Arkansas is known as 'The Natural State' for good reason. This is a place home to sprawling lakes, lapping pine and oak trees, leafy national forests like the Ouachita and Ozark-St. Francis - and to Hot Springs National Park, an urban park bubbling with natural geothermal waters.
There’s a whole lot of cycling to be found in all that beauty, regardless of your choice of bike. And the 250 mile (402km) Crowley's Ridge Gravel Trail is perhaps the pick of the routes, running from Helena to Piggott through the Arkansas Delta. It caught our attention as part of the latest film from cyclist Markus Stitz.
Crowley’s Ridge is a geological curiosity.
Picture the Arkansas Delta: flat farmland, with horizon-to-horizon views. Now imagine a narrow, forested ridge jutting out of that like a wrinkle on a tablecloth, rising up to 170m. That's Crowley's Ridge. It's a feature shaped by ancient rivers and coated over millennia by dust blown in from retreating glaciers; a long, stretching hill that refused to be swallowed by the surrounding delta.
Crowley's Ridge has really the only elevation in the Arkansas Delta.
The result is a dreamscape for cyclists: a spine of rolling, canopy-covered hills cutting through an otherwise flat landscape of cotton and soybean fields. Well-packed gravel roads, hardwood forest and utter tranquility.
The route is 60% gravel, and the rest is paved. It takes in seven state parks, goes through St. Francis national forest and 18 Delta towns - meaning plenty of stops for delicious food, a local brew or to hear some Delta blues. Broken down into four days, the route is a manageable ride, with one suggested itinerary being:
- Day 1: Helena to Marianna (30 miles/48km)
- Day 2: Marianna to Birdeye (80 miles/128km)
- Day 3: Birdeye to Jonesboro (50 miles/80km)
- Day 4: Jonesboro to Piggott (80 miles/128km)
So, what would each of those days actually look like?
Before you take off from Helena, pop by the Delta Cultural Centre. Exhibits range from those on the 1863 Battle of Helena, part of the Civil War, to those on blues musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson II. The Blues are a big deal here (Memphis is just 90 minute northeast) - and the longest running Blues radio broadcast in the world ('King Biscuit Time') is broadcast from this centre live on weekdays.
A quick note: while the GPX above show the route as north to south, the route overview below describes travelling on the same cycle trail from south to north.
Get riding and you'll find yourself heading north, from Helena, towards the St. Francis National Forest. The canopy closes in and you’ll pass Bear Creek Lake and the Mississippi River State Park before arriving in Marianna. Eat at the Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, believed to be America's oldest black-owned restaurant.
It's canopy covered, shaded, and you just have this sense of being on these historic travel ways.
Day two takes you through Tuni Canyon and out to Village Creek State Park. This is an idyllic park with lakes for boating, but it was also part of the Trail of Tears route - the paths used during the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of around 60,000 Native Americans between 1830 and 1850 by the US government.
After sleeping in Birdeye, day three will take you by Lake Poinsett State Park and Craighead Forest Park to Jonesboro, home to the Bradbury Art Museum and the A-State Museum, which boasts the skeleton of a (once) wooly mammoth.
Eat at Native Brew Works, where craft beer meets good food, then the next day ride out to Lake Fierson and Crowley's Ridge State Park. The finish in Piggott, where Ernest Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms, lies beyond.
Crowley's Ridge Gravel Trail was launched by studioDRIFT, a non-profit co-founded by Martin Smith, who has been working to revitalise the Arkansas Delta area for over four decades. Smith, who lives in Birdeye, is quoted speaking about the route in Markus Stitz’s short film, which is embedded in the text above
“Crowley's Ridge has really the only elevation in the Arkansas Delta,” Smith says.
“It's canopy covered, shaded, and you just have this sense of being on these historic travel ways. Building a future starts with connecting to the past. Those historic and cultural assets, combined with the natural resources in our communities, tell the story of who we are.”
For me, Arkansas is one of the most intriguing places to ride a bike.
The route was created to provide world-class riding for touring cyclists, and also to bring new income streams to small towns in one of America’s poorest areas, traversing, as the studioDRIFT website describes it, "some of the poorest counties in one of the poorest states in America." It highlights that the average tourist spend was $198 per day in Arkansas in 2023, bringing in millions, and the hope is that this trail will bring in new economic opportunities for people here.
In the film, Markus Stitz rides a 44.7-mile loop at the south of Crowley’s Ridge, near Helena, and a 24.3-mile loop. He found himself impressed by Arkansas.
“Exploring the state with local people gave me a real insight into its diversity," Stitz said. "I’m grateful to share their stories and connection to the places they call home. For me, Arkansas is one of the most intriguing places to ride a bike.”
Inspired? Read more about Crowley's Ridge Gravel Trail and studioDRIFT, or check out our full range of adventure holidays in America now!