Arches & Canyonlands Multisport Tour

Within minutes of meeting, we are riding on the Colorado River Trail in Grand Junction, Colorado. It’s a great warm-up ride and provides the perfect orientation to the region. In addition to geological wonders, the Great Basin Desert abounds with ranching and agriculture. Wine is the up-and-coming crop in what is known as the Grand Valley Wine Region, and this route takes you past many of the valley’s vineyards. Reds you’ll find most often include merlot, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz/syrah, and cabernet franc, and whites are typically chardonnay, riesling, and viognier. We feel there’s no better way to kick off the week than to pedal to a winery and raise a toast! After cycling near Grand Junction, it’s a 105-minute drive to our base for the week in Moab, Utah. We spend all five nights on the tour at the Best Western Plus Canyonlands Inn, so you should have plenty of time to explore town.

Arches National Park boasts some of the most incredible hikes in the world. No trip to this part of Utah would be complete without experiencing Arches. In the morning, hike to the most-photographed arch in the world: Delicate Arch. Now the unofficial symbol of Utah, this feat of natural engineering seems to defy the laws of gravity, balancing gracefully some 80 feet above the sandstone. En route, you’ll cross a suspension bridge over Salt Wash and take a side spur to view an impressive Ute petroglyph depicting horses and a bighorn sheep hunt. From there it’s a short distance up the sloping slickrock to stand under Delicate Arch. In addition, we will head to Devil’s Garden to explore Landscape Arch, Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch before returning to Moab. Lunch and dinner are on your own today.

Dead Horse Point State Park. Climb up to it. Cruise down from it. Or … do both! You choose. Dead Horse Point is a stunning mesa perched 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, with views of the snowcapped La Sal mountains and the Canyonlands. Today, choose between riding up, cruising down, or doing both: it’s the perfect day for riders of different levels. Ride up from Moab on a smooth 8-mile bike path that turns onto a scenic byway with a wide shoulder. Climb a consistent, but not steep, grade for 20 miles until you arrive at the mesa, where Old West cowboys once corralled wild mustang. Want to stick to flat roads and gentle downhills? We’ll shuttle you directly to Dead Horse Point to explore this amazing amphitheater. After a terrific lunch, cruise 34 miles mostly downhill back to Moab. Tonight (weather-dependent) we head back to the park for some amazing star-gazing!

In the morning, we head to Arches National Park to visit the Windows area and Double Arch before the crowds arrive. Then, in the afternoon, we raft (included in tour price) down a spectacular stretch of the Colorado River made famous by dozens of movies. Water is, in many ways, the primary “artist” behind the geological sculptures of this area. Admire nature’s artistry without hiking or pedaling! Our outfitter provides everything you need. Stop to kick your feet up in the shade and enjoy lunch at a ranch along river. The rapids here are mild, and the calm stretches in between are perfect for cooling off by floating down the river in your life-jacket.

Go for a series of short hikes to see the sights at “Island in the Sky” in northern Canyonlands National Park. This amazing sheer-walled mesa rising above the junction of the Green and Colorado River valleys provides the perfect place to reflect over a fantastic week. Admire, and photograph, one last truly amazing arch with perhaps the best backdrop of them all – Mesa Arch! Finish with dizzying views at Grandview and White Rim overlooks. After lunch we shuttle (2 hours) back to Grand Junction.

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