Sedona Mountain Bike Festival

Sedona is one of the great mountain bike towns in the country — over 250 miles of red-rock singletrack radiate out from this one small town, from flowy beginner loops to technical slickrock that draws riders from all over the world. Once a year, all of that energy concentrates into a single long weekend at the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival, when Posse Grounds Park fills up with demo tents, shuttle vans, food trucks, and a few thousand people who are very happy to be on bikes. If your group rides at all — or wants to start — and your trip lines up with the festival, it’s worth building a day or two around it. And it happens to be about three miles from the house.

What the Festival Is

The Sedona Mountain Bike Festival is a three-day event held each fall at Posse Grounds Park in West Sedona, at 525 Posse Ground Rd. The 2026 edition runs November 6–8. At its core it’s a celebration of riding, organized around a few things happening at once:

• A big demo-bike expo — 90-plus brands set up tents where you can take the newest bikes out for a spin, free with a festival pass.
• Shuttled rides that ferry you and your bike up to trailheads so you can ride Sedona’s best singletrack without arranging your own logistics.
• Skills clinics and guided group rides for every level, led by professional coaches and local guides.
• A festival village with food trucks, a craft beer garden, and live music from Arizona bands, so there’s a social, hang-out side to it even when you’re off the bike.

It’s a friendly, festive atmosphere rather than a hardcore race scene. The whole thing is built to get people riding — whether you’re a seasoned rider hunting the latest carbon trail bike or someone who hasn’t been on a mountain bike since childhood and wants to try.

The Demo Bikes Are the Main Event

For a lot of people, the demos are the reason to buy a pass. Brands like Ibis, Evil, Rocky Mountain, Revel, and Transition bring their current lineups, and with a pass you can check out a bike, ride it on real Sedona terrain, bring it back, and try something else. It’s the rare chance to ride a half-dozen high-end bikes you’d otherwise only read about, on trails that actually test them, all in an afternoon.

A few practical notes on demoing:

• Go early in the day. The popular models and sizes get claimed fast. First thing in the morning gives you the best selection.
• Bring a valid ID (usually held while you have the bike) and your own helmet and pedals if you can — many riders prefer their own pedals, though you can often borrow or rent.
• Have a couple of trails in mind at the demo terrain so you can actually feel the difference between bikes rather than just rolling around the parking lot.

Rides and Clinics for Every Level

This is the part that surprises people: the festival is genuinely welcoming to beginners, not just experts. The skills clinics are led by professional coaches and broken out by ability, so a first-timer can learn the basics of body position, braking, and cornering in a low-pressure setting, while an experienced rider can work on technical descending or jumps.

The group rides run the same spectrum — mellow, social loops for newer riders all the way up to advanced rides on Sedona’s gnarlier trails — and there are usually ladies-only ride options as well, which a lot of women riders specifically look for. Spots in clinics and guided rides are limited, so if these are a priority, register early rather than hoping to sign up at the gate.

If you’re brand new, the combination of a beginner clinic in the morning and an easy group ride or demo in the afternoon is a fantastic, supported way to find out whether mountain biking is for you — with help right there if you need it.

Getting There and Tickets

Posse Grounds Park is in West Sedona at 525 Posse Ground Rd — only about three miles from the house, under a ten-minute drive. That proximity is a real advantage: you can roll in when the expo opens, ride and browse all day, and be home in minutes to clean up and recover, without fighting Sedona’s worst traffic or hunting for parking far from where you’re staying.

Registration is online ahead of the event, with early-bird pricing that climbs as the dates approach, so the earlier you commit, the less you pay. Passes are required to ride the demo fleet, and some clinics and guided rides cost extra or have limited capacity. The exact pass tiers and what each includes are set on the official festival site and its ticketing page — search for the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival’s official site and book there. Don’t leave it to the last minute; the best clinic and ride slots fill up.

Quick Logistics

Local tip: Even if you’re not registered, you can hit the festival’s atmosphere — food trucks, beer garden, and live music are part of the draw — but the riding, demos, clinics, and shuttles are what the pass is for. If you came to Sedona to ride, the pass pays for itself in demo time alone.

What to Bring

• A helmet. Non-negotiable for the demos and rides; bring your own if you have one.
• Your own pedals (optional). Many riders bring clipless or favorite flats to swap onto demo bikes.
• Riding clothes and gloves, plus a layer — November mornings in Sedona are cold, afternoons warm up.
• Plenty of water and sun protection. The desert sun is strong even when the air is cool.
• Cash or card for food trucks, the beer garden, and any add-on rides or clinics.
• A recovery plan. A long day of riding red rock is more tiring than it sounds; plan an easy evening.

Beyond the Festival Weekend

The festival is a once-a-year event, but Sedona’s trails are here all the time. If your trip doesn’t line up with the dates — or you want more riding before or after — you can still get out on the same singletrack. Our guides to mountain biking in Sedona and bike and e-bike rentals cover where to ride by ability and how to get a bike for the week. And if your group has non-riders, the Jeep tours cover similar red-rock terrain without the pedaling.

However you ride, there’s a real argument for basing a cycling trip at a house with its own indoor court. You spend the day getting hammered on the trails, then come home and keep the competition going with a low-impact rally on the climate-controlled court — a fun way to loosen up tired legs, settle who really won the day, and stay out of the cold November evening. For a group built around being active, it’s about the best home base in Sedona.