Originally published in Single Tracks June 10, 2024
By Greg Heil
With 36% of Singletracks readers having hired a mountain bike guide before, the guiding industry appears to be alive and well! We rounded up 10 of the best guided trips in the USA.
If you want to make the most of your limited vacation time, there’s no better way to maximize the enjoyment and minimize the effort than by booking a guided mountain bike trip. Let’s be honest: planning and executing the logistics for a week-long mountain bike trip to a previously unexplored destination can be daunting. Figuring out which trails to ride, navigating those trails, planning lodging, finding good places to eat, coordinating shuttles — the list goes on and on. The reasons that riders choose to pay for a guided trip instead of wrangling the logistics differ from person to person, but a significant number of Singletracks readers have chosen this path before.
According to our recent poll, 19% of Singletracks readers have gone on a guided multi-day trip, while an additional 17% have done a guided single-day or half-day trip. A full 50% of readers claim that they’ve never used a guide service, but not only that, have never even ridden in a paid mountain bike shuttle, which I find difficult to believe. Nevertheless, with 36% of Singletracks readers already on board with the benefits of mountain bike guiding, it’s clear that the guide business is alive and well!
Booking a guide when traveling to a foreign country seems obvious to many riders, but there are an astonishing number of fantastic guided mountain bike tours right here in Singletracks’ home country of the USA. We were curious about the guided offerings available across the industry in 2024, so we surveyed the landscape to see what’s available.
Most multi-day guided mountain bike trips in the USA can be subdivided into two categories: point-to-point trips and trips consisting of day rides in a single destination. A third option consisting of single-day rides but across multiple destinations is less common but also available. On this list, we’ve skewed toward featuring trips from the first category — multi-day point-to-point trips — as these routes are logistically challenging to pull off on your own. Even if you’re willing to bikepack self-supported, you would still need to coordinate a shuttle to return to your start point. Consequently, these epic point-to-points are logical places for guiding companies to meet a real need.
Finally, for each route or destination mentioned in this roundup, we’ve called out a particular company that offers this itinerary. However, as you dig into the major guide companies’ websites, you’ll find that many companies provide trips on the exact same trails with extremely similar itineraries. Each company does offer their own unique spin on what amenities are included in the price tag and how they organize their trips. Trips are priced accordingly. Consider this list a starting point to kick off your own research.
Without further ado, here are 10 of the best guided mountain bike trips in the USA in 2024.
1. Colorado Trail: Silverton to Durango
The final 74 miles of the Colorado Trail is widely regarded as the most beautiful section of this epic long-distance trail. Not only that, but this sublime high alpine traverse is arguably one of the best stretches of singletrack anywhere in the world, which led IMBA to designate the entire segment as an IMBA Epic ride. While the trail remains at high elevation and finishes with an epic descent, the miles still don’t come easily — riders will climb over 10,000 vertical feet on this 4-day, 3-night trip.
While this is a popular bikepacking route, if you want to ride lighter and faster in order to better enjoy the descents, consider booking a tour through Hermosa Tours. Hermosa Tours refers to their trip style as “self-guided.” Unlike other fully-guided and fully-catered trips on this list, Hermosa Tours sends riders out onto the trail with a map and accurate directions, and then their guides meet the riders at the next campsite for the night. “Each day we relocate a very deluxe camp setup (provided by Ready Camp) of two 10×10 canopies, full kitchen, dry firewood, camp chairs, fresh water, coolers of food and beverages (you purchase prior to trip) and all your personal gear like tents, bags and clothing,” writes Hermosa Tours. “You can go as cheap or deluxe as you want on food, beverages and amenities!” That said, if you really would prefer to have a guide on the trail or a cook at night, Hermosa Tours can arrange both of those add-ons for extra fees.
Read more about this segment of the Colorado Trail here: “The Colorado Trail Trip Report“
2. White Rim — Canyonlands National Park, Moab, UT
The White Rim is the Mac Daddy of multi-day backcountry mountain bike trips. The truck-supported model used on the White Rim was inspired by multi-day rafting trips. In fact, it could be said that the entire mountain bike guiding industry sprang from the first tours offered on the White Rim. While you can book a White Rim tour through many of the companies on this list, Rim Tours — founded in 1985 — is the true O.G. Rim Tours offers fully guided and fully catered trips.
The 102-mile White Rim 4×4 road runs through the depths of Canyonlands National Park, far from any amenities — even water. Despite following a dirt road, this trip provides full backcountry immersion. The views of the canyons below and the soaring rock spires above are awe-inspiring, and sleeping below the brilliant stars in this dark sky park can give you a new perspective on the universe.
Note that while the entire White Rim Road is 102 miles long, most guided trips on the White Rim cover an approximately 80-mile route. The Rim Tours version covers about 90-100 miles, though the information posted on their website is conflicting.
