Ouachita Doom Mountain Bike Race
Get ready to sink your gears into the Doom 2026—one of the country’s most fearsome and hotly contested bikepacking races! The race moves to a new host city: Hot Springs, Arkansas, promising fresh terrain in the rugged Ouachita Mountains.
A full-scale Ouachita epic. Over 100 miles of singletrack link the Northwoods Trails, the IMBA Epic Lake Ouachita Vista Trail, the IMBA Epic Womble, and long runs of the Ouachita Trail—stitched together with tarmac, gravel, doubletrack, and rugged forest roads. The route grinds to Tall Peak’s old lookout tower and carves through the Flatside Wilderness before closing the loop around Lake Ouachita—a demanding multi-day push stacked with bonus miles and hidden gems.
All three routes, along with information on the event, can be found at OzarkGravelCyclists.com.
Created by Andrew Onermaa and the Ozark Gravel Cyclists, three all-new routes have been unveiled for the 2026 iteration:
- LOViT or Leave iT (116 Miles / ~10,000 ft gain): A compact figure-eight weaving Northwoods Trails and the IMBA Epic Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT). With 45 miles of singletrack and over half unpaved, this “shortest” route is guaranteed to pack a punch. Check out more on the LOViT or Leave iT route here.
- High Watch (205 Miles / ~16,000 ft gain): This middle distance loops through the hills, mixing punchy singletrack and fast, flowing roads, utilizing the Northwoods and LOViT trails. Check out more on the High Watch route here.
- Ouachita Doom (328 Miles / ~32,000 ft gain): The full-scale Ouachita epic! This brutal course stitches together over 100 miles of singletrack (Northwoods, LOViT, IMBA Epic Womble, and the Ouachita Trail), grinding past Tall Peak’s old lookout tower and carving through the Flatside Wilderness. Check out more on the Ouachita Doom route here.