On October 3rd, CATA and ArkansasOutside.com will host the second annual Big Rock Mountain Bike Festival at Cooks Landing in North Little Rock. The festival is an extension of IMBA’s annual Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day that’s been held at various locations in central Arkansas over the past 4 years. The festival will include a kids obstacle course, easy trail rides on the Pfeifer Loop trail led by experienced mountain bike leaders and other events such as a women’s mountain biking clinic, a bunny-hop clinic and other games and contests.

The festival is family-friendly event designed for riders of all ages and abilities, and is currently scheduled to run from 9 am to 3 pm. Food and refreshments will also be available.

The 2014 festival was a tremendous success, with riders of all ages enjoying the trails and camaraderie of the central Arkansas mountain biking community. This year’s festival promises to be even bigger and better with new events and a few surprises - be sure to mark your calendar as you will not want to miss Big Rock!  

CATA will work on the Pfeiffer Loop trail in preparation for the event and will post information on upcoming trail work days as the festival approaches. Watch the CATA Facebook page and website for updates.

This Thursday, August 27th, Central Arkansas Water (CAW) will host a public workshop to discuss a proposed recreation plan for Lake Maumelle, Lake Winona and adjacent CAW property. 

CAW is seeking input and recommendations in order to “evaluate the water quality compatibility of current and potential recreation activities.”

This meeting represents a significant opportunity for mountain biking in central Arkansas as the section of the Ouachita Trail along the north shore of Lake Maumelle is currently closed to mountain bikes. 

CATA has met with CAW and requested that mountain bikes be permitted on this section of the trail, but to date, these requests have been denied. 

However, CAW representatives  assured us that there would be an opportunity to make a case for opening the trail to mountain bikes - this meeting is that opportunity.

Strength in Numbers
This is a call to action to the central Arkansas mountain biking community - we need your help in urging CAW to reconsider its position and include mountain bike access in its recreation plan for Lake Maumelle. Join us this Thursday from 6 to 8 PM at the Winfield United Methodist Church.

Details
The public workshop will occur on Thursday, August 27, from 6-8 pm at the Winfield United Methodist Church located at 20100 Cantrell Road, Little Rock 72223.

For more information about the Recreation Plan workshop and to RSVP, please contact Amanda Fleming at 205-588-4612, Amanda.Fleming@KleinschmidtGroup.com. 

On Saturday, June 20th, CATA Kids returned to Boyle Park for the first in a series of Trail Love n' Ride events for 2015.

An eager group of young trail stewards lopped and trimmed the trails and checked on CATA-built bridges. The kids also learned about nature, built a bird box to take home and capped the afternoon off with a fun group ride on the Boyle Park trails.

For more photos from the event, click here.

Watch the CATA website and Facebook page for more information on upcoming CATA Kids events and be sure to mark your calendar. You won't want to miss these fun, family-friendly events!

Photos from the Inaugural All-A-CARP ride. More on the event at ArkansasOutside.com.

Central Arkansas Trail Alliance has made it a mission to bring back and improve one of the older mountain bike trail systems in central Arkansas, Wildcat Mountain. We are working closely with the US Forest Service to make this area a premier mountain bike system. Work started this past weekend, in the rain. Watch our Facebook page for upcoming workdays.

The trail crew today. We split into 2 teams and knocked out a little over a mile each...there is still plenty of work to be done, but the first effort was a really good one. I was very impressed with the elevation and length of the climbs. — with Greg Jones, Richard Thompson, Pam Staley, Ralph Butler, Marie Michalets, Harrison Maddox, Basil V. Hicks Jr. and Bruce Alt.

Below are a few images from our workday on the Wildcat Mountain Bike Trails in the Eastern Ouachitas. Thanks to Justin Ray for the photography and help.