Pea Ridge National Military Park allows bike use on trails

The National Park Service will allow bike use on two new multi-use trails connecting the park with other proposed trail routes in adjacent communities, linking to the regional trail network which is identified in the Northwest Arkansas Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan found at www.nwabikepedplan. com/final-plan-anddocuments.html. The trails, identified in Pea Ridge National Military Park’s Trail Master Plan/Environmental Assessment, can be viewed at www.parkplan ning.nps.gov/peri.

One trail is a 0.55-mile section from U.S. Highway 62 to the visitor center. The second will be a 1.17-mile trail from Ark. Highway 72 to the Sugar Creek Greenway on the western edge of the park.

National Park Service regulations require the creation of rules that designate new trails for bike use off park roads and outside of developed areas. Currently, bike use in the park is limited to the tour road, which connects visitors to the park’s key interpretive sites, and Ford Road, which is currently designated as an administrative road. “The new bike rule, published in the Federal Register, allows for two new multiuse trail segments that will enhance and provide increased recreational and enjoyment opportunities, once constructed, that link to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian trail network,” said Pea Ridge NMP superintendent Kevin Eads.