When you think of Bentonville, Arkansas you probably think of Walmart. (That’s if you’ve ever even heard of the place.)
Taking a visit to the little city will show you how right, and also how very wrong you are.
I only had 1 day to explore, and had my pup in tow.
Out of everything I saw, here’s how I would recommend spending one full day in Bentonville with your dog.

Dog Friendly Bentonville

First let’s get this part out of the way.
Northwest Arkansas in general has been one of the most pet friendly places I’ve been in this entire country. From Eureka Springs to the National Park to the smaller State Parks.

Every single town, park, and pitstop I made on this week long road trip has not only been accepting of dogs, but goes out of their way to make sure you know they’re comfortable and welcome.
We’ve stopped at dog parks along the way (when they’re empty). A little camping cabin provided a dog bed. Store associates have run outside to invite Lily in.

Bentonville was no different.
We found an outdoor sculpture garden part of a museum that allows leashed dogs.
Restaurants had outdoor seating.
Our Hipcamp host even popped out to let us know we could shut the gate to one of their pastures to keep her safe, and let her sprint out some energy chasing her favorite ball.

When I say the entire NW portion of the state was dog friendly… I am not exaggerating!

Walmart’s Influence

If you know anything about Walmart, you probably aren’t a huge fan. You see that the owners are, well, richy rich. You see that it’s a massive corporation pulling in tons of profits. The lower wages. The fact that when a store pops up it can shut down the mom and pops…
What the rest of the country doesn’t see is what they do for this area. (which some people love and some people hate, just depending if you want to be in a place with lower housing vs one with more to do.)

They are the number one employer in the city with their home office located here.

One of the top ‘things to do’ in the city (and was on my list) is to stop and visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. This museum was founded by Alice Walton, and even includes a lot of artwork from the Waltons private collection. (There’s also a Walmart Museum downtown.)

The Walton foundation has had their architects design all sorts of things around the city from green spaces to neighborhood buildings.
This city is also known for mountain biking, so the Walton Foundation has built and maintained HUNDREDS of miles of bike trails, and even a giant mountain bike preserve where you can make a stop to a beer garden or coffee shop on your ride.
They’ve helped to curate the local foodie scene, as well as create schools and built a children’s hospital.

Spending just one full day in Bentonville

This city is PACKED with things to do. Especially if you love being outdoors or looking at museums. There really is no good way to just spend one day.
You’ll need a few days.
If you don’t have a few days… you’ll need to pick and choose the things you think are most important. If you have a dog with you, it can be even harder since you have to schedule in some downtime for rest and won’t be able to go go go all day.

I decided we would break the day into two sections. Crystal Bridges, and downtown.
That means strap on your walking shoes and prepare your stomach! We walked, ate, drank, walked, ate, drank, annnnd repeat.

BringFido has a pretty good list of other places I didn’t stop by that are also happy to have you bring your pup along.

A morning at Crystal Bridges

If you have your dog… don’t expect to be able to go inside. The inside of the museum is not dog friendly.
This is completely understandable, right? If you DON’T have your pup with you… go in! I went in just to use the bathroom (and had a mini adventure trying to find it after getting off the elevator lol). Admission to this museum is FREEEE. Yes, free!
It would also take you dayyyys to get through it all.

Again, I had my dog. We couldn’t see the inside portion. That was okay though, because there’s an art trail outside! This museum is also an arboretum.
Not only is the art walk full of sculptures, but many of them seem to work together with the landscape. It is an absolutely gorgeous paved hike.

You’re going to see metal sculptures, giant quartz, and even a Frank Lloyd Wright house. The house itself isn’t dog friendly so we just toured the outside of it. To get in, you’ll need to get a ticket, but they are free. There are also paid guided tours.

The Art Trail is only half a mile long, but takes a bit to walk since you’ll be stopping to see the art. It also connects to other trails like the Orchard and Tulip Tree. They even have a trail that connects to downtown!

An afternoon in Downtown Bentonville

After wearing ourselves out with hours of hiking at Crystal Bridges, I hopped on over downtown to try to find something for a late lunch.
The art doesn’t just stop at the museum. There were artworks, murals, and quirky little bits and pieces everywhere you look.

For lunch I stopped by a food truck I passed that just happened to smell delicious. Yeyo’s. The burrito bowl was fantastic, and there were picnic tables in the parking lot. I only had to share a little of my diet coke with the bees as payment to sit down.

We didn’t go into the little Walmart museum because dog, but did stop and grab an ice cream after.

Then it was time for an afternoon break to go check into the Hipcamp just outside of town. Spent a couple hours relaxing, and letting Lily sprint around and play fetch in the biggest ‘yard’ she’s ever been in.

Beer o’clock

After that, it was time for a beer!!
I’m big into stopping at breweries, so it was time to pick one. There’s a handful in town to choose from.
I went with Social Project, because it was recommended by a local.

I’m always that jerk that gets flights at breweries (working at one… I know that it’s more time consuming to pour flights than it is just to pour 1 beer. They usually take 4x as long to order and 5x as long to pour up and have ready.) The beertender was fast and very sweet! The indoor space was huge, and they were dog friendly. Most important, the beer was phenomenal. I loved the beer and their logo enough to buy a tshirt on my way out the door.

By the time we left the brewery, it was getting close to dinner time. I met up with a friend, and on her recommendation, headed back downtown.
She wanted to bring me to one of her favorite places, Table Mesa.
They had a couple tables outside on the sidewalk, so we were able to eat outside with Lily happily underneath the table… where I may or may not have been slipping her pieces of steak out of my bowl. I loved the fact that there are plenty of dog friendly restaurants in bentonville!

Dog friendly camping in Bentonville

If you’re in a camper or even are doing tent camping, this is a link to the hipcamp that I used. They were WONDERFUL.

My van is primitive. No bathroom (besides an emergency bucket) or anything. At the time I stayed here, they had water if needed, electric if needed, and even a porta potty. It looks like since then they’ve added a bathroom complete with a shower!
Not only that, but this is out of town a bit so at night we were treated to the longest and loudest coyote howl fest I’ve ever heard. I’m used to the sound of coyotes but this was next level!!
The hosts were fantastic and their property was great. Enough space between sites that we had plenty of privacy, but there’s also a community fire pit if you want to interact with others.

Finishing Up

That’s it. That was my day.

A hike full of art.
Food.
Wander.
Rest.
Beer.
More food.
Rest again.

Doing JUST that, you can spend one full day in bentonville with your dog. Could I have fit in more? Probably. This was near the end of my road trip though, and having a day of just wandering and hanging out was great.

Want to put Bentonville together in a big road trip? You can hit the entire north east corner of Arkansas in a big loop and almost all the cities in the area are incredibly dog friendly! I camped from Hot Springs up to Eureka and over to Bentonville before heading back to Texas.