One of the things Eureka Springs is known for is the various trails around the city that are frequented by mountain bikers, hikers and nature lovers.

So, it’s only fitting that the city’s school district have a trail of its own.

What started as an idea in 2020 recently became a reality as the Highlander Way nature trail opened to the public at the school district’s complex.

The half-mile low-grade trail is aimed at beginning bikers or those just wanting to take an easy stroll for some exercise.

“We wanted to have it as a beginner bike trail because there really is not another beginner bike trail in Eureka Springs,” said Shawna Miller, a chemistry and physics teacher at Eureka Springs High School who also coaches the school’s mountain biking team and spearheaded the project. “If you want to start out mountain biking there’s nowhere to go to take your 5-year-old kid. Passion Play has awesome trails, but even the easiest trail there is still not a true beginner trail.

“So, we really wanted something where people could take their kids.”

Miller said the idea for a campus nature and bike trail started three years ago after the creation of a youth mountain biking team.

“Students on the team worked diligently to increase their bike-riding skills, learn about bike maintenance and maintain trails around Eureka Springs,” Miller said. “The team is based out of Passion Play, where there are a number of mountain bike trails. The Passion Play trails are wonderful, but many of them are designed for a more advanced rider and transportation to the trails can be a problem for some students.”

Miller’s vision was simple: create a nature trail on campus that would cater to both hikers and bikers.

“Having a trail on campus would enable the entire school population to easily enjoy biking or simply being out in nature,” she said.

Building a trail, however, can be very costly, Miller learned, so she applied for a matching grant through Outride Fun, an organization that partners with community nonprofits to promote cycling as a tool to “improve social, emotional and cognitive health.”

“The generous people of Eureka Springs contributed to the matching grant,” Miller said. “Every person who contributed is on the information sign that we have at the beginning of the trail.”

The CC Riders group joined in with the school district to provide additional funding and Jagged Axe Trail Designs of Eureka Springs built the trail, Miller said.

“It’s low-grade but also still has lots of features for you to practice on,” Miller said of the trail. “It’s really, really wide so you don’t have to worry about going off the trail. It’s nice and cleared out so there’s no big chunky rocks in it, but still has practice features.

“If you’re a biker you really want to practice things like switchbacks and it has a couple of nice switchbacks to practice on. It’s got hills that go up and down, but no big hills. It’s all really sloping and it’s nice because it’s a loop so you can take your kids out there and there’s nowhere else they can go.”

The Highlander Way nature trail is located across from Eureka Springs Middle School, to the right of the road leading down to the district’s administration building. The wooded hillside offers plenty of native trees and plants, wildflowers, insects, fungus and more that can be studied by students, Miller said, adding that it is maintained in order to reduce the chance of ticks.

“Mountain biking trails are a huge thing in Eureka Springs and our community likes that,” Eureka Springs School District Superintendent Bryan Pruitt said. “I was so on board with this project. I look out my window and I see kids walking around the trail with their PE teacher. It’s really cool thing for us to have and tell people about.

“It’s very Eureka. A win-win for all of us.”

The creation of the trail coincides with the launch of another new program starting this spring at the middle school that will allow seventhand eighth-grade students to have bike-riding outings during physical education class. That program was thanks to a “Riding for Focus” grant from the Outride Fund and Trailblazers organization of Bentonville, Miller said.

“The district received 20 specialized bikes and helmets as well as training for the implementation of the bike riding P.E. program,” Miller said, adding that students will learn the basics of bike and helmet fitting, bike mechanical checks, braking, shifting, riding around corners, road etiquette and more.

The Highlander Way trail is open to the public during daylight hours.

“We just ask everyone to ride within their limits and watch out for other users on it,” Miller said.