Arkansas High Country Route / Adventure Cycling Association
Fayetteville is set to host the annual Arkansas High Country Race, a self-supported 1,000-mile ultra-endurance gravel bikepacking event, in 2020 and 2021.
Borrowing from multi-day backcountry hiking or backpacking, bikepacking combines cycling through rugged terrain with minimalist camping.
The Arkansas High Country Race follows the perimeter of the Arkansas High Country Route. Published in 2019 by the Adventure Cycling Association with support from the Arkansas Parks and Recreation Foundation, the route connects several of the state’s natural divisions in Central and Northwest Arkansas through a series of three gravel and paved road loops.
Starting from Fayetteville, cyclists will traverse the Ozark Mountains east to the Buffalo National River Corridor, and then south into the Arkansas River Valley. From the River Valley, riders dip west through the Ouachita Mountains with sizeable climbs and rollercoaster ridges before climbing back north through the Ozark Mountains to the finish line in Fayetteville. Ultra-endurance athletes from across the country will gather at the Fayetteville Town Center on the Historic Downtown Square on Friday, June 5, 2020, for mandatory pre-race meetings, media sessions and more.
The Arkansas High Country Race is scheduled to officially start from the Experience Fayetteville Visitors Center the morning of Saturday, June 6, with a community roll out event — an opportunity for local cyclists to ride with some of the country’s top endurance racers as they make their way out of Fayetteville along the Razorback Regional Greenway.
Details, including schedule, registration and hotel information, are available at rivervalley.ozarkoffroaadcyclists.org/.