Read more about riding the White Rim here: “Dirtying the Body and Cleansing the Mind on the White Rim Trail“
- Itinerary: 4 days, 3 nights or 3 days, 2 nights
- Distance: ~80-100 miles
- Price: $1,150 or $1,025 per person
- Book on RimTours.com
3. Grand Canyon North Rim — Arizona
The Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. What better way to experience this incredible grandeur than by riding along the North Rim on your mountain bike?!
The 5-day, 4-night North Rim tour offered by Western Spirit Cycling hits some of the best sections of the Arizona Trail north of the canyon, along with the renowned Rainbow Rim Trail that traverses the canyon rim itself. Western Spirit raves about the Rainbow Rim Trail: “The construction techniques the trail builders used to form these trails are some of the best we have found in the West,” they write. “The grade rarely exceeds 9%, and everybody feels like a hero. The climbs are gentle and consistent, and the descents are smooth and flowing.”
In addition, the Western Spirit version of this trip includes a visit to the National Park on day three for a bit of hiking.
Western Spirit offers a fully-catered, fully-guided experience that is renowned as one of the best in the industry.
Read more about riding the North Rim here: “Riding Like Royalty: Mountain Biking the Rim of the Grand Canyon with Rim Tours“
- Itinerary: 5 days, 4 nights
- Distance: 60-84 miles
- Price: $1,495 per person
- Book on WesternSpirit.com
4. Arizona Trail: Flagstaff to Sedona
This epic 98-mile route follows the spectacular Arizona Trail from just north of Flagstaff near Kendrick Peak and Snowbowl, south past Flagstaff, and then finishes by descending Schnebly Hill and Mund’s Wagon Trail into the renowned mountain bike destination of Sedona. In less than 100 miles, you’ll get to experience an incredible diversity of landscape. The route begins in the “aspens and ponderosa pines around the San Francisco Peaks and Flagstaff” and then transitions into “high desert scrub and high range cactus, and then [drops] into Sedona’s world-famous red rock escarpments and soaring cliff walls,” according to Hermosa Tours.
If you’re looking for a high-value mountain bike ride through two of the best mountain bike destinations in the nation, you can’t beat this tour. As an added bonus, since the shuttle pickup for this trip is in Sedona, you can easily tack on a few extra days of riding in this iconic destination on either the beginning or end of your tour. Hermosa Tours also offers single-day guided rides in Sedona.
Read more about many of the sections of this ride, here: “Everything You Need to Know About Mountain Biking Coconino National Forest“
- Itinerary: 4 days, 3 nights
- Distance: 98 miles
- Price: $465 per person ($245-$425/day for catering, plus grocery bill)
- Book on HermosaTours.net (use code SINGLETRACKS10 to save 10% off the base price of one multi-day trip by Hermosa Tours)
5. Kokopelli Trail — Loma, CO to Moab, UT
The epic Kokopelli Trail runs for 142 miles from the town of Loma, CO, to the renowned mountain bike destination of Moab, UT. With roughly 14,000 feet of climbing along its length, pedaling the entire Kokopelli Trail is not for the faint of heart. While Western Spirit says “the whoop-dee-doos will make you laugh out loud,” they also warn that “the technical sections will challenge your mountain bike handling skills.”
The Kokopelli roughly follows the route of the Colorado River, running close to the river in spots, providing stupendous views. In other areas, the trail winds through stunning labyrinths of red rock canyons. Even though the route does utilize a mixture of 4×4 roads and singletrack, Western Spirit warns that “this is our most challenging desert tour with long miles and several days with vehicle support in the morning and evening only.”
Read more about riding the Kokopelli Trail here: “Tour de Bloom – The Kokopelli Trail Done Right“
- Itinerary: 5 days, 4 nights
- Distance: 146 miles
- Price: $1,495 per person
- Book on WesternSpirit.com
6. North Umpqua River Trail — Medford, OR
The North Umpqua River Trail (NUT) runs for 80 miles through a Wild and Scenic river corridor. On this rugged, remote 100% singletrack route riders will enjoy the sights and sounds of crashing waterfalls and rushing river rapids, while also ducking away from the river and into the deep quiet of the towering Douglas Fir trees and dense vegetation that Oregon is renowned for.
Even though the trail follows the river downstream, there’s still plenty of climbing along the way, as the singletrack winds high up on the mountainsides. “The trail is smooth and flowing, but singletrack experience is a must,” writes Western Spirit.
This top 10 list is admittedly heavy on the arid desert landscapes, so if you want to experience a landscape that’s entirely different — the NUT is for you!
