Bike On Sedona’s Best Trails

Easy Trails

Bike Sedona

Sedona Bike Skills Park

Located on Posse Grounds Park in West Sedona, the Sedona Bike Park is an ideal spot where you can develop biking skills. The park features jumps, drops and trails. “It’s a good place to repeat different skills until you really get them,” says Mike. “They built it with the natural terrain in mind. There’s a lot of features in there that get you ready for some of the bigger things on the trail.”

525 Posse Grounds Park in West Sedona, 928-282-7098, sedonaaz.gov

Bike Sedona

Bell Rock Pathway

Located in the Village of Oak Creek, Bell Rock Pathway is 3.6 miles long and features views of Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. It’s perfect for beginners because it’s a wide trail that doesn’t feature too many challenges. “Bell Rock Pathway is probably our best beginner trail,” says Mike. “It’s a little wider. It has ups and downs and has sections of a little bit of slickrock. At the same time, it’s maybe six-feet wide. A lot of the hard stuff has been removed to make it more accessible.”

Bike Sedona

Long Canyon & Deadmans Pass

Deadmans Pass is 2.6 miles out and back and is a connector trail between Long Canyon (a 7.2 miles out-and-back trail) in West Sedona. Deadmans Pass starts off as dirt, offers a wide dirt trail along Long Canyon Trail and finally, offers some single track over a few rocks. “They are more single-track, but they have more soil and less rocks,” says Mike. This makes this a good trail for beginners looking to sharpen their skills.

Intermediate Trails

Intermediate trails offer many of the same stunning views of the harder trails without requiring as much skill, or as much risk, to complete.“So what makes all these trails really great is you get a lot of the same feelings as the really hard ones: You get the views, you get the playful trail building. And the big difference is you don’t get the danger here. You don’t have the crazy steep, high-consequence things. You can go out and enjoy and let your mind wander a little more,” says Mike.

Mescal Trail

Mescal Trail is about 5.6 mile out-and-back trail in West Sedona. “It gets up on that slickrock ledge, and it gives you the feeling of exposure,” says Mike. “However, when you get near the edge, it’s kind of tapered off and you’re not going to fall forever. You just get the feeling that it’s there.” Look forward to views of Cathedral, Courthouse and Bell Rock on this trail that’s primarily switchbacks. “You get that up high feeling without having to do a super nasty climb. It’s pretty neat,” says Mike.

Chuck Wagon

Located in West Sedona, Chuck Wagon is 4.6 miles one way. Mike says this is an enjoyable trail that’s not too tough. “It’s got a little more like rockiness to it, technical sections,” says Mike. “It’s not boring. It keeps you engaged the whole time. It’s not necessarily overly challenging. It’s just fun.”

Slim Shady

Located in the Village of Oak Creek just off AZ-179, Slim Shady is about 2.6 miles long and offers bikers a fast trail. “Slim Shady is like a luge ride. It’s highspeed,” says Mike. “It’s got a lot of bank turns and a lot of slickrock rollers. It’s really unique terrain. And the trail building there is great. The trail uses the terrain very well.”

Broken Arrow

What makes the just less than 3-mile loop trail Broken Arrow special, in Mike’s words, is that it has plenty of slickrock. “It’s amazing out there. You’re looking out on the wilderness the whole time. You skirt up this slick rock, and then all of a sudden you like pop out and terminate at Chicken Point, and it’s a spectacular view,” says Mike.

Advanced Trails

Hiline Trail

Like many trails in Sedona, the 8.4 mile out and back Hiline Trail in the Village of Oak Creek offers stunning vistas. “You have this feeling of exposure,” says Mike. “When you get up on the top, you’re on this mesa that’s all gorgeous, playful slickrock. It’s a big natural skate park for bikes. You’ve got big rollers, playful little things up there. And you also get some of the most amazing views. You’re eyelevel with Cathedral Rock. The only other way to get that is by helicopter.”

Hangover Trail

The exposure and steep slopes can make the Hangover Trail one tough ride. But the breathtaking views make it worth it. “Totally spectacular,” says Mike of The Hangover Trail, located in east
Sedona. “It follows a cliff band above Schnebly Hill Road. You have an overhanging rock on you for a big section of the trail. And the views are just spectacular, and it’s incredibly difficult.” Even though this trail is only for skilled bikers, it’s also an only-in-Sedona experience. “Things like the Hangover Trail don’t exist anywhere else. That’s pretty special,” says Mike. If you choose the outand-back option, the Hangover Trail is about 5.8 miles. If you choose to tackle the Hangover Loop Trail featuring Munds Wagon, Cow Pies and the Hangover Trail is about 8.2 miles.