Originally published in islands.com
By Stefanie Boe
Five huts for overnight stays with friends or family, six days of adventure, all the supplies you need — plus beer. Is that enough to get you to ride nearly 200 miles on a mountain bike? For many, it’s the perfect setup for an unforgettable ride through Utah’s stunning landscapes. Even better, many routes feel like you’re riding through wind-swept Bryce Canyon National Park without the crowds.
The Aquarius Trail runs between Zion and Bryce Canyon and took 20 years to piece together — blending fire roads, existing trails, and some creative negotiations to become a reality. What makes this trip unique is its “hut-to-hut” system, allowing groups of up to 12 to take on the ride of a lifetime. While “hut-to-hut” travel is well known for skiing in the Italian Alps or hiking across Europe, this type of trail adventure remains rare in the United States with just a few places in the country offering it. The planned trail trip offers the thrill of an epic journey with the luxury of stocked huts at each stop. The traditional way of doing a trip like this is called “bikepacking,” which usually means riders carry all their gear and camp along the way. Why take so much time and planning, when someone else can do it for you?
How did the Aquarius Trail come to life?
Big adventures like this need big dreamers. Jared Fisher has been creating biking experiences for decades with his company, Escape Adventures. He told Outside magazine the idea came from the beauty of the Aquarius Plateau, the highest timbered plateau in North America, located in Dixie National Forest. With no amenities in the area, backcountry camping was the only way to experience this part of Southern Utah, known as Color Country for its striking reds, oranges, and yellows. Fischer wanted to change that. He designed a trail and hut system that would give riders access to one of the best biking destinations in the world.
To prove it could work, he built one of the huts made from shipping containers and placed it in the forest before securing full approval. The risk paid off, and the rest of the huts followed. Outside just named the Aquarius Trail one of the 50 Best Adventures in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada for 2025. Paul McKenzie, who rode the trail with a group of 12 in 2024, describes the experience on his YouTube channel like this: “Imagine riding your bike through Bryce Canyon National Park — that’s exactly what it felt like. It was just amazing.” Bryce Canyon National Park is home to the largest collection of oddly shaped, brightly colored rock formations known as hoodoos, the Aquarius Trail gives riders a way to experience similar scenery on a quiet, uncrowded route.
How does the Aquarius Trail work?
To take the full six-day, five-night trip, the Escape Adventures team picks up your group about 50 miles outside of Zion National Park, in Brian Head, Utah, with a van, trailer, and your rental bikes. Each day, you’ll ride between 30 and 40 miles across various types of trails and terrain, ending at one of the huts each evening. The first stop is Hatch Hut, where you’ll find all the fresh food needed for a hearty dinner — plus beer if you added it for an extra $65. The huts are set up for comfort, with two sleeping huts with bunks, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a foot-pump shower. A wide deck surrounds the huts, offering a place to relax and grill your food. Each shipping container hut has a solar panel system, so you can charge devices, as well as run the refrigerator and freezer. There are even hammocks, a fire pit, and playing cards for a relaxing evening to recharge and get ready for the next day.
The next morning, you’ll fuel up on a big breakfast, grab lunch supplies, and hit the trail for another day of riding. Rates for a group start at about $1,000 per person, singles and smaller groups can join a discussion board to try to match up with other small groups to save money. If cost isn’t your main concern, there are also options that include guides who will actually make all your food and transport gear.
The season runs from July 1 through October 1 each year, since the area gets heavy snow in winter and spring. You may want to give yourself a day or two before the trip starts to acclimate to the 11,307-foot summit of Brian Head by staying at the resort. We found summer rates there as low as $39! Stay hydrated and follow other mountain safety tips to avoid altitude sickness. You end your trip nearly 200 miles later in the town of Escalante, a historic Mormon outpost surrounded by vast public lands, including Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, where you could spend a few more days checking out spots like Zebra Canyon, a hidden gem that completely surrounds you in an intimate realm of natural beauty.
Since 1992, we at Escape Adventures have been blessed to shape and lead adventure travel vacations through some of the most awe-inspiring natural destinations in the world. Each successive season, our passion for adventure grows through memorable moments with our guests. Fresh air, faith, fitness and friends are the building blocks for our ventures, the treasured experiences that keep us moving forward. For those of you who have trekked and traveled with us over the past quarter century, Heather and I express our sincerest gratitude. The memories are priceless.
