Even if you have nev­er rid­den Moab, chances are you know it’s where moun­tain bik­ers go on vaca­tion. Locat­ed on the east edge of Utah, Moab is pinned in the val­ley floor with the La Sals to the East, Canyon Lands Nation­al Park to the West, Arch­es Nation­al Park to the North and the great Col­orado Riv­er mak­ing a fre­quent appear­ance through­out every vis­it to this 360 degree out­door paradise.

Moab is like no place on earth. If the MTB gods were to design a moun­tain bike park for the gods, it would like­ly be Moab. For longer than moun­tain bikes have been around, explor­ers have been mak­ing their way to this slice of earth to enjoy the unique geol­o­gy, flo­ra and fau­na, open spaces backed with stun­ning moun­tain ranges, wildlife sur­viv­ing the chal­leng­ing envi­ron­ment and sweet, clean air with the light hint of jasper and iron rich clay.

Since the first trail built (Slick Rock) to today, the moun­tain bike com­mu­ni­ty has built and devel­oped a wide and diverse net­work of trails through­out the region and con­tin­ue to bring the world­wide, ever-grow­ing moun­tain bike com­mu­ni­ty to this out­door wonder.

On the bike, you will expe­ri­ence every­thing from wide machine-built trails to nar­row hand carved sin­gle­track with fea­tures made of sandy red soils and sand­stone rock shelves. While there is no short­age of chal­leng­ing trail here, Moab and all the amaz­ing trail crews behind these net­works, have done an amaz­ing job forg­ing a diverse play­ground for the fat tires for every­one with a sense of adventure.

The host town of your trip, Moab, has much to offer beyond the epic rid­ing. You would be hard pressed not to find your­self cap­ti­vat­ed by local arts inspired by the Anasazi, soils and min­er­als of the land, Arch­es and oth­er sand­stone won­ders, or the adven­tures that draw us to this place. Food and drink are easy to enjoy. And if you need a local jer­sey or bike upgrade, this town has no short­age of amaz­ing shops.

In the words of Edward Abby while reflect­ing on this par­adise, “A man on foot, on horse­back or on a bicy­cle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motor­ized tourists can in a hun­dred miles.”  Let’s Ride!

Is This Ride For You?

This ride is for you if you are new to moun­tain bik­ing or inter­est­ed in advanc­ing your rid­ing skills and want to spend your rid­ing expe­ri­ence around oth­er eager and adven­tur­ous rid­ers.  Maybe you have been on the road bike and have climb­ing legs but don’t feel com­fort­able rid­ing off the tar­mac or your neigh­bor­hood is being over­run with cars sport­ing racks of fat tire bikes and you want to see what it’s all about. This ride is for you if you are look­ing for a per­son­al explo­ration of this adventurer’s mec­ca and you are ready to have a skilled and cer­ti­fied guide take your lug­gage and hand you a beer.

Itinerary

DAY 1. Wel­come to Moab!

Moab is some­what remote, with a tiny air­port. So, we make it easy for you to get there!

We offer a pick­up from the Grand Junc­tion, Col­orado air­port. Upon arrival, our guides will help you build bikes and get ready to ride.

From the first moment bikes are ready, your guides will instill fun­da­men­tals that will be used through­out the week. After you have the basics under your belt to ride safe­ly and man­age trail with some con­fi­dence, it’s time to ride.

We’ll enjoy a warm-up ride just out­side of Grand Junc­tion with plen­ty of trail side demon­stra­tion and prac­tice to build on these fundamentals.

Class, ped­al, have some lunch, now let’s get to Moab. Enjoy the 1.5 hour scenic shut­tle to Moab where we’ll check into our hotel fol­lowed by a well-deserved din­ner. We’ll review the itin­er­ary and get ready for an incred­i­ble week!

DAY 2.  Moab Brand Trails

We’ll enjoy break­fast at the hotel, then hop on the bike, which will be cleaned and tuned every morn­ing. We will warm up with a ped­al along a paved path that takes us over the Col­orado where we will post up at a park on the riv­er to review the game plan for the day and work on the rid­ing fun­da­men­tals intro­duced on day 1. Each rid­er will have tai­lored skill work based on where they are in moun­tain biking.

After skills and warm up ride, time to hit the trail. We will focus on The M.O.A.B. Brand Trails start­ing with the Bar M Line and build­ing the day from there. Trails are wide and smooth to begin with, but your guides will add in light tech­ni­cal trails as the ride goes on.

Ride for Day 2 will wrap up in time for Lunch. We will cruise back down hill to town and enjoy a deli­cious meal while review­ing the day’s ride. Enjoy the after­noon dis­cov­er­ing Moab on foot, sched­ule a mas­sage or let your guide know you are look­ing to head back to the trail!

DAY 3. Mag­nif­i­cent 7 and Slickrock

Eat a big break­fast, we’ve packed in a ton of adven­ture for your day. We will tack­le two icon­ic trails systems

We will start with a shut­tle to the high point. Our route will take us on a most­ly down­hill ori­ent­ed com­bo of sin­gle­track point­ing us north, back into town. The views will be of the proud La Sals.

Back in town you may choose to kick back and soak up a lit­tle hot tub. But if you are down for more rid­ing, and a lit­tle more chal­lenge, it’s time to ped­al Slick­rock. This icon­ic loop just out of town is host to so many pho­to shoots you have like­ly seen in your favorite rag, you are going to feel like you have been here before.

