HOBBS STATE PARK CONSERVATION AREA - The hottest time of day turned out to be the coolest for a spin through the forest, biking the War Eagle Valley Loop at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area.
Thunder shook deep-gray clouds that cast an eerie pall over the six-mile trail last Friday afternoon.
Tom Williams of Fayetteville and I expected a sizzling, sunscreen kind of mountain-bike ride over this backwoods route. Instead, we welcomed a cloudy, muggy afternoon.
No sun didn’t translate into no sweat. We would have welcomed a cooling thundershower during our ride.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t start at 10 this morning or we would have roasted,” Williams said. “Two o’clock turned out to be the perfect starting time.”
Exploring this loop trail has its twists and turns, its ups and downs, as Williams and I found when we pressed feet to pedals.
Trail Trek
A bike ride, hike or horseback ride along the War Eagle Valley Loop starts at the trailhead on Townsend Ridge Road, two miles south of Arkansas 12.
The loop is a part of the park’s Hidden Diversity Multi-Use Trail that’s open to hikers, mountain bikers and horses.
See the entire trail and you’ll have traveled 21 miles.
Williams rode his motorcycle to the trailhead and towed a trailer that held his bicycle. Before setting off, we signed the trail register, mainly because the park staff has told us that documented trail use can mean more funding for trail improvements.
After signing in, we vanished into the woods and rolled over hill and dale. The trail crosses Townsend Ridge Road not far from the trailhead and leads to an intersection. Williams and I pedaled off to the right on the War Eagle Valley Loop.
Here the trail winds down, down, down and we careened past gorgeous oaks, hickories and pines Then we huffed and puffed on along climb before the trail leveled out on a ridge.
Parts of the woods here are a thicket of small trees so close together you wonder how a trail was ever hacked through.
Eventually the forest opens and the trail comes to an overlook of the War Eagle River valley and the farm where the War Eagle Fair takes place in October.
Williams and I enjoyed deep chugs of water along with the view.
Stormy Ride
There was more water, muddy water, where the trail skirts the War Eagle River. The War Eagle was close to flood stage last Friday when Williams and I took a gander at it on our ride.
There’s a nice overlook here with benches for a respite from the saddle.
More thunder rumbled and threatened to soak us.
“We must be living right,” Williams said. “That storm is splitting and going right around us.”
We pedaled on and to our right was an expanse of meadow where Hobbs Superintendent Mark Clippinger has said a campground is planned.
Midway through the ride, Williams and I churned out a long climb, he on his bike and me pushing mine most of the way.
Friends of Hobbs website rates the Hidden Diversity Multi-Use Trail as moderate to diffcult. A break halfway up the hill was welcome, aswas the shade on this stormy day. Twilight in the afternoon seemed odd.
“I’ve never ridden this trail under these conditions. It’s almost like it’s getting dark,” Williams said, marveling at the dusky woods and the aroma of rain that never fell.
More downhill means another climb near the end of the ride. Here the trail rises gradually until the War Eagle Valley Loop meets the main Little Clifty Loop of the multi-use trail.
Williams paused to quaff more water. “This climb isn’t as steep but it seems to keep going and going,” he said between swallows.
It took a little over two hours to bike the War Eagle Loop. Back at the trailhead,threatening clouds continued to swirl when Williams put his mountain bike back on the motorcycle trailer.
The warmest time of day proved the coolest, at least for this circumnavigation of the War Eagle Valley Loop.
Outdoor, Pages 6 on 07/22/2010