filled greenways, and a CASTLE. Seriously.

But the thing to know about the Slaughter Pen trails is they’re a bit confusing to figure out at first… The good news, though, is that after a bit of pedaling around and checking your TrailForks app (a must), you’ll see that all the different little pockets have something unique to offer. Whether you’re at the Castle Hub, lapping Jesse’s Last Stand, or getting your flow on over at Choo Choo, there’s no way you can’t have fun.

In this post, I’ll walk you through what makes Slaughter Pen special, how to plan your ride, and some of my favorite trails through this classic Bentonville zone.

Quick Tips

For mountain biking the Slaughter Pen Trails

It’s pretty much impossible to follow a pre-planned route here. Just pick a direction and see where it takes you.
The Castle Hub deserves at least a few laps.
Use the paved greenway to get around faster — you’ll be able to cover more ground.
Don’t skip my favorite trail – Choo Choo!
There’s a huge skills zone and jump park here that deserves a few hours of play time.

TWW Take

Please note that these are my personal opinions – you may argue otherwise! And if so, state your case (politely) in the comments 🙂

Fun-ness Factor

Trail Variety

Average Difficulty

Trail sign for mountain bike trail from the Castle hub in Bentonville

steep wooden ramps on mountain bike trail

Mountain biker standing next to tall Sasquatch sculpture made from bike chains

The Good & Not So Good of Mountain Biking at Slaughter Pen

What I like

Everything! There is so much variety here.
The central skills park and jump zone is really, really cool.
All the trail art.
Choo Choo 🙂

What I don’t

You have to pedal past a sewage treatment plant and it’s 🤢
It can definitely be overwhelming the first time you ride here because there’s so much to explore.
Some trails are hard to find.

Screenshots of Bentonville Mountain Bike Itinerary pages

5-Day Bentonville Mountain Biking Itinerary

Looking for the best trails and route recommendations for mountain biking in Bentonville? Download my 5-day itinerary packed with tips, links, and local secrets including the best trails to ride and route recommendations. Grab it now and start planning your trip to the Mountain Bike Capital of the World!

Start Planning

Mountain biker riding down paved flow trail — Choo Choo is hands down my favorite trail

Planning your Slaughter Pen Rides

Best trails to hit

There are so many trails at Slaughter Pen… Here are my favorites

All-American (beginner)
Black Apple Creek (beginner)
Choo Choo (intermediate)
Jesse’s Last Stand (intermediate)
Tristan’s Trail (intermediate)
Leopard Loop (intermediate)
All the Castle Trails (beg-advanced)
Schroen Train (advanced)

Tip: It’s almost impossible to follow a pre-planned route here. Instead, I recommend picking out a handful of trails and building your ride based on those.

Route recommendation

Day 1 Tour (intermediate) – If you feel like you need some direction, this is a good day 1 ride so you can get the lay of the land at Slaughter Pen.

Slaughter Pen Trail Map

FAQs & Planning Tips

🅿️ Parking: There are several different parking areas around the Slaughter Pen trails. I typically park on the north side (here), but you can also park at the Dog Park (finish your ride on Tristan’s Trail), or close to town at the start of All-American. There are a few other places in between, too. Check TrailForks for more options.

🗺️ Navigating the trails: Navigating the Slaughter Pen trails can be confusing because the different pockets of trails are kind of spread out. The one saving grace is that the paved Greenway runs pretty much all the way through it, so you can always return to that. I recommend having TrailForks downloaded to your phone so you don’t waste time pedaling the wrong direction.

💧 Water: There is are several places to fill up on water. Most of them are along the paved Greenway.

📅 How many days: I’d definitely recommend budgeting at least one day to ride the Slaughter Pen Trails. It’s a good place to start, but don’t get sucked into only riding here. Coler, the Back 40, and Blowing Springs are also very much worth your time.

☀️ When to go: Bentonville can be ridden year-round depending on the weather.

🚲 What type of bike to bring: A short or mid-travel full-suspension mountain bike.

⚡️ E-bikes: Class 1 pedal assist e-bikes are allowed at Slaughter Pen (and pretty much everywhere in Arkansas).

Need gear recs?

Head over to my gear closet! I’m always testing out new pieces of bike gear and if I really like them, they earn a place on this page.

See my gear favorites

Slaughter Pen is one of my favorite trail networks in Bentonville. The variety is unbeatable: flowy lines, chunky tech, creative features, and trails that link up in so many different ways. Every time I ride here, I still find new trails or ways to mix things up.

Plus, being so close to downtown makes it super easy to roll straight to tacos or a cold beer after a ride.

Have you ridden Slaughter Pen? What are your favorite trails and hidden gems? Is it worth the hype? Leave a comment and let me know!

Slaughter Pen Trails: How to Ride the Heart of Bentonville’s Mountain Bike Scene

Quick Tips

TWW Take