DAY 4. Day off the bike, Count­less options

Today you choose your own adven­ture. We will have break­fast togeth­er, then head out. You can grab your tuned bike from your guide and head back to the trail, of course, or give the bike a break. From here, you may enjoy a day in Arch­es Nation­al Park, Canyon­land Nation­al Park, a 4X4 tour over the sand­stone ribs, a hike to a swim­hole, a pad­dle­board or power­boat tour of the Col­orado, stroll Moab on foot, kick back in the shade with a book and a beer or your per­son­al­ized com­bo of some of the above. We will share options with you lead­ing up to the trip for the guid­ed ser­vices that require reser­va­tions ahead of time, and of course we will be at your ser­vice on the day to help with logis­tics whether it’s a shut­tle to the park or extra time work­ing on bike skill. 

Day 5. Klondike Bluffs

By now the rid­ing will have your body feel­ing strong but also a lit­tle stiff. Sleep in, eat a great break­fast and spend a lit­tle extra time in the morn­ing doing some stretch­es and yoga.

We will do a short shut­tle north of Arch­es Nation­al Park to the Klondike bluffs. Our rid­ing will be on a beau­ti­ful net­work of trails with a flat­ter ele­va­tion pro­file. But the trails won’t dis­ap­point or be free of challenge.

Our ride will be a com­bo of mix-use dou­ble­track and slick rock. The goal is a view­point of the spires to the south. By now you will be well dialed in to keep­ing your cam­era close. This will be a spot to have it handy.

Back in town we will have our last din­ner togeth­er. You will undoubt­ed­ly have plen­ty of sto­ries from the week.

Day 6. Break up the band

Before we go too far, we will hop on bikes and have a final ride. We will spend part of the morn­ing review­ing all the skill build­ing tools we have been pol­ish­ing and have a per­son­al­ized home­work plan to prep for your next Sacred Ride.

As Moab is cen­tral to many amaz­ing Nation­al Parks and Mon­u­ments, you might want to con­sid­er a cou­ple more days explor­ing off the bike. But if home is call­ing, we will head back to Grand Junc­tion for drop off.

Photos & Videos

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Dates chosen: Oct. 10, 2021—Oct. 15, 2021
Skill Rating: Green Circle
Fitness Rating: Green Circle
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Skill Levels
Green Circle

Typically, green Rides are safe for beginners. Green Rides may have both avoidable and unavoidable obstacles. Trails are generally low grade, wide, consistent surface texture and have minimal features. You are likely to come across unavoidable obstacles 2-inches or shorter, which is small enough for mountain bike tires to simply roll over. More challenging than tarmac, but in general, a wonderful Ride for those riders new to mountain biking or looking for a casual experience.

Blue Square

In general, Blue trails are narrower than green trails, encounter unavoidable obstacles such as roots, rocks, and drops that are up to 8-inches tall. You will want to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of mountain biking including body positions, powerful braking, cornering, riding on varied terrain, steep sections and experience riding trails that requires line choice. Airtime is not mandatory, but you will find yourself on trails with alternate lines giving you the option.

Black Diamond

The Black Diamond Rides are  suitable for riders looking for that edge. Maybe it’s the edge of a drop, the edge of a cliff, or singletrack requiring focus and fast reactions developed from extensive experience riding “the edge”. You will find yourself on steep trails of varied surfaces. In the Pacific North West that could be slick roots and loam, in Nepal you will find exposed granite in the Mustang Valley and in Guatemala it maybe narrow stairways through cliffside villages. While airtime is rarely required, the ability to find the backside or clean a tabletop should be comfortable or in a state of progress. Obstacles on Black rides are likely to be outside the range of your bikes ability to cover your goofs with its awesome suspension and grip.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black ride is for those that already know they are looking for a Double Black. It’s going to be very hard and require advanced bike handling skills. You will find yourself on trails with sections most non-riders would look at and say, “that’s totally nuts!”. You will know how to look at a line and contemplate where it will work and where it won’t. Drops of a couple feet should be comfortable and getting your bike off the ground should feel predictable and fun.

Fitness Levels
Green Circle

You should be ready to spend 2-4 hours per day on the bike. Mileage may be up to 30km/20 miles and elevation gain will be under 500m/1500feet. On e-MTB tours, numbers will be higher, however the approximate effort would be considered similar to a standard Green Circle ride. If you get on your bike once a week, you will be just fine. However, when preparing for a Ride, you will benefit from more rides and time in the saddle.

Blue Square

Blue should be considered a good deal more effort than our Green Rides.  You should be able to handle 3 to 5 hours in the saddle covering up to 45km/30miles and be able to pull off a big day of 1000m/3000feet of elevation gain. Managing fuel is important as well.  You should have a good understanding how your body responds to multiple days on the bike. We will help with positive coaching, a manageable pace and plenty of trailside snacks.

Black Diamond

A Black Fitness ride will test you. Aside from needing to be able to manage up to 6 hours on the bike, day after day, including distance up to 50km/30miles and elevation gains up to 1750m/5000feet of climbing, you will be adding extra challenges along the route like periods of hike-a-bike and the extra effort required by the whole body to safely dance with your bike over technical terrain. Generally, riders who are up for a Black Fitness ride, likely spend time on the bike a couple times each week.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black will be for those with the strength and endurance to get to the top of anything they want and understand the term “turning the screw”. Distance could be quite high on some routes and elevation gain numbers could hit 2000m/6000 feet+ in a day. You are likely riding multiple days a week during the dry periods and have a trainer or belong to a gym for the rest of the year.