Please click here to jump to the Overview section with all tour details including pricing.

PLEASE NOTE: This tour is not regularly scheduled, but it can be configured as a Custom Tour for your group with a minimum of nine (9) riders. Please contact us via email or call 970.728.5891 for more information.

Join Lizard Head Cycling Guides for a brief but fun-packed 4-day/3-night ride across Utah. Pedal across this ruggedly beautiful land on car-free roads showcasing the best-kept secrets Beehive State on our new Utah Hike and Bike Tour!

We really enjoyed our second trip with Lizard Head Cycling. This was an experiment with hikers and bikers and Lizard Head handled it quite well. We’ll be back. – Robert Bogart

Utah Hike & Bike Tour: Highlights

“Pedal on car-free roads showcasing Utah’s rugged backbone”

Discover the remote Fish Lake Mountains. Spin through the seldom visited Capitol Reef National Park and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. You’ll also take a thrilling hike to Calf Creek’s 126-high desert waterfall. Finally, ride the remarkable Waterpocket Fold & Burr Trail.

Utah Hike & Bike Tour: Tour Dates

PLEASE NOTE: This tour is not regularly scheduled, but it can be configured as a Custom Tour for your group with a minimum of nine (9) riders. Please contact us via email or call 970.728.5891 for more information.

Utah Hike & Bike Tour: Overview

Tour Length: 4 days, 3 nights

Total Miles: 230 miles

Daily Mileage Range: 36 to 80

Meeting & Ending Town: Moab, UT

Ability Level: 3 (Advanced)

Group Size: 6 to 15 riders

Tour Cost: *** Please Call for Custom Tour Pricing – 970.728.5891 ***

PLEASE NOTE: This tour is not regularly scheduled, but it can be configured as a Custom Tour for your group with a minimum of nine (9) riders. Please contact us via email or call 970.728.5891 for more information.

Tour Includes:

Three nights’ lodging at:

• Day 1: Red River Ranch, Torrey, UT
• Day 2-3: Boulder Mountain Lodge. Boulder, UT

Also: all meals, taxes, entrance fees, daily lunch en route, energy food, liquid refreshments, shuttles, guide service, sag support, a special cycling gift, and mechanical support.

**Alcoholic beverages & massage for an additional cost

• Read a New York Times Story about what bike touring with Lizard Head Cycling Guides is all about.
• Read a New York Times story about Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah (Day’s 2 & 3 lodging)

Riding on the Utah Hike & Bike Tour

The Details
We’ll start the Utah Hike and Bike Tour at Capitol Reef. This isn’t your typical tourist and traffic-clogged National Park. Gaining its status in 1971, it’s still relatively unknown to most visitors.

You’ll appreciate navigating car-free roads and hiking in the incredible desert landscape and the hidden scenic treasures along the way. The adjacent Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument adds more wonder to the already amazing cycling you’ve experienced in the this short but sweet trek.

This is a great trip to bring along a non-riding spouse or to design as a custom tour for your group. Plus, we’ll take you to some of our very favorite places to eat and relax!

The Weather
Expect slightly toasty temperatures in the mid-80’s throughout the daytime hours in June. But because this is the high desert, you’ll also need to bring along some light outerwear, as the lows dip into the mid-50’s.

Why choose this tour?
Utah’s southern region is one of the most remote and least visited areas of the country. The seemingly inhospitable terrain conceals some very rewarding scenery for those choosing to visit. We know this territory well, and we’ll reveal those secrets to you!

Ability Level: Can I Ride this Tour?

Daily mileage options allow cyclists of varying abilities to enjoy this tour. One of our favorite options is to give cyclists a “bump” via the support vehicle, or a 10 to 20 mile lift down the road representing an hour of pedal time.

After the bump the rider is “off the front” and riding at his or her own pace without feeling they are being left behind the group.  They’ll then have time to linger and take in the spectacular scenery.  All cyclists come together in time for lunch.  Afterwards, cyclists can take another bump and/or continue riding.

Seamless Mileage Options
Lizard Head Cycling Guides designs multiple mileage options for each tours – something we’re well known for in our business. Daily shuttle options allow cyclists of varying abilities to enjoy our tours through mileage customization.

Slow or Fast?
Many cyclists who sign up for our tours have worried themselves silly about not being able to keep up. But then they’re surprised to find that all the worrying was about nothing.  They do just fine!

Slow and Fast
only exist as relative terms to other people.  Speed does not matter as long as you are moving on the bike.

Like we say to even the most reluctant cyclists: “You will be ready for a tour with Lizard Head Cycling when you are finished with a Lizard Head tour”.

If you have questions about your ability to ride this tour, please contact our office (info@LizardHeadCyclingGuides.com or 970.728.5891).

See How the Shuttle works below Day 4’s description in Tour Logistics and FAQ.

Utah Hike & Bike: 4-Day Itinerary

Day 1: Ride to Fish Lake Mountains
80-miles with 6,500-feet of climbing or 49-mile option with 3,500-feet

On Day 1 cyclists ride up into the remote Fish Lake Mountains of central Utah. Tonight’s lodging at the Red River Ranch is a night to savor.  The Red River Lodge recalls the great old lodges of National Parks system.

