Sedona Trail Advocacy: How We Give Back

Here at Thunder Mountain Bikes, Sedona trails are an essential part of life.

We are passionate mountain bikers that ultimately came here for the trails. We’re proud to support our local community by putting time and resources back into the trails. Luckily, we also have one of the best Forest Service districts in the country, with a crew that mountain bikes and values the mountain bike experience as much as we do.

Whether it’s getting out on the trails ourselves, helping with directions or trail signage, donating money, or giving time to advocacy groups, we’re stoked to be a part of it and help out. 

The Difference We Make For Our Sedona Trails

Thunder Mountain Bikes is dedicated to working with our local Forest Service district to help maintain trails. With Sedona having over 250 miles of trails nearby, it’s a lot to maintain!

Understandably, the Forest Service can’t get to every trail and earlier this year we teamed up with the Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition to identify various trail damage that affects the mountain bike experience. Sedona Trails such as Outer Limits, Hogs, and Slim Shady were more quickly addressed, and further helps to keep our “singletrack single” rather than widening way beyond its intention.

With millions of outdoor enthusiasts visiting Sedona each year, the trails can easily widen and erode excessively over time. Having trail maintenance is vital to keeping our trails healthy and enjoyable for everyone.

Over the winter of 2021-2022 we are looking forward to furthering this effort with Forest Service volunteer trail work days. Our team recently completed volunteer work on the Axis and Bottom Out trails located in the Western Gateway trail system. (These are great trails that are only a few miles from our shop!)

Going into 2022, we are looking forward to the Hiline trail work day - one of our favorite Sedona trails!

For more information to help out, check out our social media updates, as well as the VVCC website.

10 Years of Trails . . . And Counting

Thunder Mountain Bikes has been involved with Sedona trails since our inception 10 years ago, and we’re looking forward to many more years to come. Throughout this time, we’ve seen Sedona grow and grow. Back then, Sedona trails were mostly a spider web of social trails without mapping or signage, and with that carried the threat of potential trail closures.

A huge thank you needs to go out to local trail groups and the Forest Service for putting in the work to adopt these trails! With the adoption of these trails, they are made official and here to stay for the long term.

As an example of how active our Red Rock Trail Crews are, check out these stats from 2020: completed 322 miles of trail maintenance, constructed 11.7 miles of new trails and naturalized 11.3 miles of abandoned trails. Workers rerouted eight trails, completed 402 feet of retaining walls, installed 79 rock stairs, built 101 new drainage structures and installed 134 trail signs!

Over the years, Thunder Mountain Bikes has been a part of these mountain bike community projects:

• Members of the work group to initiate the Sedona Bike Park. And, Thunder Mountain Bikes was a key donor with a $10,000 donation to the Sedona Bike Park startup.
• Continually make $500-$1,000 donations to the Sedona Bike Park for dirt, clay, and equipment to maintain and progress the Bike Park.
  
• We helped facilitate the public Bike Repair Project that brought bike repair stands and pumps to our most popular trailheads. In addition, Thunder Mountain Bikes fully paid for one of the stands and assembled all of them around town. Read more about this awesome project with VisitSedona.com's article here.
• We have been members of the Sedona Trail Keepers for the last 5 years and are signed on for another 5 years. Thunder Mountain Bikes donates $1,000 each year and the city matches it. This past year resulted in a $100,000 match from the Sedona Chamber of Commerce. Learn more about the Sedona Trail Keepers here.
  
• We hold board membership on the Red Rock Trail Fund, donating time and effort to their trail initiatives.
• Thunder Mountain Bikes is part of the Trail Committee with the Verde Valley Cyclist Coalition, donating time and effort to their trail maintenance projects.
• A Gold Level Sponsor of the Verde Valley Cyclist Coalition.
• We sponsor and frequently volunteer for Forest Service volunteer trail work days. We help with paying for lunch and refreshments, social media posts to raise awareness and rally volunteers.
  
• Thunder Mountain Bikes is a member of the Trails Bucks Program - with a custom rock cairn Donation Box in front of the store. We generally raise $100-$200 per month for the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund.
• Trail Fund Stickers - We sell $5 stickers for the Red Rock Trail Fund, where all of the money goes to the fund.
• Thunder Mountain Bikes is behind the production of the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival, which has consistently been the top fundraising event for Sedona Trails the past 5 years.

Engage With Your Trails

Sedona may be a small town, but we welcome millions of visitors each year and our trails see a lot of traffic. Whether you're a local, or just visiting, if you’ve enjoyed the amazing trails and landscapes - think about how you, too, can make a difference!

Becoming a member of a local trail group is cheap and truly helps keep vital trail projects rolling. Check out our favorite local groups below, and get involved by signing up for Trail Days, or donate through their websites!

Red Rock Trail Fund - https://redrocktrailfund.org/

Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition - https://www.vvcc.us/

If you're not a Sedona local, we still highly encourage you get out and support your local trails!