If you’re living in Northwestern Arkansas or planning on visiting it anytime soon, finding the right activities to enjoy can make or break your experience there. Luckily, there are plenty of exciting new things and establishments coming to the area, so people of all backgrounds can find something they enjoy doing. I believe that Northwest Arkansas is the best place to live in America, and today you’ll find out just how versatile and entertaining living here can be.
5 brand new things coming to Northwest Arkansas include the Trail Building School, Smoking Oak Pizza, Boulevard Bread, K1 Indoors Go-Karts, and Snap NWA. So whether you’re looking to learn a new skill, enjoy some delicious food, explore local art, or find something fun to do, NA has you covered.
To learn more about these five exciting additions, make sure to read on until the end of the article. Below, I’ll explore everything to know about these five establishments, highlighting the qualities that make them worth a visit. Without further ado, let’s begin!
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1. Trail Building School
The first thing I want to talk about is the brand-new Trail Building School that’ll allow all Arkansas students to learn an exciting, lucrative skill. A new grant was given to the local community college allowing the institution to open a new program.
Before I dive into the program itself, I want to note that this community college has always been known for its unorthodox, yet fun and practical programs. For example, a couple of years back, there were classes that were fully dedicated to teaching students how to perform care and maintenance on bikes.
While to some, this program might seem futile, it can actually lead to a pretty profitable career as a bike mechanic, a profession that can make you a great living since there are so few people currently fulfilling this role (when demand doesn’t seem to be decreasing anytime soon).
Speaking of which, Bentonville in NWA is currently the official HQ of USA Mountain Biking, thanks to the established bike camps and its great system of trails. To learn more, check out my article discussing the topic.
Now, considering the success of the biking program and others similar to it, the community college decided to use the grant money to create another program that would equip students with practical, marketable skills. That’s why they settled on creating the area’s first Trail Building Schools.
The classes here teach you the basics of trail building, including the keys to making the process as economical and efficient as possible, the architectural aspects of this type of job, and so on.
The students that graduate from these types of programs then go on to work all over the US and build those impressive trail systems we use today.
2. Smoking Oak Pizza
If you’re in Northern Arkansas looking for something to eat instead, you’ll love Smoking Oak Pizza. It’s a new little place opening in Fayetteville that is known for its mouth-watering pies. It’s a franchise but not a local one, so people here can still look forward to trying something new.
The Smoking Oak Pizza chain mostly operates in Chicago, so if you’re from the area, you’ve probably already heard of them. What makes their opening in NA exciting isn’t only the fact that the pizza is great, but also the fact that the place will be located right uptown, in a pretty convenient location.
3. Boulevard Bread
If you’re more of a bread person, I’ve got you covered! Fayetteville will also be welcoming another location of Boulevard Bread, which is already known and loved among locals. They’re a bread company that specializes in all dough-based products, including bagels and pastries, which are all made fresh from scratch every single day.
4. K1 Indoors Go Karts
If you’re looking for a more adventurous stop in your Northern Arkansas itinerary, I highly recommend checking out the K1 Indoors Go Karts that’s about to open its doors in the area. Again this is a franchise that might be well known for out-of-towners, but it’s a fresh new experience that’s being offered to locals.
Since you can’t always rely on the weather for a good go-karting session, the company has decided to bring the fun indoors and allow enthusiasts to enjoy a fun activity all year round. If you’ve never tried go-karting and are nervous about how dangerous it might be – don’t worry. The vehicles usually go at 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour), so while still fast enough to pump some adrenaline in your body, they’re not nearly as dangerous as you might think.
However, I still recommend wearing a helmet if you ever decide to go there – after all, you want to let yourself have fun without worrying too much about anything else. I personally am very excited about this new addition to the area – while there are plenty of indoor entertainment options in Northwestern Arkansas (golf, paintball, and so on), we have yet to experience such an adrenaline-pumping activity year-round.
5. Snap NWA
Last but not least, I want to go in a different direction and explore an establishment that’s going to be enrichening the local art scene. Snap NWA is a pop-up business that works just like a selfie bar.
If you’re not familiar with the concept, selfie bars (which are already extremely popular in larger states like Los Angeles, Chicago, or Miami) are places where local artists are hired to create backgrounds, rooms, or other backdrops that hold a photographic interest. Locals and enthusiasts then go to these places for the sole purpose of taking a one-in-a-million picture.
Since the backdrops and props here are all so unique, you can rest assured that you’ll be getting some of the most visually-appealing pictures while you’re here. Moreover, considering that there are so many artists performing in the city every single week, the place attracts many people from the artistic crowd, people who are extremely interested in paying a small entry fee to get some breathtaking pictures.
Going back to Snap NWA in particular, the shop is locally owned and expected to open several locations, but the main brick-and-mortar shop will be in downtown Rogers.
Another exciting thing to note is that the setups will never be the same for too long. For example, around Valentine’s Day, the backdrops will be love-themed, around Christmas, they’ll be more festive, and so on. So, if you’re ever in the area, you won’t want to miss out on the experience.