NWA Daily's Park Guide
By NWA Daily | Published June 3
Northwest Arkansas is full of wonderful parks. While we don't have the space to talk about them all, we wanted to highlight several in different towns across the region - each with its own unique offerings.
Bentonville
Photo courtesy of Bentonville Parks & Recreation
Orchards Park is right across from the main entrance of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and was designed as a premier passive park with walking paths, beautifully landscaped areas and a pavilion perfect for picnics, and a lovely pond with a fountain. There's a dog station too, so you can bring your pup along.
📍401 NE Martin Luther King Jr Parkway
Photo courtesy of Bentonville Parks & Recreation
Memorial Park is Bentonville's premier community park with 73 acres. It gets its name from the Benton County Memorial at the park honoring the fallen soldiers from the county and the Benton County historical settlement marker. Along with sports courts and fields, there is a walking trail around the perimeter, playground areas, a skateboard park, and a lighted, reservable pavilion.
Photo courtesy of Bentonville Parks & Recreation
Park Springs is a wonderful place for larger events with the lighted pavilion, fireplace, and picnic tables, all adjacent to the playground. The park has been a beneficial part of the history of Bentonville since the 1890s, and there are trees from 1776 and before at the park, including a State Champion Tree.
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Osage Park is a lovely getaway right in the middle of town! The wetlands boardwalk is a unique experience perfect for every season. Go watch birds, see beavers, take your dog to the dog park, and play pickleball on the pickleball courts! You can also fish at Lake Bentonville while watching planes take off from Thaden Field airport.
Photo courtesy of Bentonville Parks & Recreation
Bella Vista Lake Park is a 132-acre community park, home to a 1.8-mile perimeter fitness trail, a pavilion, picnic tables, and a playground. We love taking strolls around the lake, maybe stopping to sit on a bench along the way.
Fayetteville
Photo courtesy of the City of Fayetteville
Lake Fayetteville Park is one of our favorite places to roam. The park consists of 458 acres of land and 194 acres of water. There is a 5.5-mile nature trail around the lake and 4.3 miles of hard-surface trail that also circles the lake. There are multiple components to the park, including the North Shore Park and disk golf course, Veterans Memorial Park, a boat dock and marina with boat and bike rentals, and The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks.
Kessler Mountain Regional Park
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The Kessler Mountain Regional Park totals around 620 acres on and around historic Kessler Mountain, which reaches 1,856 feet above sea level. The park serves as a regional sports park and includes a nearly 400-acre nature preserve. It's a popular area for hiking and mountain biking with more than 10 miles of natural surface trail.
Photo courtesy of the City of Fayetteville
Wilson Park is Fayetteville's first and oldest park encompassing 22.75 acres in the center of the city. Take a swim in the Wilson Park Pool and a stroll in the gardens, near a spring-fed pond and the popular "Castle" you see above. The park has a gazebo, picnic areas, swings, sports courts including a sand volleyball court, and more!
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Walker Park was the second designated park in Fayetteville and has been developed to meet a variety of recreational needs of the community. The Frisco Trail passes through Walker Park and connects to the Razorback Greenway. In the park, there is a splash pad, skateboard park, racquetball/handball courts, and a sand volleyball court. There are three pavilions for gathering and a 1.2-mile paved walking path around the park's perimeter.
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Gulley Park is 27 acres and includes features such as trees, open fields, Niokaska Creek, and a pond. There is a paved and lighted 1.5-mile trail that circles the park, and of course, the gazebo. Click here to see the Gulley Park Master Plan for improvements. One of the hidden gems of Northwest Arkansas is the park's concert series on Thursday nights in the summer.
Rogers
Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area
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Hobbs is Arkansas' largest state park, and it's right here in our backyard!! It spans 12,054 acres of Ozark landscape along the southern shore of Beaver Lake. The park is for day use and includes a 54-mile trail system with hiking, ADA accessible, mountain biking, and horseback riding trails. There are 11 primitive campsites and six are accessible by mountain biking only.
Photo courtesy of the City of Rogers
Lake Atalanta Park is a 236-acre park that includes the Railyard Bike Park. There is a fishing lake, an off-road bike trail, a paved stone walkway, a pavilion, picnic areas, a unique playground, and much more. We love going here for a nature walk and it's perfect for an outing with the kids!
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The Railyard Park is such a fun spot in Downtown Rogers! Primarily a play place and splash pad for kids, it's right next to the Frisco Plaza which is lined with picnic tables, and the Butterfield Stage where Railyard Live takes place.
Springdale
Photo courtesy of Springdale Parks & Recreation
Murphy Park is Springdale's oldest park, sold to the city in 1955. It is a 40-acre site that features a play structure, a 3-acre pond open for fishing, a sand volleyball court, two rentable pavilions, 39 individual picnic tables, a 0.75-mile paved trail, and more.
Photo courtesy of Springdale Parks & Recreation
The J.B. Hunt Park is on a 200-acre site and features Lake Springdale. There is an 18-hole disk golf course, softball fields, play structures with wood chip fall zones, separate swing sets, paved trails totaling 3 miles, a mountain bike trail, and a pump track.
Photo courtesy of Runway Bike Park
The Runway Bike Park is a 2.75-acre "state-of-the-art" bike park perfect for outdoor bicycle skills training, and it's located at The Jones Center. On the site, there is a Bicycle Playground, a Skills Course, and a Pump Track, which is one of the largest asphalt tracks in North America.
Photo courtesy of nwamotherlode.com
Shaw Family Park is a 120-acre park in Northwest Springdale. It features four tennis courts, a splash pad, an extreme fitness area, two playgrounds, a dog park, five ponds (one stocked for fishing), three trails for walking or biking, two pavilions, and a natural use area.
Photo courtesy of Billie Cucul - Facebook
Luther George Park is a 10-acre site with a 1/4 mile paved walking path, a pavilion with picnic tables, 21 individual picnic tables, a skate park, and 8 individual play structures with wood chip landing zones. As part of Springdale's downtown master plan and the Walton Family Foundation's Design Excellence Program, Luther Park is preparing to undergo an expansion and renovation. Learn more here.
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