Saline County opens 2.5-mile Southwest Trail segment near Little Rock
A new 2.5-mile Saline County trail link now gives walkers and riders more than 6 continuous miles east of Little Rock, with a 65-mile Hot Springs vision taking shape.
Walkers and cyclists can now string together more than 6 continuous miles of trail east of Little Rock, thanks to Saline County’s new 2.5-mile Southwest Trail segment. Segment S8A ties directly into Pulaski County’s existing system, turning a long-planned corridor into a practical outing for a family walk, an after-work ride, or a longer weekend cruise near Alexander.
Saline County marked the opening with a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. Friday, May 29, near Vimy Ridge Immanuel Baptist Church in Alexander. Parking and shuttle service were planned because access near the site was limited, a useful detail for anyone heading out to see the new stretch without guessing at the logistics.
The segment is part of a larger Southwest Trail route planned to run about 65 miles from Central High School in Little Rock to Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs. Saline County said it will eventually hold 26.1 miles of the full system, the largest share among the three counties involved. County officials said construction on Segment S8A began in April 2025 and was scheduled to wrap in May 2026.
The project has been in development for more than a decade, and the planning milestones have been steadily stacking up. The Federal Highway Administration approved the environmental assessment and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact in October 2020, clearing the way for engineering design. Project materials also point to the trail’s intended links to Hot Springs National Park, the Old River Bridge on the Saline River, the Little Rock Central High School Historic Site and the Arkansas River Trail System.
Saline County has also pointed to the trail’s economic upside. A 2015 impact study cited by the county estimated about 20,000 new visitors a year, more than 1.2 million trail users and roughly $1.2 million in annual regional economic impact. Pulaski County opened its first Southwest Trail phase on April 16, 2025, with a 4-plus-mile stretch from the Saline County line to Hilaro Springs Road, setting up the first completed multi-county connection before Saline County’s opening. For now, the big payoff is simple: the Southwest Trail is no longer just a line on a map, but a connected route that already works for a real ride or walk.
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