Crawlers take on Bella Vista terrain

The rocks and ravines of Bella Vista make it perfect for any number of hobbies. Bird watchers, hikers and mountain bikers aren’t the only ones meeting up to enjoy the outdoors. On Saturday a group calling themselves RC Crawlers met just beyond the Lake Norwood dam.

Radio-controlled, scale-model trucks and Jeeps, with fourwheel drive, were climbing and exploring that morning. The drivers were mostly adults and came from as far as Wister, Okla., to meet. There are also groups in south Arkansas and one near Kansas City.

They communicate via a Facebook page, although there are plans to add an Instagram account, and meet up about twice a month. There are also regional and national events for the drivers. A shop in Rogers that sells RC equipment has an indoor racetrack and a rock course out back.

Shawn Kinderknecht used to spend his outdoor time hunting, but now he brings his son, Grant, and radio-controlled trucks along. It gives him a chance to be outside with a group of guys, he said.

Usually they compete, organizer Jeff Attlesey said, but on Saturday the ground was wet and slippery so he decided not to time the courses. He set up three courses, using scale model pylons to mark them, and then watched as the trucks climbed rocks and slid around curves.

There are occasional wrecks, but the tiny people in the scale-model vehicles are usually not injured.

“We’re all about helping each other,” Attlesey said. Drivers share equipment as well as advice.

Like many other hobbies, you can spend as much money as you want, the group’s founder Thommy Greer said. A “good, solid rig” will cost about $300 to $350, but then you can add things.

“You can put $200 into a set of wheels,” he said. “It sounds crazy, but….”

Some build their own rigs, others buy them.

RC racing is a different thing, Greer said. Some people like that better, but he believes his crawlers are more versatile and can be more fun. Also the crawlers usually run outside.

There are lots of places around Bella Vista to use a radio-controlled truck, Attlesey said. One area, near the Lake Ann dam, has hosted a national meet, he said. But they don’t need a lot of space or specific terrain. Mostly they’re just looking for something to climb.

To find out more, search Facebook for NWA Scale Crawlers.

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista Members of an informal group who compete with radio controlled trucks and Jeeps met near Lake Norwood last week.

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista Grant Kinderknecht watches his father, Shawn, put a battery into a replacement crawler after their first one broke an axle.

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista Just like full-size rock crawlers, these radio-controlled scale models' suspension has an incredibly long range of travel.

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista One of the radio-controlled rock crawlers climbs a limestone outcrop near Lake Norwood.