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Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
Need Help?
If you don't find answers to your questions, Contact Us
FAQ for Day Tours
Weather and Seasons
On most day tours you should expect sunny warm temperatures ranging from 60-85 degrees depending on what time of year. We recommend that you bring sunscreen and for summer tours plan on bringing extra water to stay hydrated. It is also a good idea to check the weather before your tour departs! We go rain or shine so make sure you come prepared depending on the forecast.
Moab is most popular for visitors during the Spring and Fall, primarily due to the weather. Summer is often hot, and Winter is often very cold. One of the best resources for looking at historical monthly averages is U.S. Climate Data. October averages the most rainfall (just over one inch) and June averages the least (less than half an inch.) That being said, Moab averages only 9.5 inches per year, so it is considered very dry throughout the year.
Both. We don't have multi-day tours scheduled in Moab during November, December, January and February because the weather is colder (and sometimes, snowy.) Depending on conditions it is likely we will still be able to do our day tours in the off-season. Please call and inquire.
Also, we sell our bike fleet at the conclusion of the Fall season each year and during parts of December and January we are sometimes without bikes.
We also do take vacations.
Yes. We run our half day tours during the summer months. In order to avoid the hottest part of the day, we advance the start time to approximately 7:00 AM.
Bikes
We have bikes for people of almost all sizes, including bikes with 20" wheels that are suitable for kids 3 ft. 8 in. or taller. We do not have bikes for kids shorter than 3 ft. 8 in.
All riders, regardless of age or height, must be capable of operating hand brakes and shifting gears.
As a general rule, we do not do bike rentals, except for our clients on our guided tours. We happily recommend the several bike shops in town who do that as their primary business (Chile Pepper, Poison Spider, Moab Cyclery, or Rim Cyclery.) On a rare occasion, we have rented bikes to our tour guests for their use after or before their tour, subject to availability.
Yes, we do sell most of our bike fleet at the end of each season. The best way to ensure that you are notified of our Fall Bike Sale is to subscribe to our newsletter. The prices are a function of several variables and are posted on our Mountain Bike Sale webpage early each fall.
The bike sale works on a "first come, first served" basis and reservations require a $100 deposit. Most of our bikes usually are spoken for by late fall.
Bikes are overhauled and shipped in the order of the reservation, beginning in late November and continuing through January. The date when a particular bike is delivered depends on when it was reserved.
Yes, we can accommodate fat tire bikes on most of our tours. You may want to check with us to see if riding a fat bike is appropriate for the tour you have chosen.
No, we do not have e-bikes in our fleet. If you are planning to bring an e-bike on one of our tours, please inquire first. Many of the trails we ride are for non-motorized vehicles, only. Technically, e-bikes are treated as "motorized" by most land management agencies that regulate the trails. However, we do have some tours that share the road with motorized vehicles.
Our camping-based multi-day tours have no facility for recharging e-bike batteries, so on many of our multi-day tours, we are not able to accommodate them. It may be possible on our Inn-based tours, if the bike's range is sufficient to sustain a charge all day.
Yes, you are welcome to bring your own bike on our tours. When you book the tour, just let us know you are riding your own bike and we will deduct $20 off the normal cost of the tour. It is also great to make sure your bike has been tuned up recently for top performance.
Miscellaneous
For our guided tours on those trails yes, depending on group size we generally use one of the local Moab shuttle companies.
Most guests stay right in town and go out for the day, but you may camp in the surrounding areas of Moab. Note that during busy times of the year advanced reservations are highly recommend, and many of the camping areas are first come first serve in Moab.
Our Moab day tours do not include lodging but we have a list of our personal favorites for lodging posted on our What to Do in Moab webpage.
If you are booking one of our camping-based multi-day tours, you may need to book a hotel/motel room the night before the tour starts, and possibly one at the end of your tour, as well, depending on the specific tour and your travel arrangements.
Choosing a Tour
Our half-day tours usually involve approximately 2 - 2.5 hours pedalling time and about 4 - 4.5 hours total duration, including ground transport. Our full-day tours usually involve approximately 4 - 6 hours pedaling time and about 6 - 8 hours total duration. The full-day tour also includes lunch.
Our day tours range from Introductory to Moderate to Intermediate to Advanced in difficulty.
We are happy to discuss what tours are a proper fit for your experience. Please make sure you choose a tour that is appropriate and safe for your ability and fitness level.
Introductory: Tours are suitable for beginner and above riders who are comfortable riding a bike, including children provided they can use hand brakes and are familiar with shifting gears. A moderate fitness level is essential to your enjoyment of this activity. Trail surfaces are typically wider dirt roads which may have occasional obstacles that can be avoided or walked through. Hills will be of short duration and can easily be walked both up or down.
Moderate: Tours are suitable for beginner and above riders with an average to good fitness level that engage in some form of regular exercise. Hills and descents are typically of short duration and longer steeper pitches can be easily walked. Trail surfaces will vary from bumpy dirt roads to 4WD and easy singletrack with occasional obstacles on trail (rocks, roots, sand) that can be either ridden or walked.
Intermediate: Tours are suitable for riders who have previous mountain bike experience and good to excellent fitness. Trail surfaces may include uneven terrain and narrow trails, singletrack, with obstacles (roots, rocks, sand) that range in size from curb to knee high, and occasionally larger. Hills and descents are moderate to strenuous and require some skill. Riders with some mountain bike experience who also have solid road biking skills AND a strong fitness level, along with an adventurous spirit, might be suitable for a lower level intermediate tour.
