Even on an early Saturday afternoon, we encountered only 6 bikers on the Schroen Trail. Not busy at all. It's a Blue Medium bike trail and I like to scout out the tougher trails with an easy Dog Walk before going Mountain Biking.
My steady companion is Pixie, an athletic, nimble and smart Border Collie mix. She is a rescue who just appeared one day. I was laying in bed watching TV and she jumps up and puts her head on my shoulder. From that day onward, she became mine.
Most of the dog walkers and bikers stay on Razorback Greenway. Being a Saturday, I was really surprised that there was available parking at the little lot off of Tiger, just north of Crystal Bridges.
The entrance to Schoen is Two Stacks, old brick chimney stacks from the old Bentonville history. I called the Bentonville History Museum to see if they know anything about the local past, but I got the answering machine. As of this Blog writing (that no one reads), the Museum has not reached back to me. Also, nothing came up in the Remembering Bentonville Facebook group.
Granted, the trails are designed for the Mountain Bikers, yet great for those adventurous Dog Walks. However, you need to know the etiquette - be totally aware of riders approaching, get a 1-2 feet off the trail and stop your movement. Pixie is not reactive to anything, but as an extra precaution, I keep her on the opposite side of the trail.
The trail itself is pretty wide, 4-6 feet in most spots. There's loose fist sized rocks that the bikers can navigate easily, but I need to watch where I am stepping while hiking.
Once you get elevation on the Schroen Trail, it plateaus off with nice rolls and curves. There are 3 wooden bridges with cool drop offs and I'm sure the bikers like the speed.
Going north near the end is a steep 15-20% descent rock garden. In my younger days, I would have jumped and wheelied over it. I'll walk this one. The rock kind of looks natural, but I'm sure it was installed. My compliments to the the designers and construction crew.
Then, Pixie and I meandered back up the trail that was facing the Razororback Greenway. Being early Spring time, the leaves and foliage had yet to come out and we could see all the folks down below.
At this elevation, I could see the Bentonville Water Resource Recovery Facility, affectionately known as Poop Town and where they manufacture Yoo-Hoo and Hersey's Milk Chocolate. Someday, the City will rip it up and build a new facility out in the boonies.
More evidence of a historical human presence is an old root cellar and broken pottery embedded into the ground.
The trail loops around, back to Two Stack near an old wooden building.
Overall, it was an easy hike, but got my lungs and legs working. I broke a little sweet under my ball cap. Pixie and I jumped over the jersey barrier and made it back to the car.
Length: 1.5 miles, Time 1.5 Hours
