FAQ’s…

This is your one-stop shop for all frequently asked questions. Give this page a solid read-through if you’re considering joining us for 2025! We highly recommend familiarizing yourself as much as possible with the layout of this event, the demands of the challenging terrain, and the equipment recommended to tackle the adventure ahead.

  • Registration opens at 9 AM Central Time on January 1, 2025. Don't delay, we expect a high turnout!

    Registration is limited to 400 in the full-Graveler category, 50 for the Half-Grav, and 50 Non-Riding Participants.

  • The Arkansas Graveler (full course)

    $990 “early bird pricing” is available to those who sign up in the month of January. On February 1, the price increases to $1100.

    We also have a payment plan for those who would like to make two equal instalments. Riders may opt for this and make a $550 payment during the month of January, followed by a $550 invoiced on March 15, due no later than April 15.

    Your entry fee for the full Graveler covers:

    • Baggage transfer each day

    • 6 Breakfasts (Tuesday, June 3 - Sunday, June 8)

    • 3 Community Dinners – Tuesday, June 3; Wednesday, June 4; Friday, June 6 (we turn you loose to explore your own dinner options on Thursday and Saturday evenings)

    • Daily post-ride craft beer and non-alcoholic beverages

    • Mechanical support on the route and each day at the finish line venue

    • EMT support on the route and at each venue

    • SAG vehicle support on route 

    • Two fully stocked Aid Stations along each day's route

    • Nightly entertainment and outdoor recreational experiences (could be fishing, archery, karaoke, live music)

    • A complimentary tent camping spot at our Graveler-designated campgrounds 

    • Daily access to free showers and toilets at the venues 

    • Rider swag bag with Graveler merch

    • 5 days of fully marked, epic routes

    Non-Rider Participant: 

    $495

    Participation in this category requires you to provide your own transportation from venue to venue each day. Children under the age of 8 may attend with their registered adult participants at no additional charge. We require children ages 8 and up to be fully registered within this category to attend. Discounts are not given for minors ages 8-18.

    Your entry includes:

    • Baggage transfer each day (if needed)

    • 6 Breakfasts (Tuesday, June 3 - Sunday, June 8)

    • 3 Community Dinners – Tuesday, June 3; Wednesday, June 4; Friday, June 6 (we turn you loose to explore your own dinner options on Thursday and Saturday evenings)

    • Daily craft beer and non-alcoholic beverages

    • Free parking for non-RV vehicles at the Graveler venues; please secure the $100 parking pass if you intend to bring a camper or RV 

    • Nightly entertainment and outdoor recreational experiences (could be fishing, archery, karaoke, live music)

    • A complimentary tent camping spot at our Graveler-designated campgrounds 

    • Daily access to free showers and toilets at the venues 

    • Rider swag bag with Graveler merch

    The Half-Grav: 

    $440

    We invite Half-Gravelers to arrive the afternoon of June 5th in Hot Springs – we'll provide packet pickup that evening, and be sure to join us for Bridge Street LIVE in downtown Hot Springs that evening. Half-Gravelers then start their 2-day adventure on Friday morning, June 6, as we leave Hot Springs and head out for our final two days.

    Your entry includes:

    • Baggage transfer each day

    • 3 Breakfasts (Friday, June 6 - Sunday, June 8)

    • 1 Community Dinner – Friday, June 6 

    • Daily post-ride craft beer and non-alcoholic beverages

    • Mechanical support on the route and each day at the finish line venue

    • EMT support on the route and at each venue

    • SAG vehicle support on route 

    • Two fully stocked Aid Stations along each day's route

    • Nightly entertainment and outdoor recreational experiences (could be fishing, archery, karaoke, live music)

    • A complimentary tent camping spot at our Graveler-designated campgrounds 

    • Daily access to free showers and toilets at the venues 

    • Rider swag bag with Graveler merch

    • 2 Days of fully marked, epic routes

  • You may wish to make midday purchases at local restaurants, Mom & Pop Shops, and small businesses. In fact, we highly encourage it, as this helps us connect and support the communities we pass through along the route. These types of stops are on your own dime.

    While we provide a place for you to tent camp using your tent, you can book private accommodations if you'd like to sleep in a nearby Airbnb, hotel, or motel. Please keep in mind, you must self-transport to these accommodations.