Advanced: Tours are suitable for more seasoned mountain bikers with excellent fitness and very strong bike handling skills. Riding is primarily on rough doubletrack and singletrack with frequent obstacles that are typically larger than knee high. Sections of trail can be very challenging with frequent ascents and descents.
Singletrack Tours: Singletrack trails add an element of technical difficulty because of the narrowness of the trails. If you are considering an intermediate or advanced singletrack tour, previous experience riding singletrack trails is essential.
If you have questions about your skill level please call our office 435-259-5223
Yes, private half and full-day tour options are available for most tours.
Our half-day Courthouse Loop tour is the easiest, and therefore, often is the best choice for the very youngest riders. It has a wide, twin-track loop (as opposed to the narrower singletrack,) and gentle undulating ups and downs. Some 10 year-olds have developed strong riding skills and can handle some of the tougher trails we ride. It all depends on the individual.
As to our multi-day tours, we do not have a strict minimum age requirement, but generally, even for our easiest multi-day tours, young riders need to be strong enough to handle sustained climbs (either riding or walking their bike) of hundreds of feet, and rough terrain. The answer is very situational. Please inquire.
Your spouse and friends don't ride? No problem! Many of our guests travel solo and you are sure to feel welcome and meet lots of interesting people.
Yes, we do offer tours for those enjoying their first off-road biking experience. We would probably suggest either the Courthouse Loop or our Desert Sunrise tour. However, some of our more adventurous riders are able to have a great first off-road experience on The Dead Horse Point Singletrack, too. It all depends on your fitness level, general athletic ability and mental attitude.
Yes, we offer a special tour called Instructional Tour/Skills Clinic expressly for that purpose. On those tours, we make special arrangements to set it up for instruction.
On our other, standard, half and full-day tours, all our guides offer basic orientation to safe bike operation and trail etiquette. They will also offer riding tips on how to negotiate the unique Moab terrain. However, our normal tours are not set up as a class, they are for having fun and riding the chosen trail, and, depending on the group, making miles. If you feel you would like a tour with an emphasis on instruction, please book our Instructional Tour.
Our rides vary greatly in distance. Our beginner level half-day tours start at around 9 miles. Some of our intermediate and advanced half-day tours can cover as much as 20 miles, depending on the fitness and skill level of the riders. Our longest full-day tour is The Whole Enchilada, which covers 28 miles.
As to speed, varies a lot, depending on skill level and fitness. We try to organize our tours so that all riders on the tour will have somewhat similar fitness and skill levels. Sometimes, depending on how many people are on a tour, the tour may split up at some point, with the more advanced riders taking a different route.
As to riding in the afternoon, generally, in the Moab area, we discourage afternoon rides during the summer due to the heat, although in the early spring and late fall, that is less of an issue.
Money and Booking
- 48 hours notice required on day tours, or client will forfeit full price of the tour.
- If cancellation occurs more than 2 weeks prior, client loses ½ of deposit. ($50 deposit required for each day tour reservation.)
- If cancellation occurs less than 2 weeks before trip, no refund on deposit. (private trips and groups of 4 or more.)
- Groups of 10 or more; full non-refundable payment is due 7 days in advance.
- All day tours include a high quality full suspension bicycle rental, but if you prefer to ride your own no problem just subtract $20 from the price. Our tours are fully guided meaning we take care of the logistics which allows you to simply enjoy the ride. Our guides are professional and very knowledgeable about the area.
- Transportation to and from trailheads and back to our meeting location are included, note that some tours have additional shuttle costs which will be discussed at the time of booking.
- All day tours include helmet, snacks and a water bottle you get to keep! Our full day tours also include lunch.
- Not included is guide gratuity and local taxes (6.2%)
Tipping is the customary way to express your thanks for a trip well done! We recommend 15%-25% of your tour cost. If you liked your ride, please tip your guide! It will be gratefully appreciated by our hard-working staff. Remember to have cash on hand at the end of your tour for tipping, but we can also easily put it on your credit card if you would prefer.
That depends greatly on the tour, and the time of year. For many of our half-day and full-day tours, we will be able to book tours at the last minute, even sometimes as late as the evening before. For some of our multi-day tours, we would need your booking weeks in advance. We prefer to have all multi-day tour bookings at least 30 days in advance, but sometimes we are able to take bookings later than that.
Tour Specifics
Our guides will pick you up at a designated meeting location. Please plan on being dressed, ready to ride and then we will head out to the trailhead to start our tour. We have different meet times for each month depending on the time of year. Our meeting locations are centrally located, but vary depending on what tour our guests are doing. For Private Day Tours we often pick guests up at their hotel.
We recommend that our guests are well hydrated and have eaten a complete breakfast. We provide snacks, and on all full day tours lunch is also included. On our full day tours lunch will be made by our staff or from a local café. If you have a sandwich of choice just let us know and we will to our best to accommodate. Our snacks include Cliff, Luna, and Mojo bars if you have allergies please let our office know ahead of time.
There are several factors that limit the size of our tours. Our multi-day tours are sometimes limited in size by National Park camping regulations (for example, 13 is the limit on the White Rim, 7 in the Maze) or by basic logistics.
Our day tours generally range in size from 2 up to 13. Once a day tour gets larger than 6 or 7 we like to add a second guide, in order to keep the guest-to-rider ratio reasonable. We are also able to accommodate larger groups on day tours, upon special arrangement, (sometimes up to 30 or more for private groups.)
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