Day 2: Capitol Reef National Park
74-miles with nearly 4,000-feet of climbing

From your lodging at the Red River Ranch, pedal 14-miles beneath redrock walls to the Capitol Reef National Park’s Visitor Center.

Next, spin along Capitol Reef’s Scenic Road on a 9-mile out and back (18-miles roundtrip).  Don’t miss the petroglyphs located just east of the visitor center If it’s in season, pick some park service peaches and apples along Highway 24. Fresh pies are available for purchase at the Gifford Homestead (one mile east from the Visitor Center).

After visiting the park, you’ll climb nearly 4,000-feet along the Utah Highway 12’s Journey thru Time Scenic By-Wayto the top of Boulder Mountain at 9,000-feet.

Tonight’s lodging is the wonderful Boulder Mountain Lodge. Your dinner and breakfast for the next two nights are at Lizard Head Cycling’s favorite restaurant, Hell’s Backbone Grill.

Day 3: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
36-miles with a 6-mile hike to a 126-foot high waterfall

Explore the desert high country of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument that surrounds Boulder, Utah.

After breakfast, ride 24 miles west on Highway 12 to Calf Creek Falls. Then it’s on to a truly spectacular 3-mile out and back hike.

At trail’s end, a 126-foot tall desert waterfall greets hikers like an oasis. Take a refreshing and well-deserved swim in its cool waters. You decide if you’d like to ride the 12 miles back to the lodge…or ride on a return shuttle.

After returning to the Lodge there is the option of afternoon yoga beneath the giant cottonwood trees of the Boulder Mountain Lodge. Dinner tonight is again at the Hell’s Backbone Grill.

Day 4: Capitol Reef National Park
40-miles with hiking options

On Day 4, you’ll ride along the Burr Trail to the geological oddity of Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. Allow yourself to frolic in a slot canyon and hike to the remote Double Arch, deep in the Waterpocket Fold.

Later on, we’ll shuttle back to Grand Junction. A stop at Goblin Valley State Park may be in order during the return shuttle, along with a farewell meal at Ray’s Cowboy Bar in Green River.

Utah Hike & Bike: Logistics & FAQs

Bike Shipping

Lizard Head Cycling recommends shipping with BikeFlights.com. Bikes can be shipped either to our partner bike shop in each meeting town for professional assembly or directly to the meeting hotel for self-assembly. Bike boxes can generally be left at the meeting hotel during the tour. Bikes shipped across the continental US should be shipped 8 days prior to your tour.

Ride Difficulty
This tour is designed for intermediate cyclists with various levels of fitness.  Each day there are additional mileage options for advanced riders.

Tour Support
A van and trailer that carries luggage, food and equipment supports Lizard Head Cycling’s tours. Cyclists keep a day bag that is accessible within the support vehicle.

The vehicle will sag and then pass riders to set up aid stations every 20 to 25 miles. This allows cyclists to linger at the back and then take a ten-mile, fifteen-mile or whatever mile “bump” forward to catch-up or get ahead of the group. Energy food, drink mixes, and fresh fruit are available throughout each stage.

The Daily Schedule
Cyclists ride their own pace. Lizard Head Cycling does its best to support riders in their varying desires and efforts. Cyclists can either use our tours to simply support their tour experience or to engage in a guided experience along the route.

Cue sheets with directions, profiles and locations of aid stations are given out for each stage.

General Tour & Cancellation Policies

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with all of our tour and cancellation policies, which can be found by clicking here.

Travel Insurance

If you have not already, now would be a great time to consider adding travel insurance to your tour. You are welcome to use any travel insurance company you would like. We recommend Generali/Trip Mate.

Generally, if contracting COVID causes clients to cancel or interrupt their tour, trip insurance companies would treat it as any other illness as long as it is contracted after the insurance was purchased. Please check your individual plan documentation for details. Please note that quarantine is usually only covered if clients are actually sick with COVID. If a state requires quarantine upon arrival because of standardized state law, coverage is generally not covered. Again, check your individual plan documentation for details.

American Guests - use this link: http://www.generalitravelinsurance.com/get-a-quote.html?partner=LIZA0855

• The Premium Plan is the only plan which offers Pre-Existing coverage so long as the plan is purchased prior to Final Payment.
• The Premium Plan is the only plan that offers an optional Cancel For Any Reason - the policy must be purchased within 24 hours of initial trip deposit, the full trip cost must be insured, and if they cancel for Any Reason, it must be 48 hours prior to departure, and the reimbursement for an Any Reason claim is 60% of pre-paid, insured, non-refundable trip cost.
• Customer Service can be reached at 1-800-874-2442 for coverage questions and policy modifications or to purchase by phone. Agency Code: LIZA0855

Canadian Guests - use this link: https://tripmate.catravelins.ca/?utm_source=lizardhead

 

*PLEASE NOTE: Tour itineraries are subject to change and modification based on the group, available accommodations, road construction, road closures, and other unforeseen circumstances including weather, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, landslides and/or other acts of nature. Also, the distances and elevation profiles shown below may not reflect the actual distances and elevations while on tour as these are provided here to give an idea as to the anticipated mileage and terrain. Please view this itinerary, the distances, and elevation profiles as a general outline as to what to expect while on this tour.