Whenever Sedona opens a new trail, it tends to make headlines — especially with uber-technical routes such as Hardline. But just to the south, the city of Prescott has been quietly going about its business, and through years of dedicated work, it has become one of the best places to ride a mountain bike in Arizona.
Prescott rests at a relatively high elevation for Arizona at 5,319 feet. Pine trees, towering mountains, and rugged granite escarpments surround the city. Through this rugged terrain, the locals have been slowly building a massive network of singletrack mountain bike trails. The city currently boasts 160 miles of trail on its open space lands and an additional 450 miles just outside the city in the Prescott National Forest.
Prescott has spent over $22 million acquiring and protecting open space lands
To protect the wild land where they’ve been building trails, Prescott has spent more than $22 million over the years to acquire 5,000+ acres of land, which is now protected as open space. Their most recent land acquisition came in 2023 when they purchased Glassford Hill, a 2,284-acre parcel, for $6,553,667. The money for the most recent land purchase was raised collaboratively by the State of Arizona, City of Prescott, Town of Prescott Valley, and Yavapai County.
A group of locals known as the “Over the Hill Gang” have been digging gnarly, hand-built singletrack in the Granite Dells area. The Granite Dells is “a decomposing, granitic kind of landscape,” said Chris Hosking, Trails and Open Space Manager for the City of Prescott. “It’s quite unique. It’s enveloped on one side by a volcano. So we’ve got some basalt in there.” The volcano Hosking referred to is Glassford Hill.
The land that the Over the Hill Gang had been building on was owned by the Arizona State Trust, and it could have been sold to help fund public education institutions. “There [were] some threats of development right into the heart of the Dells,” said Hosking. “And there was a group called Save the Dells that came in and got public support […] and worked with officials to secure those areas to be part of a development agreement. So we saved that land from being developed, and we allowed development to [take place] in other areas outside of the beautiful area.”
Protecting this land has allowed the builders to dig without fear of the trails eventually being bulldozed for a housing development.
Over 40 miles of gnarly hand-built trails have been constructed in the Granite Dells, and they aren’t stopping yet
When Hosking moved to the area and took on his role as the Trails Coordinator for the City of Prescott in 2006, he began to recruit some volunteers to help him build trails in the Granite Dells area. “I got four of them involved. And, you know, fast forward, we’ve now got about 100, 120 involved,” said Hosking.
The crew is known as the “Over the Hill Gang” since it mostly consists of retirees who head out into the hills to dig in the dirt on Mondays and Fridays. “We go out from 8 to 11, and we build trails, and I [give] them cookies and some drinks afterwards,” said Hosking. “It’s a very successful program. It’s as much about camaraderie as trail building.”
Hosking does the design work, laying out the trails and determining where they’ll go. Then, the volunteers can show up on Mondays and Fridays and just follow the flag line.
Over the past 19 years, the Over the Hill Gang has built 40-some miles of rugged singletrack in the Granite Dells — all by hand.
The newest trails in the Granite Dells
The trails in the Granite Dells “are very technical. They’re as techy as they get in places,” said Hosking. That said, “I have been building some not-so-techy stuff in the same area.”
“It’s slow tech,” he continued. “It’s the kind of trails I like, where you’re putting your wheels in the right place, where inches matter. But they’re all makeable, and the rock is very grippy.”
Many of the trails traverse large expanses of slickrock slabs. “I paint white dots. So you follow the white dots. I try and put the dots where your front wheel should be, ideally.”
Since the Over the Hill Gang never stops building, new trails are constantly opening in the Dells. One of the newest is the Splash Trail, which runs for about a mile. “[It] goes right to a creek, and if you don’t negotiate things, you will go ‘splash,'” said Hosking with a laugh.
“The Splash Trail goes through all these valleys, and […] there’s lots of pools. But then it gets way up on top, and you see the whole extent of the Granite Dells.”
The Glide Trail is a quarter-mile connector that was recently completed. And in late 2024, the Eagle Trails opened, providing an easier and more accessible trail experience in the Dells.
From flow to tech, Prescott has it all
Under-the-radar though the scene may have been in Prescott, the ongoing development of the Bean Peaks flow trails by IMBA Trail Solutions is helping put Prescott on the map. Of course, Prescott has long been known as the home of the Whiskey Off-Road, but with these recent trail developments, it’s becoming renowned as more than a mere race venue. It’s becoming a bona fide riding destination.
The gnarly trails in the Granite Dells and the flow trails at Bean Peaks mean that when you travel to Prescott, you don’t have to choose. From flow to tech and from beginner to expert, Prescott has it all!
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