    The post-event shuttle back to the start is an add-on convenience we make available to riders for $75 per person. The charter bus cost will accommodate your body, your bike, and your luggage back to the start (where you've parked your vehicle for the week). This add-on will be available at registration.

  • The rider limit for 2025 will be 400 for the full-course, 50 for the Half Grav, and 50 for Non-Riding Participants.

  • Registration for a Non-Riding Participant is $600.

    Participation in this category allows us to fully accommodate family/friends who want to support or tag along for the adventure (but don't want to pedal). Non-Riding Participants are required to provide their own transportation from venue to venue each day.

    Your entry in this category includes:

    -Daily breakfasts when served to the riders

    -Same Community Dinners as riders (nights 1, 2, 4)

    -Afternoon/evening craft beer and beverages

    -Graveler swag bag

    -Nightly entertainment

    -Outdoor recreational experiences and spirited competitions (fishing, archery, crafts, etc)

    -Tent camping alongside the riding participants

  • We limit registration in the rider categories to 18 and older. Riders under the age of 21 will have a special wristband designating legal drinking age and will under no circumstances be served alcohol at any location.

    In the Non-Rider Participant category, we allow children to tag along! Children under the age of 8 may accompany a registered adult participant at no additional charge. Children ages 8+ must be registered the same as an adult participant to attend, but may participate in all the activities with their families.

  • Refunds/Transfers/Deferrals: 

    We understand things come up and plans change! We do our best to give you a flexible refund/deferral program. However, the Arkansas Graveler is a complex, large-scale multi-day event. We enter into numerous pre-event contracts with cities, venues, caterers, entertainment producers, and ride support teams. Please see our refund policy below: 

    Between January 1 - April 15, 2025: 

    Riders from any category may receive a full refund minus a 10% admin fee. Refunds usually process within 3-5 business days.

    If you opted into our payment program and do not complete your 2nd payment by April 15, you will also be limited to the following options:

    Between April 15, 2025 - May 12, 2025: 

    • Any category participant may transfer entry within the same category to another rider, for no additional fee

    • Participants who opted into the payment plan and wish to withdraw entry after April 15 may defer their first installment as a credit toward 2026. 

    • Participants who have paid in full may defer to 2026, but must repay 25% of next year's entry fee when registration opens for the following season. Deferral requests must be received in writing to info@arkansasgraveler.com prior to May 12, 2025. You will receive a discount code for the following year that provides 75% off your entry. 

    Due to the complexity of this event, we cannot honor deferral requests received after May 12, 2025 unless proof of extenuating circumstances is provided. 

  • No. All our alcohol is donated for this event, so you not drinking does not effect our bottom line costs. We will provide many other non-alcoholic beverage options for those opting out of our craft beer selection.

Registration

  • The Arkansas Graveler is no joke! Our terrain is challenging. Climbs can be steep, and some descents are quite chunky. Some roads are smooth as silk. But expect a challenging ride; this is not one for beginners.

    Here are some great questions to ask yourself when considering this ride:

    • Do you enjoy riding your bike on gravel for 60-70 miles?

    • Have you ever done a single-day endurance gravel event or race over 70 miles...and felt good enough to ride the next day?

    • Are you capable of spending roughly six hours a day in the saddle — for multiple days in a row?

    • Have you completed a GRAVEL ride or event (not a paved ride!) with over 4,000 ft of elevation gain in a 60-mile window?

    If you can answer "yes" to these questions, you should be in good shape.

  • Riders will receive an event number, and this number will correspond with the rider, the rider's bike, and their baggage tags. You mark your luggage, then each day, you pack up your belongings and drop them at our luggage transfer trucks. They arrive at your next destination ready for you to reclaim!

    Click here to see our luggage requirements and suggest packing list.

  • Please refer to our 2024 Rider Guide for a detailed look into our daily run-of-show:

    Click here!

  • We provide two complimentary, fully-stocked Aid Stations each day. Riders can expect to get their needs met here. But we also encourage riders to support local vendors for food and beverage needs along our route!

  • At each host venue, we guarantee you will have:

    • free showers

    • free campsite space to set up your tent

    • post-ride beverages

    • recharging stations for all your devices

    • men's and women's toilets and/or port-o-jon's

    • parking for Non-Riding Participants (RV's have an add-on cost)

    • complimentary self-bike wash stations

    • complimentary on-site mechanics to help if needed

    • complimentary medical tents with qualified staff to address any crash-related injuries or illnesses

  • Yes! We've build a web page just for packing and baggage recommendations and requirements.

