In our Regular Rotation: Sedona

Sedona is my favorite destination for mountain biking so it’s a good starting point for our new travel blog. In the past three years (now 2022), I visited once per year. I don’t know if that number is sustainable but I’m grateful for that many visits. There’s a peaceful, mystical energy to this town cast in the shadows of red rock formations.

Even before I rode mountain bikes, I loved browsing its unique bookstores. I have fond memories of wading through polished crystal displays to discover a wolf tarot deck, which was carried home to sit proudly on my bookshelf though I'm not sure how to interpret the cards.

As a mountain biker, I first visited solo, driving 17 hours from Austin in a Volkswagen hatchback. I rode Bell Rock after reading that it was dubbed “Intro to Sedona” trail, and also paid a guide to lug me around the Mezcal trail system, waiting as I dismounted and struggled through the ride.

The next year I returned with Jason and we rode Adobe Jack which became a fast favorite. The next year we rented an Airbnb in a neighborhood near Adobe Jack to ride it again. I haven’t yet been ready for the “H” Trails (Hiline, Hangover, etc) but they are in my future sights. - Margaret

Trail Notes

Take these with a grain of salt as we are not locals to Sedona. Our local riding grounds are Austin, Texas.

Adobe Jack

• Slippery when wet (snow and mud from last ride)

• Crusty is unpleasant. I don’t know anyone who enjoys this type of riding. It is basically a craggy creek bed that you have to suffer through to get to a trail you want to ride.

• Go up Adobe Jack and down Javelina or Central Station. This is key as we treated AJ as the down on our past few trips, but it is a much easier climb trail.

• Grand Central and Javelina were labeled as black, but with the exception of a 75 ft steep rock section at the top of Grand Central, these trails are very approachable.

• Do not attempt to ride Cibolar Pass. We did not notice the no cycling signs coming in from below and ended up hike a biking the entire trail.

Bell Rock

• We rode a loop that had: Llama, HT, Templeton, Phone Extension, Little Horse

• Our favorite was Llama

• Others are green or black climbie trails

• Bell Rock is very crowded with hikers at the start, but once onto the more challenging trails, the crowds thin out quite a bit.

• Parking can be an issue at peak times (9-11am), so try to arrive accordingly

Bikes

• Jason: Santa Cruz

• Margaret: 2020 Pivot 429 Trail