Rave Run: Arkansas River Trail and Clinton Presidential Park (Little Rock)
The fifth post in the series I started a couple years ago, unabashedly based on a regular spread in Runner's World Magazine called Rave Runs, in order to share interesting routes with other runners. Why a post on running within a blog that concentates on business and technology? One habit that I picked up on the road as a consultant over the years is always inquiring about local running paths while visiting unfamiliar locales for the first time. As discussed in other posts, I find running a pleasurable way to explore new places, and running has been a gift to me from an early age by helping me focus and providing stress relief.
A few weeks ago, I visited Little Rock, Arkansas. This visit was not my first. Perchance, my first visit to the area was due to a Fayetteville based consulting project, which resulted in visits to several other Arkansas locations for on-site testing of the software the team had designed and developed. The weather was incredibly hot and humid during this time period, and subsequent visits have revived those memories, but a rather large storm passed through the area the first day of this recent trip, leaving in its wake some great running weather for this time of year.
The Arkansas River Trail System (second map below) is an expansive 88-mile loop in Central Arkansas, although the portion on which I recently ran is the 15.6-mile smaller loop (first map below) linking Big Dam Bridge in the west and Clinton Presidental Park Bridge in the east.
My daily runs started at the Residence Inn downtown location, immediately in front of which runs the River Rail Streetcar along its 3.4-mile route that links Little Rock and North Little Rock (although as the hotel concierge noted, it does not run during inclement weather, as was the case during the first day of my stay, and so the photo below was taken toward the tail end of my trip).
If you know me or have been following this series of posts, you already know that I am an early morning runner. The photos that I have included here were taken later in the day and not during my runs, due to lack of sunlight and the need to minimize disruption. While there are lamp posts in this area of downtown Little Rock, be aware that it can get quite dark. While I prefer to run solo, since it provides a time for meditation, you might want to consider having a fellow runner join you if running at night. While retracing a portion of my runs to take these photos, it is always amazing to me how much different a new locale looks with a bit of sunlight. Running under the first overpass in an easterly direction from downtown, for example, was a bit foreboding, and most of the artwork was not visible.
Unfortunately, most of the paths in this portion of the Arkansas River Trail System are paved. While the paths can be used for biking, running, walking, and a number of other pedestrian forms of travel (some Segways made an apparence, for example), most of the trails that I traversed are arguably not for biking, due to speed and visibility, although designers probably did not have runners in mind. Runners should mimimize running on concrete and asphalt. Just east of the first overpass, a fork in the path leads to either the William E. "Bill" Clark Presidential Park Wetlands, to the left, or to the Clinton Presidential Center by continuing straight ahead.
Although most of the paths in this portion of the Akransas River Trail System are paved, much of what makes this a rave run are the varied running paths. The first photo below shows the four types of running paths, which include the aforementioned concrete, stairways, wooden boardwalks, and pedestrian-only bridges. Several stairways dot the landcape, and the ones following the pattern depicted in the photo below are in my opinion well suited for running. Note that while the size of the wetlands might be 13 acres, from a running perspective the boardwalk is a relatively short distance.
A path to the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge immediately follows the wetlands. This pedestrian bridge is 1600 feet long and 17.5 feet wide. With expansive views of the Arkansas River and downtown Little Rock, traversing this bridge is a must, especially for runners new to the area. Little Rock is the only city in the United States with four pedestrian bridges that stretch over a navigable body of water. As with the aforementioned underpass, be aware that visits outside of daylight hours might be a bit foreboding, especially because the northern entrance to the bridge connects to a densely populated residential trailer park.
According to the sign at the entrance to the bridge, the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (CO&G) originally built the railroad bridge in 1899. After a hostile takeover by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad a few years later, the bridge was renamed the Rock Island Bridge. Later purchased by the Arkansas Gazette in 1967 after passenger service ended, five of the six bridges in Little Rock were slated for improvement due to the implementation of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which created a safe and reliable navigation channel for barge traffic.
In 1980, the Rock Island Bridge ceased operation and was acquired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac). By the mid-1990s, the Union Pacific Railroad prepared plans to tear down the bridge due to the liability that it represented, but in 2001 the City of Little Rock assumed ownership and retains ownership today. In 2010, the City of Little Rock officially changed the name of the bridge to the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge as a tribute to the Clinton Foundation's efforts to renovate it into a ramped pedestrian pathway.
As the above maps show, the Clinton Presidential Center resides at the easternmost location of the Arkansas River Trail System, and will probably prove to be a good resting stop for many a runner, with water fountains and shade for daytime runners on paths largely without shelter. Although I did not actually enter the building, this is only the second presidential library I have visited in the United States, after having visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum during opening weekend in April 2005.
Rave Run: Buffalo Bayou (Houston, Texas)
Rave Run: C & O Canal Towpath and Potomac River Waterfront (Georgetown)
Rave Run: Great Western Trail (Lombard, Illinois)
Rave Run: Ridges Road in Door County (Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin)