Specialized Bicycles released a 20-minute YouTube documentary titled “The Hard Line” on March 22, which covered the construction and development of the Hardline trail in Sedona, one of the area’s newest trails, completed this winter as part of Phase I of the Red Rock Trails Access Plan.

“We’re happy to announce Hardline is open,” the Red Rock Trail Crew posted on Instagram on March 5. “This is likely our most progressive system mountain bike trail yet. Technical features and exposure are common. Please follow the white blazes while you learn the line. This trail is rated double black for both hiking and bikers. The trail is designed as a bicycle-optimized trail, meaning bikes are traveling with speed on steep terrain where it’s not safe for them to come to an immediate stop. Due to this, all other users yield to bikes, as this is the safest for everyone. This is a rowdy one, enjoy. The triple H just got another sibling. We couldn’t have done any of this work with the support of the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund.”

Hardline was originally a user-created 0.92 mile route, and the Forest Service later decided to recognize its existence and incorporate it within an expanded system of mountain bike trails. The trail is accessed via the Cathedral Rock Trail and connects to the Easy Breezy, Templeton and Hiline trails.

Prior to the opening, the “triple H,” or the Hangover, Hiline and Hogs Loop trails were considered to be the most technically challenging mountain bike trails in the Sedona area. Hardline has a 60- foot vertical drop broken by three slickrock rollers that requires riders to have perfect speed and maneuvers to safely stay on the course.

“Forest Service trail crew and volunteers began construction on Hardline on Dec. 10, and worked on it until Dec. 20,”USFS spokesman Brady Smith said. “Additional Forest Service crew time was intermittently spent working on the project from January through early March 2025 while balancing competing priorities and projects. Total estimated cost for the trail crew time is around $40,000. All other labor was conducted by volunteers.” Smith said that trail counters were not installed as part of the project, so the Forest Service will not have an estimate of how many cyclists are using the trail.

“Not that long ago, there was a very tedious situation at hand where a lot of the users did not feel heard,” Forest Service recreation management specialist Kevin Kuhl said in the video. “They weren’t, you know, being supplied with the type of user experience that they desired, and the Forest Service was kind of turning a blind eye to that.”

“[We] got an amazing team of people helping me kind of execute this trail they call Hardline. It’s a little surreal,” Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition board member Lars Romig said in the video. “Out of all different trails I’ve gotten through over the years, this one is probably the most near and dear, because I didn’t know if it was possible, and now we’re here. It is, and it’s kind of kind of crazy to see it happen.”

Smith said that work on the Bell Rock single-track bypass connection to Courthouse Loop and the Bell Rock Vista trailhead and the Rector Connector trail was also completed during the winter, and the Doe Mountain trail was officially reopened on April 5 after the Forest Service recognized the two-mile trail that was already there.

“This season’s reconstruction of the Doe Mountain trail was completed on April 5 when the forest closure order expired,” Smith said. “In addition, the roughly two-mile Doe Mountain loops were also opened to the public, providing two scenic hiking opportunities on the northern and southern circumference of the mesa. These two new trails provide expansive views of West Sedona and were a part of the Red Rock Trail Access Plan Phase I planning process and Decision Memo. It is anticipated that there will be more work on the Doe Mountain trail that climbs to the Doe Mountain loops in the future to address resource concerns and improve user experience.”

Smith said that the new 500- foot Scheurman Trail Connector is under construction with “volunteer events ongoing” and that the project will divert hikers away from Sedona Red Rock High School to use the trail.