The Trail
Nearest Town with Accommodations: Fayetteville / Fort Smith
Location: From Fort Smith take I-40 going east going toward Little Rock. Watch for the I-540 exit to Fayetteville and take this exit when you come to it. Once on I-540 heading north you will travel for about 30 minutes, you will go through a tunnel and then about 5 miles after that you will come to the Winslow / Devils Den State Park exit this will be Hwy. 74 take this exit. At the four way stop turn left onto Hwy. 74 and follow it for about 8 miles to Devils Den State Park. Once at the park stop in at the visitor center, you will need a free permit to ride this trail. Once you have your permit head back up the road you just came down and after getting through all the switch backs and you are at the top watch to your left for a parking are near the Devils Den sign. If you are unsure where to go ask one of the kind folks at the visitor center.
Type: Single and double track and old road / loops.
Distance: About 15 miles if you do all the loops.
Summary: The trail which also goes by the name of The Cross Country Trail use to be kind of a fun ride. We use to race on this trail every Summer until 2004 when a lot of the trail on the lower section got washed away from a large rainfall. Now the ATV's have taken over out there. This is not an ATV trail but the park nor the forest service have the man power to control this illegal intrusion. I was told by one of the Park Rangers that the Forest Service is building an ATV trail near there and hopefully this will help get the ATV's off of Holt Road trail. Last time I was out there it was in pretty good shape we are planning another trip soon to get GPS data, video and pictures and we will update this summary then. The trail starts off by going down an old road which is all pretty much down hill to the creek below. Going down this road you can really pick up some good speed so watch out for rocks in the road they will send you over the handle bars. I think every time I rode this trail there was always standing water puddles in the road so watch out for those as well. Once you get to the bottom the trail pretty much follows the creek with an occasional crossing. Some areas are dried up creek bed while others have some sand. The best part of this trail I thought was when you are coming back up from the creek. Most of this part of the trail is nice single track about what you find at Fossil Flats trail. A couple of the climbs are a little steep but short and can be ridden by most riders. The single track has a good flow to it and there are not that many technical areas on it, most of the tricky spots are near the creek. On the way up from the creek you have a couple of options for shorter and longer distances. The scenic beauty of this area makes for a real nice ride as you are coming back up out of the valley. The trail will eventually come back out to the road that you started on and you have an easy ride back to the car. It is a real shame that this trail has been abused because it made for a real nice mountain bike weekend at Devils Den, Holt Road and Fossil Flats complimented one another really well. Maybe in the future they will be able to bring this trail back to it's old state.
Recommended Route: Ride this trail in the clockwise direction the downhill's are much better and the climbs are not as boring.
When to ride: Any time of the year is a pretty good time to ride. The trail along the creek bank can get a little over grown in places.
Other recommended trails in the area: Fossil Flats,
Hidden Diversity Trail,
Lake Leatherwood,
Ben Geren, Spring Hill