On October 20, Bella Vista opened a one-mile extension of the Razorback Greenway. It starts behind Sugar Creek Center, passes under U.S. 71 and ends at Bluebird Trailhead on Riordan Road. That puts a coffee bar, a grocery store, a paved path system and a public sculpture trail on one route.
In an October 25 story on regional trail funding, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Bella Vista opened the one-mile extension at the Berksdale walking path that Tuesday.
If you live on either side of the highway, this is the first fall when your errands and your walk can be the same outing.
Where the Greenway used to stop
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's October 11 preview described the Razorback Greenway as a 40-mile paved trail. It runs north from Fayetteville through Johnson, Springdale, Lowell, Rogers and Bentonville and ends in Bella Vista. Until this month, that end was Sugar Creek Center.
The new mile brings the total to 41. City communications director Cassi Lapp told the paper the route crosses under U.S. 71 just north of Riordan Road, then heads west to the trailhead.
That underpass is the whole point. Sugar Creek Center sits on the highway. Bluebird Trailhead & Sculpture Park sits west of it, on Riordan Road. Before October 20, those were two separate places. Now they're one paved mile apart.
Lapp put it plainly when she spoke to 40/29 News: "some people want to get out and take their kids to a park and then ride their bikes to get ice cream, and now that's something they can do here in Bella Vista."
The mile, in the order you'd walk it
Start on the east end, where the stops are. Here is the route from coffee to sculptures:
- Sugar Creek Center. The Weekly Vista reported in July that Vagabond Coffee opened here near Allen's this summer. The Discover Bella Vista dining directory lists Vagabond Coffee Bar at 34 Sugar Creek Center, Allen's Food at 60, Las Fajitas at 42 and Top China at 32. Directory listings can lag, so check hours before you plan a trail stop around one of them.
- The Berksdale walking path. The ribbon was cut here, east of 70 Sugar Creek Center. This is ground the old Berksdale golf course used to cover. In 2022, the Weekly Vista described a planned paved Greenway extension of about a mile across the closed course area to near the Bluebird Trail.
- Under U.S. 71. The crossing sits just north of Riordan Road.
- Bluebird Trailhead & Sculpture Park. The trail ends here at a small paved parking area with a portable toilet, according to Hike NWA.
Vagabond has a second trail-side spot, too. Discover Bella Vista notes it also serves at Tanyard Creek Nature Trail. One coffee name now shows up at two trailheads in town.
What's waiting at the west end
When KNWA covered the plan in April 2023, it described an outdoor public art exhibit on a "0.5-mile loop" of textured concrete off Riordan Road, west of U.S. 71.
The first exhibit featured three artists: Doug Cox, Dan Perry and Jorge Leyva. The same report credited the Bella Vista Arts Council with launching the public art effort. The City of Bella Vista and the Bella Vista Property Owners Association worked together on the art.
The collection keeps growing. The Weekly Vista reported in June 2024 that Cox's "Salvador Dogly" was added on June 12 of that year. In May 2025, the paper showed Cox overseeing the installation of "Mick the Frog Takes a Holiday" on May 13.
So a stroller ride from Sugar Creek Center can now end at a dog sculpture with a Dalí pun for a name, without crossing a single lane of highway traffic.
Picking a loop by how much time you have
The Greenway mile gets you to Bluebird. The trailhead decides how long you stay out. Hike NWA lists 13 routes starting at Bluebird, ranked by surface and difficulty. Here are a few, from shortest to longest:
| Route from Bluebird | Distance | Elevation gain | Surface rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluebird loop | 0.58 mi | 25 ft | Paved |
| Bluebird to Berksdale South Double Lollipop | 1.84 mi | 25 ft | Paved |
| Bluebird to Tavistock Loop | 1.85 mi | 200 ft | Moderate |
| Bluebird to Berksdale South | 2.35 mi | 25 ft | Paved |
| Bluebird to Sugar Vision & Snacks | 2.56 mi | 125 ft | Moderate |
| Bluebird to Tavistock, Water Tower, Snacks & Sugar Vision | 4.61 mi | 400 ft | Moderate |
| Bluebird to Sugar Vision, Danger Will Robinson & Tavistock Loop | 8.23 mi | 625 ft | Challenging |
Look at the gain column. The three paved routes all climb just 25 feet, whether you go 0.58 mile or 2.35. Hike NWA's route data counts Berksdale South as seven paved sections totaling 0.7 mile. On its rating scale, paved routes stay on smooth surfaces with no rocks or roots, which usually works for strollers and wheelchairs.
The climbing starts once you turn toward Tavistock or Sugar Vision. Even the shortest Tavistock loop gains 200 feet in under two miles.
That gives one paved mile two very different uses. Someone walking from Sugar Creek Center with a coffee can do the Greenway, the sculpture loop and Berksdale South without leaving pavement. A trail runner can park at Bluebird, run up to Sugar Vision and come back down to a café at the other end of the Greenway.
Who paid for the mile, and what may still be unfinished
The city didn't pay for this mile. Lapp told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the regional trail nonprofit Trailblazers is paying the contract for Ground Zero Construction, a Watts, Oklahoma company, to build it at no cost to Bella Vista. Trailblazers CEO Victor Gurel declined to give the estimated final cost or say where the money came from.
Gurel told the paper the project matters because it "connects more residents in Bella Vista to the Greenway as a means for commuting to work."
The paper also listed other partners. They include Arkansas Moves, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, the Bella Vista POA, Blue Crane, Crafton Tull and members of the city's Active Transportation Advisory Board.
The construction timeline was short. Work began in late June, the city broke ground July 17, and the job was expected to take about four months. The idea itself is older. A Greenway link across the Berksdale ground toward Bluebird was already on the table at a POA work session the Weekly Vista covered in December 2022.
Before the ribbon cutting, Lapp said construction should be finished by then, but "there may be some small outstanding items, such as lighting in certain places." With sunset coming earlier in November, plan an evening walk under 71 as if some stretches may not be lit yet.
If you find a problem on the trail, Hike NWA says Trailblazers takes reports for Bella Vista and Bentonville trails by text at 479-231-1365. Send the trail name, what you found and a photo if you have one.
If the new mile has you wondering what it means to live near this stretch of trail, I'm glad to talk through it, or to put together a free home valuation if you're thinking about your own place. Reach out to Cindy Carfaro anytime. I answer quickly, and I'll give you a straight read.