- Itinerary: 5 days, 4 nights
- Distance: 80-86 miles
- Price: $1,495 per person
- Book on WesternSpirit.com
7. The Aquarius Trail — Brian Head, UT
While the San Juan hut system is well known by many, did you know that a spectacular hut-to-hut mountain bike ride exists in the mountains of Southern Utah? The Aquarius Trail traverses 190 miles of the most beautiful landscape that Southern Utah has to offer. This epic ride begins on 11,307-foot Brian Head Peak and, over the course of six days, rolls through Proctor Canyon, past the Tropic Reservoir, traverses the famous Thunder Mountain Trail, and so much more. At 6 days and 5 nights with 190 miles of riding, this is the longest trip featured on this list.
The huts include “solar power for charging electronic devices [including e-bike batteries], fully-stocked kitchens with a refrigerator and freezer, lighting, hammocks, large decks, bathroom facilities, bicycle repair tools and stands, playing cards, fire pit, cozy sleeping arrangements, and more,” according to Escape Adventures.
Escape Adventures utilizes the Aquarius Trail hut system to run this tour. The guides will prepare your meals throughout the trip and haul your gear from hut to hut.
- Itinerary: 6 days, 5 nights
- Distance: 190 miles
- Price: $1,999 per person
- Book on EscapeAdventures.com (enter promo code SINGLETRACKS)
8. Colorado Enduro — Crested Butte and Salida
The final three trips on this list are not point-to-point routes, but they’re all top-tier adventures in epic destinations. That said, this first selection, simply called “Colorado Enduro,” is notable because while it might not be a point-to-point itinerary, all but one of the rides in this itinerary require a vehicle shuttle — which will conveniently be handled by Chasing Epic Mountain Bike Adventures.
While almost every guiding company offers a Colorado high country tour of some sort, this rowdy enduro-orientied itinerary from Chasing Epic is unique. On this seven-day trip you’ll rip many of the best technical descents between Crested Butte and Salida. This packed itinerary covers three different versions of the Monarch Crest Trail (Green’s Creek, Fooses Creek, and Starvation Creek), Salida’s spectacular Cottonwood and Gutz trails, Doctor Park, 409 to Strand Hill (the only pedal-driven loop of the trip), and a shuttle on the 804 route, which combines the iconic Trail 401 and Trail 403.
While the $3,395 price tag might seem steep, this price includes (among other things) a high-end demo bike and “double occupancy lodging,” which we take to mean you won’t be sleeping in a tent.
Read more about riding in Salida here: “Mountain Bike Destination: Salida, Colorado“
Read more about riding in Crested Butte here: “A 4-Day Tour of Crested Butte’s Finest Singletrack“
- Itinerary: 7 days, 6 nights (6 days of riding)
- Distance: 135 miles
- Price: $3,395 per person
- Book on ChasingEpicMTB.com
9. Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley’s renowned trail system spreads deep into the mountains in a massive web of interconnected singletrack. Without a guide to show you the way, it’s difficult to know where to begin with so many superb ride options!
This 5-day itinerary (four days of riding) is more approachable than Chasing Epic’s aggressive Colorado Enduro itinerary. Even so, it still hits many of Sun Valley’s must-do rides, such as Edge of the World, the Osberg Ridgeline Epic, Castle – Greenhorn, and Greenhorn Gulch. Similar to the Colorado Enduro itinerary, many of these rides are spectacular point-to-point routes requiring a vehicle shuttle.
This trip also includes (among other things) a high-end demo bike and “double occupancy lodging.”
Read more about riding in Sun Valley here: “Sun Valley, Idaho: Your Destination for Endless XC Singletrack“
- Itinerary: 5 days, 4 nights (4 days of riding)
- Distance: 91 miles
- Price: $2,595
- Book on ChasingEpicMTB.com
10. Cascadia, Eurostyle — Leavenworth, WA
While Sacred Rides is best known for their guided trips in British Columbia and far-flung corners of the globe, in recent years (and after a change of ownership) they’ve added more trips in the USA, especially in Washington state. In particular, their 5-day trip in Leavenworth looks to be absolutely sublime!
Leavenworth is a Bavarian-themed village nestled in the towering Cascade mountains and surrounded by spectacular mountain bike trails. “Located in Eastern Washington, the ‘dry side’ as locals call it, the Leavenworth area offers a little different kind of riding compared to the West side,” writes Sacred Rides. “Set on a valley floor, you’ll grind uphill and scream downhill on a mix of great flow and exposed alpine singletrack trails. No wet roots here. Leavenworth enjoys four distinct seasons and an arid climate.”
This trip includes lodging in hotels and lodges, pickup from the airport in Seattle, and a day of whitewater rafting on the Wenatchee River.
- Itinerary: 5 days, 4 nights (4 days of riding)
- Distance: 53 miles, plus whitewater rafting
- Cost: $2,395 ($647 extra to upgrade to a single room)
- Book on SacredRides.com
