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Maah Daah Hey

Mountain Biking in North Dakota with Western Spirit Cycling

Highlights

  • Cycle the Maah Daah Hey Trail
  • Explore 100 miles of new singletrak
  • Enjoy hearty meals at our peaceful campsites

Full Description

Our 5-day Maah Daah Hey trip features over 100 miles of new singletrack taking you from vast grasslands to incredible canyons.

Part of the Missouri River Plateau, the Badlands of North Dakota were formed by thousands of small streams working their way through hundreds of feet of sediment over millions of years. The trail takes us across the grasslands on top of the mesas and then dips and dives in and out of the canyons.

Because we've been guiding this trail since its creation we've been able to watch the trail evolve from a rugged new route to a well worn singletrack, thanks to thousands of knobby tires. Singletrack experience is necessary to have fun out there, in addition to an adventurous attitude and a willingness to explore new territory.

Riding Surface: Rough singletrack through grass and clay.

Technical Difficulty: Moderate, with advanced moments.

Physical Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult.

Altitude: 1,000 - 2,500 feet.

Includes:

  • All meals from lunch on first day to lunch on last day
  • Support vehicle
  • Guides
  • Campsites

Excludes:

  • Rental fees
  • Gratuities for your guides
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Applicable sales tax

Day by Day Itinerary

Day 1

After meeting in Bismarck, we will shuttle west and north to the heart of the North Dakota Badlands. Here we will unload our bikes and ride a short doubletrack before we hit the Maah Daah Hey Trail. China Wall is our initiation to the trail's exposure as it cuts through the colorful slopes of the Badlands. A sweeping downhill and a couple of tight switchbacks deliver us to our lunch spot. The name of the trail comes from a Mandan Indian phrase that means "an area that has been or will be around for a long time," and it has also been interpreted to mean "grandfather" in the Mandan language. The trail is marked with large posts emblazoned with a turtle, symbolizing firm determination, steadfastness, patience, long life and fortitude---all good qualities that will come in handy along the way. We'll continue riding through intermittent sections of grasslands and exposed rock formations as we make our way up and over the short but challenging climbs. We'll camp tonight on a beautiful grassy knoll. TOTAL MILEAGE - 14 miles

Day 2

After a hearty breakfast we will head out through the rolling hills, passing the roaming cattle and prairie dogs. After each small granny gear grunt we are rewarded by an equally twisty downhill. The Badlands were formed by the cutting action of thousands of small streams and rivulets over millions of years. The water travels through layers of fine grain clays and silts of every imaginable color. From short-grass prairie to sagebrush hillsides to small forests, today we will get a sampling of the Badlands scenery first hand. Our route takes us through 20 miles of remote singletrack as we head south towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We'll stop and explore a bluff where we'll find intact seashells and crustaceans, evidence of the 70 million year old seabed deposit. After lunch we make a short detour to the old ice caves where ice still forms today. Back on the main trail, some sections are smooth and buffed while others are wild and rugged, but you're assuredly always going up or down. Today's cumulative climbing is about 1,200 feet with the final hurrah just before camp. Tonight's camp is perched atop the famous Devil's Pass, a narrow wall of clay dropping away sharply on both sides. TOTAL MILEAGE - 20 miles

Day 3

Today is the big day, which we'll start with an eye widening ride across Devil's Pass. Many of the original roads through this twisty turny section were created for the extraction of natural gas. From Devil's Pass, the Maah Daah Hey Trail is carved tightly into the hillside. Through many turns and switchbacks, the trail eventually leads us right to the banks of the Little Missouri River. The river is usually just a trickle at this point, but it's still a little too deep to ride, so a refreshing wade across cools us off before we climb back up through the riverside bluffs. We'll have a hawk's eye view of Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch site, established in 1884. The ranching efforts failed when harsh winters doomed the cattle and the ranch was converted to a hunting lodge. As we descend, the trail is etched into the off camber bluff, reinforcing the "look where you want to go" technique. We'll have lunch in a shady grove and fuel up for more great singletrack this afternoon. We camp tonight on a beautiful promontory overlooking the badlands. We call it the "Sound of Music" camp. TOTAL MILEAGE - 24 miles

Day 4

Today brings us the best section of the Maah Daah Hey. We'll ride south through prickly peared valleys and more Badlands landscape. We'll climb some steep switchbacks to the best view of the colors of sediment. 70 million years ago, this region was a vast inland sea which deposited sediment and laid down the many colored layers visible in the landscape. Wind, water and erosion have created the jagged buttes, rolling hillsides and rugged rock formations. The red sediment, called scoria, that we see from our vantage point is the result of underground coal fires. After lunch we continue south on the trail until we are just north of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Here we say goodbye to the Maah Daah Hey and hop on the Buffalo Gap trail to circumnavigate the park. Tonight's camp is called the Camel Hump Camp and we'll likely hear coyotes howling from the adjacent ridge. TOTAL MILEAGE - 23 miles