    Click here!

  • This is a fully-supported ride, meaning we take care of you. We know everyone has a bad day from time to time. We have support vehicles with bike racks ready for those who are struggling, have a mechanical mishap, or run into an untimely health issue.

    SAG vehicles are able to transport a rider to the next Aid Station or to the finish line. A SAG vehicle will take a rider to the finish if they wish to abandon for the day.

    We have dedicated mechanics available at the end of every ride at the finish line venue. Riders are expected to show up with working bicycles, but our mechanics are equipped to fix most minor mechanical issues that may have arisen throughout the event. While items like tubes, lube, and derailleur adjustments are easy to come by, we do not guarantee the exact parts will be on hand should you have something major arise. Our mechanics typically do an amazing job at sourcing parts locally from bike shops, but the costs of additional parts repair would fall on the rider.

event format

  • Gravel VS MTB: Lower profile mountain bikes are certainly welcome (choose your tire right, and don't ride with an aggressive mtb tread pattern). Many riders from 2024 loved being on a flat-bar mountain bike because of their climbing gearing options. HOWEVER, this is a gravel ride, and gravel bikes are recommended for this route.

    The Graveler is no small feat, and you need to be happy in the saddle BEFORE you arrive at our start line! Choose the bike that keeps you most comfortable for multi-day endurance riding.

  • While this is a non-technical route, this is Arkansas gravel. Most of our gravel roads are smooth, but there are sections where the climbs get very steep, and the descents get chunky.

    We recommend a minimum gravel bike tire width of 42c but think you’ll be happiest for a multi-day journey in the 45-50c range.

  • Gearing: Gravel bike gearing is important. Prioritze your climbing gears! Many folks in year 1 had to hike-a-bike, not due to their fitness but because their gearing was not appropriate to turn the pedals over on some of our steeper climbs.

  • Yes, certainly!

    However, based on what we learned from our inaugural year, for 2025, we will require e-bikers to bring a second battery or to have a battery extender.

    Each morning, you will bring your topped-off second e-bike battery to our Aid Station truck, where it will transport the battery for you to swap out on route.

    Our nightly host venues have re-charging stations to keep you rolling.

what type of bike should i bring?

Food and Beverage

  • At registration, we will have an intake form to catalog your specific dietary needs. Our Chef, Biju Thomas, is well-versed in accomodating restricted diets and food allergies. His team will have gluten free, vegan, and dairy free options daily for you.

  • We're lucky to partner with generous local brewers throughout the state of Arkansas. Each day at the finish you'll have a full selection of options. Some vendors provide us with canned beer, while others come pour keg-style on-site.

    In addition to brews, we provide a full selection of sodas, sparkling waters, and (of course!) regular drinking water to keep you hydrated. We typically have Skratch and Gatorade products for electrolyte mix at our Aid Stations and at the start locations.

  • Daily breakfast and dinner are provided, and they are delicious. We also have fully-stocked snacks at Aid Stations.

    Should you wish to eat a more substantial meal throughout the day, we encourage you to support our local small business owners along the route (paid for on your own).

  • Showers will be provided daily at the host venue for no additional fee. Where the campsites don’t have sufficient showers available, we hire additional portable showers.

  • Your safety is always our top priority. We have backup plans for bad weather. We will still ride in the rain, but we shelter down if lightning is near. At each overnight host location, we have a designated indoor area to shelter people should the weather get rowdy.

  • Yes! We want you to be comfortable. You'll need to register your driver as a Non-Rider Participant if you want that person to share the meals, nightly entertainment, and off-bike activities.

    If you wish to park your RV on-site at our host venue, we do have an additional charge for dry-dock RV parking. This fee registers your vehicle for parking among our other large staff trucks. This charge is $100 for the week and is collected on BikeReg in advance of the event. This cost does not include hookups.

    If you wish to secure RV hookups, you'll need to make private accommodations along the route (we will provide some recommendations closer to the event).

  • Yes. We partner with UAMS to provide top-notch medical services on route and at our host venues. Medical services are complimentary to all our riders, but in the event you require transport to or from a local medical facility, you will be financially responsible for EMT transport and medical services there.

Rider amenities