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The Atlas/Arkansas/Bikes, Blues & BBQ
Rally · Event

Bikes, Blues & BBQSep 30 – Oct 3, 2026 · Arkansas

Sep 30 – Oct 3, 2026
Next dates
5 days
Late September / early October, 4 days
~350,000 at its 2016 peak; lower in recent years (Wikipedia)
Scale
Arkansas
Region

A nonprofit Northwest Arkansas rally benefiting local charities, mixing Ozark riding with live blues and barbecue — now centered on Rogers (historically Fayetteville).

// Why riders attend

A nonprofit rally set in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas, drawing riders for multi-day access to scenic regional roads alongside live blues, a competitive BBQ cook-off, vendors, and demo rides — all with proceeds benefiting local charities since 2000.

// The rally

Bikes, Blues & BBQ is a Northwest Arkansas rally with a charitable mission — a nonprofit event whose proceeds go to local causes — wrapped around three things its name promises: Ozark riding, live blues, and barbecue. It is now centered on Rogers after years headquartered in Fayetteville.

The riding is the reason to make the trip. The rally sits in the heart of the Ozarks, with the region's twisty backroads a short ride from the venues, so the days are for the hills and the evenings for the music. At its 2016 peak the event drew an estimated 350,000; recent years have run smaller.

Check the official site for the current venue map and music lineup before you head over.

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// Rider photos

Shot by the riders who've run it.

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// Ride it into the rally

The best two-lane within a tank of the venue — fold one into your route in.

RouteArkansas
7.9/10
AR-123 (Lurton to Mt. Judea)
Arkansas
A tighter, narrower alternative to Push Mountain Road, AR-123 between Lurton and Mt. Judea winds through steep Ozark terrain near the Big Piney Creek drainage. The route shown here follows the full AR-123 ref, which extends well south and north of this favored segment.
32
miles
RouteArkansas
6.6/10
Arkansas Highway 16 Ozark Skyway
Arkansas
The central section of Arkansas Highway 16 — roughly 72 miles from Fayetteville east to its junction with AR-7 in the Ozark National Forest — delivers one of the state's most underrated ridge-top rides. The road climbs through Elkins and then becomes progressively more serpentine as it gains the Ozark highland plateau, passing through communities including Lurton, Deer, Witts Springs, and Ben Hur before crossing AR-123 and dropping to Sand Gap near AR-7. The route briefly joins the Pig Trail corridor near Brashears and shares a concurrency with AR-21 in Newton County, forming part of the official Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway. Rider Magazine called it a candidate for "Ozarks Scenic Highlands Skyway" — one of the least-trafficked and most scenic highways in the state.
243
miles
StopArkansas
Blanchard Springs Caverns
Arkansas
A National Forest Service-operated show cave system at 704 Blanchard Springs Rd in Fifty-Six, AR, located 2 miles off AR-14 and just north of Mountain View. The caverns offer two guided tour routes through large flowstone rooms with active formations. Discovered in 1963 and opened to the public in the 1970s, they are consistently rated among the top cave systems in the South. The adjacent recreation area includes a swimming hole fed by the spring's outflow, a campground, and forest hiking trails — making it a full half-day stop for riders on the Push Mountain Road / AR-14 loop.