Trip to Sedona

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    • #123799

      Hi there,

      Me and a friend are planning a trip either to Fruita/Moab or Sedona in April. We ve been to Fruita and Moab last year so my questions concern Sedona.

      1) Are you aware of cheap and good places to stay in or around Sedona ?
      2) We are planning 7 days of biking, flying in Phoenix. We would like to rent our bikes in Sedona (1 week deals) to save money. Is Sedona worth of 7 days of biking or are there must dos in other towns near Sedona ?
      3) Are some of you guys nice locals that would be interested in showing us nice "secret" trails ? 😏

      Thanks in advance !
      Phil

    • #123800

      Phil,
      You’re in luck–we just completed a three-part series on Sedona:
      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … na-part-1/
      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … ent-165985
      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … na-part-3/
      The third installment has some lodging suggestions. The first names three good shops where you can rent bikes.

      You can easily fill seven days of riding in Sedona, but there’s also a lot of great riding within an easy day trip around Flagstaff, Prescott, and Phoenix (although Phoenix will be quite hot by April). Here’s a few suggestions from a series I did on a 10-day trip over the last week of March last year:
      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … -love-you/
      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … in-sedona/
      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … phase-one/
      http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-tr … phase-two/

      My trips have been too early to hit the higher elevation stuff around Flagstaff, but I hear there is stellar riding on Mt Elden, which may be open depending on when in April you go. If it is open, this would be a great add on to a week in Sedona, as would the Granite Basin trail outside Prescott.

      Get this map and study it before you go:
      http://www.beartoothpublishing.com/sedona.php
      This map shows all Sedona’s must dos and is a good companion to the articles listed above.

      While the Sedona entries in this book are largely outdated or incomplete, the ride guides to the outlying areas (Flagstaff, Prescott, Phoenix) are excellent. Check it out if you want to get a day or two beyond Sedona:
      http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Tire-Tales-Tr … 0966476980

      Have fun and let us know how it goes!

    • #123801

      I’m scheming a way to get myself to Sedona this spring as well… skibum’s series has REALLY made me want to get out in the desert!

    • #123802

      Thanks Skibum for all the info! I read the serie with great interest..had to use the drooling bucket.

      Sedona really looks like a great mtb heaven. Unfortunatly, my friend told me today that he would prefer next year. I guess ill have to find a way to go there alone with minimum expenses. If not, it will only be a matter of time before i go there !

    • #123803

      You can definitely ride for a week in Sedona. If it’s something that interests you, try to plan your trip around their annual Fat Tire Festival. This year it is the weekend of May 2-4. If you did that, you could demo top end bikes for FREE and they have guided rides every day which helps a great deal in Sedona. Some of their trail systems are kinda wacky (or were when we went).

      Just so you know for comparison sake as well, Sedona lacks the "flow" trails that you might find in the 18 Road area of Fruita.

    • #123804

      You can ride for a month in Sedona. If you hit a cold snap, head to the Black Canyon Trail or on to the many trails around Phoenix. Gold Canyon and South Mountain are favorites. Prescott is also not far and will be an IMBA "Ride Center" in the future with sweet trails already. If hot, the San Francisco Peaks above Flagstaff is where Arizonans chill and ride, ski in winter. Tucson has over 400 miles of trails from the mountains at 9150′ to 2400′ Sonoran desert saguaro forests.
      Hangover, Highline, New Frontier, Special Ed and many more in Sedona. Avoid the center of town, traffic nightmare. Free camping along Oak Creek 5 miles west of town. Lodging is expensive in Sedona, bike shops good!

    • #123805
      "abegold" wrote

      Free camping along Oak Creek 5 miles west of town.

      What road specifically is that camping off of?

    • #123806

      Believe the road to camping is called Angel Valley Rd. Drive down towards Oak Creek (left if coming from Sedona) and when you approach the creek turn right on a smaller dirt road for camping along about a mile of the creek. You can also go right from 89A and hit spots to camp but not as nice, but warmer. If you camp there and it’s a windy day don’t set up under a sycamore tree. A 1 1/2′ diameter branch missed my tent by inches and a smaller branch went thru the roof of the tent 1 minute after I got up.

    • #123807
      "abegold" wrote

      Believe the road to camping is called Angel Valley Rd. Drive down towards Oak Creek (left if coming from Sedona) and when you approach the creek turn right on a smaller dirt road for camping along about a mile of the creek. You can also go right from 89A and hit spots to camp but not as nice, but warmer. If you camp there and it’s a windy day don’t set up under a sycamore tree. A 1 1/2′ diameter branch missed my tent by inches and a smaller branch went thru the roof of the tent 1 minute after I got up.

      How long ago did you camp there? I was doing research on Camping in Sedona, and it looked like the dispersed camping in the area was very restricted.

      Edit: I was able to locate the road on Google Maps, and according to this map of dispersed camping restrictions: http://www.redrockcountry.org/maps/map- … -large.jpg I believe it’s outside of the boundaries! But I’m still interested to hear when the last time you were there was.

    • #123808

      There 2 years ago.

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