Walmart Headquarters Visit in Bentonville, Arkansas: a Tourist’s Dream

The new 350-acre Walmart Home Office, what the company calls its campus, was quiet on a Friday, though some tourists were also walking around taking photos.

Sam Walton Hall is over 200,000 square feet and includes a large auditorium and conference spaces.

Much of the new Home Office is bikeable or walkable, including this section near the Walton Family fitness center and the welcome center. I was struck by how green the campus is, given that it uses native plants to promote sustainability.

Many construction workers were busy getting storefronts ready for new businesses like an Arvest Bank and a Sweetgreen.

About a mile west of the campus, Bentonville’s downtown, off the Square, hosts the Walmart Museum, a two-story exhibition space in Sam Walton’s first 5 & 10 store.

Visitors to the Walmart Museum can hear Sam Walton speak, at least in hologram form. Walton’s AI-powered hologram answers questions about the history of the business.

A few blocks from the Bentonville Square, Ledger is the first-ever bikeable building, meaning riders can navigate its six floors using an outside ramp. Ledger includes co-working, office, and retail space.

Compton Gardens & Arboretum, directly north of downtown, makes up the southern tip of miles of hiking and biking trails. These trails include sculptures by artists like Yayoi Kusama and James Turrell.

Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, the museum includes paintings by Thomas Eakins, Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, and Winslow Homer. The museum, which is expanding and free to the public, also runs a contemporary art space called the Momentary, closer to downtown.

In 1954, Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Bachman-Wilson House, which was originally built in New Jersey, acquired in 2014, and relocated to Arkansas. The house is a short walk from Crystal Bridges.

The Bentonville area boasts over 150 miles of mountain-bike trails, particularly in the city’s northwest. This particular trail is a 20-minute walk from Crystal Bridges.

Alice Walton opened her namesake private medical school in 2021 and the first five classes received free tuition. The school is a short distance from Crystal Bridges and the Amazeum, a science museum for kids. The city is also home to the NWA Space and Science Center and the Heartland Whole Health Institute.

Many homes are being erected or undergoing major renovations. Bentonville’s population has grown from just over 20,000 residents in 2000 to almost 50,000 in 2017. It’s estimated that nearly 62,000 people lived in Bentonville in 2024. The average home price in Bentonville is nearly $500,000, according to Zillow.

In and around the Bentonville Square are upscale and casual restaurants serving up Mexican fusion, “High South” cuisine spotlighting catfish or venison, barbecue, Japanese, and bagels.

On the outskirts of Bentonville is the gravesite of Sam Walton and his wife, Helen. His tombstone is covered in small Walmart tokens.

Overall, I found Bentonville to be charming, modern, and unexpectedly vibrant.