Cedar City recognized globally for mountain bike trail excellence

CEDAR CITY – Cedar City is getting some global recognition for what's happening on the outskirts of town, with many in the mountain bike community now turning their heads toward Festival City.

Earlier this week, Cedar City was recognized as a 2026 IMBA Trail Town, which is a new national designation from the International Mountain Bicycling Association.

Mac Urie is the president of the nonprofit organization Iron Trialcraft, which serves the local mountain bike community. He said this recognition is not only a testament to the great trail systems in Cedar City, but it highlights the town's commitment to building quality trails for everyone.

"(International Mountain Bicycling Association) is the biggest proponent of sustainable, purpose-built mountain bike trail systems in the United States and the world ... and their whole mission is to increase the trail availability and accessibility for users of all skill levels," Urie told KSL. "This recognition is a stamp on all the work that we've done."

Urie explained that International Mountain Bicycling Association initially contracted with the Bureau of Land Management 10 years ago to design the Iron Hills trail system on the south end of town. He said the association has been with them every step of the way, adding that many of the trail-building methods used in Cedar City have been a blueprint for many of the trails in other areas.

"They've actually used Cedar City as kind of a testing ground with some of the trail design they've done that they haven't done in other places," Urie said. And it did really well. "For instance, Lava Flow and Lichen, it was a design that allowed multiple skill sets on one trail.

"You can take your kids, and everybody can have a good time because there's something for everybody, or you can ride the trails as a beginner, intermediate or even an expert; you can still have a good experience."

Ensuring a good and safe experience for everyone was one part of the equation to be recognized as an IMBA Trail Town Destination; the other part was making sure that the destination wasn't too far off the beaten path.

"In order to qualify, we had to have a certain milage of trails within a 30-minute drive of downtown Cedar City," Urie explained. "When I was calculating it, I was even blown away at how many mile of trails we had."

What Urie found was that there were over 100 miles of trails accessible from downtown Cedar City within a 30-minute drive.

When he looks at all the trails in Cedar City now compared to what it was like when he grew up there, Urie says he's excited about how far it's come. When he signed up to work on this project a decade ago, it was a bit of a selfish endeavor, he admitted.

"Growing up, we only had Razorbacks and Three Peaks, and if you wanted good riding," he said. "It was a selfish interest because I thought, 'Well, if we can help build more mountain bike trails, then that just means I have more to ride on.'

"This project and recognition keeps me looking forward and appreciative at what it's taken to get there and everybody who's worked together to make it happen."

Urie and other trail officials said they are still in the process of adding more trails throughout Iron County. Those interested can visit irontrailcraft.org.

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