Southwest - Sedona, Arizona

My family and i are planing on coming out to Arizona this spring break. Along with the normal things like see the grand canyon we would like to go mountain biking in sedona. We live in michigan and have mountain biked a fair amount around here, so my question is. In order to bike the Sedona area trails would we need a guide? i have read some things that the trails are easy to get lost on. Is this true? If possible we would rather not have a guide. Just looking for your opinions. thanks in advance.

No worries, you'll do fine solo!

Check the local bike shops. Both Mountain Bike Heaven and Bike & Bean have websites. Buy a book, the family will have something to read & get charged up over. When you buy your Red Rock Pass (government found a way to take your money, $10 or so) you can get the free map but it's not much in the way of quality.

Your biggest problem will be determining trail difficulty - I've accidentally got on trails too difficult, and I've accidentally puttered around for hours looking for real trail to ride. I've never had problems with getting lost, for Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock etc. make pretty good landmarks.

My family and i are planing on coming out to Arizona this spring break. Along with the normal things like see the grand canyon we would like to go mountain biking in sedona. We live in michigan and have mountain biked a fair amount around here, so my question is. In order to bike the Sedona area trails would we need a guide? i have read some things that the trails are easy to get lost on. Is this true? If possible we would rather not have a guide. Just looking for your opinions. thanks in advance.
My suggestion-

Go to www.mtbr.com

Go to the arizona section, explain your situation. I can almost guarantee you someone would show you around the trails.

Can't speak for biking but, my wife and I stopped in Sedona on our move to Tucson. It's absolutely beautiful. I can imagine biking there would be great. Hope you have a great (and safe) trip.

The area is incredible and during spring break the weather should be spectacular. I live 20 miles north in Flagstaff where you'll also find some great trails. I've never ridden the mt. bike trails down there but have ridden through on my road bike. Check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Biking-Arizona-Guide-Trails/dp/0966476948, it has good trail descriptions. Also go to the Coconino National Forest website and you'll find good descriptions of trails in the Sedona area as well as the Flagstaff area. Enjoy!

Jcrouse