Riverside Park has long been a familiar but lightly used corner of Searcy—a place locals knew for its river access, wooded bluffs and quiet stretches of land just outside downtown. As outdoor recreation has grown across Arkansas, residents and city leaders have increasingly looked at Riverside as an opportunity waiting to be developed, a space that could bring people together around trails, nature and the Little Red River.
Searcy Mayor Mat Faulkner knows Riverside Park well, and for many years the site didn’t look like much. “I moved to Searcy in ’98 to attend Harding University,” he said. “My first interaction with Riverside Park was just as a college student. I would say I didn’t go out there all that often. There wasn’t a lot out there.” It had a bit of a reputation, he said. “Usually when there’s not a lot of activity or people in a space, then along with that comes some safety concerns. So, we really just didn’t frequent the park all that often.”
A few decades later, Faulkner has gone from college student to mayor, and Riverside Park has gone from safety concern to Searcy’s largest undeveloped natural asset.
Riverside sits just a short drive from historic downtown Searcy, pressed against the Little Red River and surrounded by bluffs, forest and nearly 200 acres of raw potential. For decades, the space saw minimal investment. “All that existed out there was the boat ramp and some playground equipment and a couple of bathrooms,” Planning and Development Director Richard Stafford said. He has now spent more than a decade walking, mapping and advocating for the area, and he’s leading a multi-year buildout to help realize the park’s potential.
The first shift in momentum came in 2019, Stafford said, when the city acquired additional land, cleaned up old contractor debris and gained direct access to Highway 13. “That was a great thing about that purchase. It got us down to actually touching Searcy city limits with the park boundary. Previously you’d have to go kind of outside of town.”
Another turning point came when regional partners started taking a closer look. “We had Darryl Bowman from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission come up and meet us at the park, and that really is what kicked it off,” he said. Soon after came conversations with engineering consultants, whitewater designers and climbing experts. “We started building this momentum of, holy cow, you know, this could be a special place with climbing, with fishing, with some kayak and boating.”
Stafford then visited several northwest Arkansas parks that had similar features to what they were dreaming of for Riverside. “We went up to Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Siloam … and the thing that kept coming back to us was like, you know, those parks are all really cool,” Stafford said. “The unique thing about Riverside is it’s all of those things in one place.”
City planners realized Riverside also had something northwest Arkansas parks couldn’t replicate: its location. “Another just really crazy, unique thing about Riverside is the proximity to our downtown,” Stafford said. “It’s maybe a mile and a half from downtown center to the entrance.”
Responding to community feedback calling for more nature-based recreation, the city committed $5 million in bond funding toward Riverside in the first of a multi-phase redevelopment of the park, part of which will fund the construction of hiking and mountain bike trails. “The big visible thing will be creating the new entrance off of Highway 13,” Stafford said. “It’s going to make it a lot easier to get to.”
The long-term vision for Riverside goes far beyond the current construction, Stafford said, and the design team has been tasked with thinking big. “We know we’ve got $5 million now. What does phase two and three look like, and how much do those cost?” Potential future project phases include a signature blufftop structure, he said, an outlook tower built into the bluffs overlooking the Little Red.
Mayor Faulkner believes those future phases will position Searcy as a regional destination. “When you start seeing these structures that are very creative but fit well into the natural habitat, and then you envision people enjoying those spaces and coming out, it really opened our eyes to saying, hey, this isn’t just a local park. This is something that our residents are certainly going to enjoy, but this is a place that we can certainly see people traveling from Memphis or traveling from northwest Arkansas and say, hey, we want to try a new experience and spend a day or two here.”
Construction on phase one is already underway. “I’d say they’ve got about 3 miles cut in right now,” Stafford said of the planned 11.5-mile trail system. The first loop is designed to National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) standards for youth mountain biking. “We would love to bring kids in and host a NICA event,” he said. “Maybe that would get some interest here to create our own team.”
Stafford, who worked on early Riverside plans as far back as 2012, said seeing work finally happen has been personal. “I’ve had this vision for like 13 or 14 years,” he said. “It’s so cool to actually see that this is finally happening.”
Every tour of the property confirms for him what the park can become. “Everybody’s just like, oh my gosh, this is beautiful,” he said. “It’s basically a blank canvas of awesome.”
For the mayor, the excitement around Riverside reaches beyond recreation. It ties directly to how Searcy grows, attracts families and retains young residents. “We’re raising three boys here, and we want it to be a great place to raise them,” Faulkner said. “We want it to be a place where they might consider establishing their own roots someday and raising their own families.”
He believes Riverside can help make that possible. “I think that Riverside is going to be a key tool for relocation and attraction, for health, for mental health, for the university and the students that come from all over the globe to go to school here,” Faulkner said. Even in its earliest phase, the park is becoming something the community will be proud of, he said. “We’re just really excited for the opportunity to be a destination. I think it’s just a great amenity all the way around.”
About this Series
State of Play is a new series that explores how Arkansas cities and towns are investing in active, healthy lifestyles for their residents. From trail systems and bike infrastructure to parks, wellness programs and community design, each installment highlights local leaders and bold ideas reshaping what it means to live well in Arkansas. Sponsored by Municipal Health, State of Play celebrates the places where movement meets momentum.
