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2022 MCDONALD COUNTY DIRECTORY | 31 Ad Number: 022422nwr7321 Ad Number: 022422nwr4131 Sporting Clay CJ & DONISE MALONE Owners Outlaw Ridge llC 1633 Jesse James Road • Pineville, Missouri 64856 Phone: 479-709-2307 E-mail: mail@theoutlawridge.com by Randy Rice - MCDONALD COUNTY DIRECTORY An extensive web of mountain biking trails has become an ever-growing tourist attraction for Northwest Arkansas. The region now boasts the moniker of Mountain Biking Capital of the World. Across the state line in McDonald County, communities have also started to see the benefit of building mountain bike trails. Most notable is the new series of trails in Neosho at Morse Park called The High Ground Bike Preserve. "At this point we have an 8.2-mile single track mountain bike trail up on the hill," said Clint Dalbom, Director Parks & Recreation for the City of Neosho. "We also have a 2.45-mile hard surface trail and they both in tie together." The single track trails range from the ones down in the valley floor where it's fairly flat and easy to navigate, to the Lazy Boy downhill trail and the Gone Rogue downhill ride with jumps and more for the advanced biker. "One place even has a natural bridge formed out of rock that you can ride under," Clint said. "All the levels are clearly marked so the biker can choose the one right for them." From the beginning, the people of Neosho have been big supporters of the trails. "The community has strongly gotten behind our efforts," Clint said. "Bike Neosho is a bicycle group that has contributed bike racks for placement all over downtown and by the square. Our job at the parks department is to maintain and take care of the trails, but a lot of these groups—like Bike Neosho, Ride Mo Bikes and Friends of the Park—will see a tree come down and move it out of the way themselves before we even get to do it. That's the kind of community we have here." The company that built the trails, Rogue Trails out of Rogers, Ark., also took note of the community's support. "The people of Neosho were so appreciative of the men working on the crew building the trails they would leave little thank you's out for them on the trail, like gift cards for the local coffee shop or Sonic," Clint said. "The Rogue Trails folks said they had never experienced anything like it. The community was so friendly and supportive." Contributions from area businesses have also flowed in. The park includes a skills loop with a bicycle teeter-totter and bench you can ride and jump off of, and a children's bicycle playground and pump track. Skills Loop features were all contributed by the American Ramp Company in Joplin. The Newton McDonald Counties Association of Realtors group have contributed two water bottle filling stations. TLC Cycles in Joplin contributed a mechanics station with tools and the local Dogwood Run group contributed a pump for bikers to use at the trailhead. Clint notes that the High Ground Bike Preserve isn't exclusively for mountain bikers. They have other events for runners and walkers, too. "The original loop is the Rough Rider loop. It is a 3.1 mile, or 5K trail," Clint said. "Sometimes we close the trails for a marathon. In January we closed the trails for a few hours on a Saturday for the Joplin Road Runners to do their winter run, what they call their Chilly 5K run." Clint's office is currently working on a grant to do another loop on a different patch of land they have in Morse Park that would add nearly another 2 miles. One reason for this is the fact that High Ground Bike Preserve has proved to be more than just a biker's paradise, it has already started to impact the town of Neosho itself. "The merchants in downtown Neosho have noticed a definite uptick in business since the trails opened," Clint said. "And that's great because one of the dreams in the community is to bring the downtown square back to life. They've tried different things throughout the years but maybe the bike trails are going to be the thing to finally make it happen." Neosho aims for High Ground Bike preserve a community effort 417-226-3363 26 Peacock Lane • Jane, MO Member of 2 Multi Listing Systems – Licensed in Missouri and Oklahoma www.obrienrealty.biz

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