Day 5

Our last day takes us further south through some really fun sections of the Buffalo Gap Trail. Some of the formations are like giant sandcastles with the trail swooping right around them. On occasion, we have seen whole herds of antelope blasting through this area at break neck speeds. With full trail grins on our faces we'll ride a few road miles right into the historic town of Medora. It is funny to think of what Teddy and his Rough Riders would have thought of the likes of us. TOTAL MILEAGE - 12 miles

About The Operator:

Western Spirit Cycling

Headquarters:

Moab, Utah

Established:

January 1989

The History of Western Spirit

"Back in the day", as our oldest guides say, Western Spirit Cycling was founded by a charismatic mad bike rider named Lu Warner. It was 1989; Lu couldn't get enough of riding his bike and decided he should impart some of his joy on the masses. He acquired a Suburban, dubbed "the burb” and a couple of guides and started taking people around the White Rim. Now Lu can be found in some semi-state of retirement in Crested Butte, CO, but his vision was just the beginning.

Just for the record, yes, we still have the burb. It's retired. And those "couple of guides" are our finest Rachel & Johnny - no sign of retirement there!

Then the Mid-90s

Ashley Korenblat bought Western Spirit in 1997 and since then has spent many days riding unknown trails (with a headlamp in her backpack, just in case) creating the plethora of trips that Western Spirit now offers. Ashley is a graduate of Dartmouth and Tuck Business School, a former bike racer, former Wall Street captive and possessor of entrepreneurial spirit. She was president of Merlin during the Titanium mountain bike heyday and served as the IMBA President working to sustain trail availability to everyone. Combine all that with the desire for a Moab lifestyle and an alternative view of a fulfilling career path, and you have the perfect recipe for the owner of a cycling tour company.  Enter Mark. Mark is our charming, wicked-fit, voice of reason, miraculously lured from his ski town tradition to live in the desert. Ashley and Mark got married in 1999 in Moab and now run the company together.

Well, actually Kip runs the place. Kip is Ashley and Mark's young boy and he has his own bike helmet and chariot. He is also beginning to tear it up on the dirt with his training wheels.

Our office staff is comprised of mostly gals...and Mark. Thank goodness for Mark! Mark is our bike junkie and can be seen pedaling on a daily basis. Ashley makes the best backcountry bacon you will ever have, but definitely burns off those calories towing the little Kipster around town in his trailer. Anne Clare loves riding her road bike and hiking in the mountains. Sheri and Tonya both love the water and do their best to kayak 365 days a year. Emily is pretty "green". She is the founder of a non-profit organization, Community Rebuilds that promotes affordable and eco-friendly housing.

All of us have worked outdoors and are familiar with what you will experience on a Western Spirit trip. At any given time when you call you can talk to someone who has been on any trip that interests you. That's because we love to be out there too!

Our Philosophy

In our busy world, we often don't get to be outside enough. Even if you do, there's some phenomenon that just makes you want more. Nothing like going somewhere to make you realize all the other places you still need to go! Traveling outside makes you see Mars when it's the closest to earth it'll ever be, makes you smell the fragrant lupine covering the mountain slope, makes you feel the wind, see the perfect sunset, catch an eclipse of the moon, experience the herd of elk in the alpine meadow, and start to tell time by the location of the moon in the night sky.

What's that all worth in our busy world? Well, it is our world.

On all of our tours, we strive to protect our fragile mountain and desert environments. Many of our campsites are remote and unimproved, and we seek to leave them better than we found them.

Meals

Food is one thing we take pretty seriously. Our guides are great backcountry chefs and your trip includes all meals from lunch on first day to lunch on last day.

Support Vehicle

Our customized trucks and vans carry all of your gear as well as many camper comforts! We have the coolest custom F-450's in the industry. Our guides have incredible backcountry experience, but the best part is that they are all super friendly and look forward to a week of riding with you.

Campsites

We camp primarily in pristine locations where it's quiet, dark and peaceful. The finest morning view comes with a hot cup of cowboy coffee. All shuttles are included from our meeting place to the start of your ride. At the end of the trip we shuttle back to our meeting place.

Permits

Western Spirit Cycling, Inc. operates under special use permits from the USDA Forest Service in the Boise, Coronado, Dixie, Grand Mesa, Gunnison, Kaibab, Manti La Sal (Moab and Monticello Ranger Districts), San Juan, Sawtooth, Sierra Vista, Uncompahgre, Challis, Clearwater, Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Caribou-Targhee, Black Hills, Mount Hood, Umpqua, Nantahala, White Mountain, Monongahela, and Pisgah National Forests and by Dakota Prairie Grasslands. As well as under permits issued by the Bureau of Land Management in the San Juan Resource Area; Henry Mountain Field Station; Moab, Arizona Strip and Grand Junction Field Offices; Grand Staircase National Monument; and by Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Crater Lake and Blue Ridge Parkway National Parks. Western Spirit is a concessionaire in Canyonlands National Park.