The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the U of A will host Trail Mix, an interdisciplinary symposium and workshop dedicated to sustainable mountain bike trail design, on Oct. 3-5, on the U of A campus and nearby trails. Northwest Arkansas offers an ideal setting for this conversation as one of the nation's fastest-growing cycling destinations with a range of world-class trails and a university campus committed to becoming one of the most bike-friendly campuses in the country.

"We welcome all members of the Northwest Arkansas community to this workshop and symposium," said Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School. "The school's overall focus on purposeful design oriented to the greater good of the region and state has particular value, supporting the growth of mountain biking, and all cycling activities, in the region. We're grateful to our colleagues at NWACC for their invitation to collaborate in this venture, and to the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation for their commitment to our work. Thanks as well to our faculty — professors Sharpless and McCown — and our students for their leadership through design."

The three-day event will bring together designers, researchers, cyclists and policymakers to explore the future of trail building and the role of design in shaping outdoor recreation. Participants will take part in panel discussions, hands-on workshops and guided rides on some of Northwest Arkansas' most celebrated trails.

"The symposium will provide a space for trail appreciation, but also hopefully a space for connection between designers and riders, students and community members, and people of a lot of different levels of experience on trails and bikes," said Charles Sharpless, an assistant professor of interior architecture and design at the Fay Jones School, who organized the symposium.

"At one end of the spectrum, we will have world-class professional trail designers and builders with us, and at the other end, we are inviting renowned landscape architects that are also avid mountain bikers to share how the two practices inform each other," Sharpless said.

The symposium is being held in conjunction with a studio led by Sharpless and Ken McCown, professor and head of the Landscape Architecture Department. Titled Sustainable Mountain Bike Trail Design, the studio was originally initiated by Dean Peter MacKeith and Jennifer Webb, an associate professor of interior architecture and design. Their goal was to explore how mountain bike trail design could be integrated into the school's curriculum and programming, while also examining how the Fay Jones School can contribute to the vibrant culture and growing practice of mountain biking in Northwest Arkansas.

"Through their design training at the Fay Jones School, our students are adept at analyzing and spatializing a problem, communicating a strategy for approaching that problem through a variety of mediums, and imagining and representing a future experience of the space," Sharpless said. "This gives them a lot to contribute to an emerging interdisciplinary field like trail design." 

This semester, the course is centered on mountain biking trails, where students learn the technical skills needed to design with careful attention to site contours, drainage, vegetation and existing features. Sharpless also emphasizes that the course goes beyond design by giving students first-hand experience with entry-level mountain biking. This perspective allows them to better understand the perceptions, barriers and opportunities within the sport and to explore ways to make mountain biking more accessible to a broader audience.

As part of the symposium, the Fay Jones School will welcome Louise Cheetham Bordelon, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver, as the keynote speaker. Her lecture, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, is also part of the school's fall 2025 lecture series. In her lecture, "The Landscape of Mountain Biking," Bordelon will present her research on the barriers to entry within mountain biking, with particular focus on the obstacles that limit women's participation in the sport.

Mountain biking has become a cornerstone of Northwest Arkansas' outdoor culture, offering both health benefits and economic impact for the region. With this growth comes an increasing need to address sustainability in trail design, Sharpless noted. Trail Mix aims to position mountain bike trails as more than recreational infrastructure — highlighting their potential as catalysts for growth, repair and connectivity by balancing ecology, economy and experience.

"Trails are so interesting because they can only exist through community love and support," Sharpless said. "Trails develop with continued use — footsteps or bike tires choosing to follow a previously established route. As more and more travelers follow a trail, continued care and maintenance are essential to a trail's safety and reliability." 

In addition to Bordelon's keynote, the symposium will feature presentations from a diverse group of invited speakers. Theodore Hoerr, founder of TerrainWorks in Brooklyn, New York, and a lifelong mountain biker, will share how cycling has shaped his approach to landscape architecture and how his design practice has, in turn, influenced his riding.

Megan Bradley, a former professional mountain bike racer who now works as a landscape architect and bike park designer with Progressive Ramp Design, will discuss how her unique career path informs her current design work.

In addition, students in the Fay Jones School's Sustainable Mountain Bike Trail Design studio will present their research from the first half of the semester on mountain biking history, culture and ecology, as well as video work that captures the students' initial forays into mountain biking. The students will be applying their knowledge of trail design toward imaginatively rethinking the Mount Sequoyah Woods park and trail system in Fayetteville. Work from the studio will later be included in an exhibition and publication in 2026.

Events will begin on Friday, Oct. 3, with a morning student workshop in the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation, followed by symposium panel presentations from 1-4 p.m. in Shollmier Hall in Vol Walker Hall. The day will conclude with Bordelon's keynote address at 4:30 p.m., also in Shollmier Hall, with a reception to follow in the Vol Walker Hall lobby.

On Saturday, Oct. 4, participants will take part in group rides across Fayetteville, starting at the Anthony Timberlands Center and exploring the Fayetteville Traverse, Centennial Park and Kessler Mountain Regional Park. The symposium will close on Sunday, Oct. 5, with additional group rides in Bentonville at Coler Mountain Bike Preserve and Slaughter Pen. The meeting spot for this ride will be announced during the symposium.

All symposium sessions will be open to the public, with options for in-person attendance and online streaming. For those interested in attending, please fill out this form. You may also email Sharpless at cgsharpl@uark.edu for more information.

The studio and the symposium are generously funded by a grant from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation and NorthWest Arkansas Community College.