Tour Overview
This tour offers some of the most stunning scenery the Wild West of America has to offer. Riding through Nevada, Arizona, Utah...
Tour Itinerary (Click on the blue box for details of each days ride)
Preparation day in Las Vegas, Nevada
Miles: 000
On arrival into Las Vegas you will be greeting by your BCMT tour team. You will be taken to the starting hotel and shown to your room. You will then be acquainted with your ride which has been prepared and is ready to carry you and your pillion on your amazing Wild West Challenge guided motorcycle tour.
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Your tour will start with a briefing informing you of everything needed to ensure you have a fantastic and safe touring experience.
On this tour you will encounter some of the best riding and scenery that America’s Wild West has to offer.
This is your opportunity to join our tour group where you will experience many of the roads and sights that have featured in many of the most iconic films and television shows. It is an amazing thing to be able to give this opportunity to a wounded, injured or sick veteran.
Las Vegas, Nevada to Bryce Canyon, Utah
Miles: 285
Our group will ride northeast from hotel which is situated on the Las Vegas through Boulder City to Lake Mead famous for the Hoover Dam. We then enter the Lake Mead National park and ride through some amazing landscapes on winding roads that will put a constant smile on everyone’s face.
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We then cross into Arizona where we ride through the Virgin River Gorge on the interstate 15 before entering Utah for the next couple of days.
After a stop for lunch we continue northeast for our first experience of the vast rural expanse of the open roads. We continue along the highway into our second National park of the day.
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A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile Zion National Park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles long and up to half a mile deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River.
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The Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches. After exiting the park we
embark on our last ride of the day to our hotel for the night in Bryce Canyon. The hotel is about as Western as it gets!
Bryce Canyon, Utah to Blanding, Utah
Miles: 300
This morning we start the day with a chilly 10 minute ride into the Bryce Canyon National Park to watch the Sunrise over the canyon! For those worried about the cold, it soon warms up as the sun rises over our heads.
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We head back to the hotel for breakfast before taking a ride to the Head of Rocks and the Devils Ridge back.
For those of you that enjoy great riding, today’s ride will be up there with the best you have ridden previously.
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After lunch we continue to enjoy breathtaking scenery before reaching our hotel for a hard earned rest.
Blanding, Utah to Springerville, Arizona
Miles: 293
After breakfast, we start out on what is to be our longest ride of the tour. (Although we are covering the miles today you don’t actually feel it as we have a number of great surprises in store for the group!)
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The morning starts with visit to the four corners monument. This monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states.
The monument also marks the boundary between two semi-autonomous Native American governments, the Navajo Nation, which maintains the monument as a tourist attraction, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation.
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The ride then takes us over the state line into New Mexico to Gallup for lunch at a famous Route 66 Café. After lunch, we ride into Arizona through Saint Johns to the town of Springerville for dinner.
Springerville, Arizona to Tombstome, Arizona
Miles: 269
This is a pretty amazing days riding and scenery. As we leave Springerville, we head out on what used to be known as the Devil’s Highway Route 666 through the small towns of Alpine and Hannagan’s meadow. The views are truly spectacular as is the riding of course!
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The route between Springerville and Morenci was designated a National Scenic Byway and given the name of Coronado Trail Scenic Byway.
We take a break for lunch at the Morenci Copper Mine, the largest copper mining operation in North America, and one of the largest copper mines in the world.
Continuing our ride, we head south to the historic town on Tombstone for dinner and a drink at Big Nose Kate’s saloon bar which has been the setting for many a TV / movie western.
Down day in Tombstone, Arizona
Miles: 000
After a lazy start to the day we meet up in a saloon for a cowboy breakfast. the rest of the day is yours to enjoy the history of tombstone. You will have access to a guided tour of the towns silver mine and of course a showing of the "Gunfight at the OK Coral".
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We then meet up for dinner as a group and share the highlights of the day.
Tombstone, Arizona to Cave Creek, Arizona
Miles: 230
This morning we head off north towards Tucson to a Carl's Junior for brunch (the double bacon western burger meal is the order of the day!) After this we ride alongside a US air force base where you will see hundreds of mothballed aircraft lined up as far as the eye can see.
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We then continue in the heat of the desert to Cave Creek, an old cowboy town north of Phoenix for some relaxation and a dip in the pool before heading off to an amazing bikers bar called the Hideaway Bar & Grill for dinner.
Cave Creek, Arizona to Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Miles: 210
This morning we head off away from Phoenix to another old cowboy town of Wickenburg. After a break from the heat and a fuel stop we continue our ride along the Colorado river which separates Arizona and California. On arrival into Lake Havasu City we will have lunch and park the bikes at our hotel.
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You are then free to explore the city which is famous for buying the origional London Bridge (Pictured to the left).
Lake Havasu City, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada
Miles: 219
Today is another fantastic day in the saddle. Our first stop is to Mr D'z Route 66 Diner for breakfast and maybe one of their amazing milkshakes
Then we ride the Oatman trail into another old cowboy mining town of Oatman. After an hour of shopping for those last minute souvenirs we continue through the towns of Bullhead City and Laughlin (the poor man's Las Vegas) and back to our hotel in Last Vegas. This is where we say goodbye to our trusty steads that have carried us on what will have been a truly amazing Wild West Challenge.
Return flight to the UK
Miles: 000
Enjoy the morning in Las Vegas before your flight home to the UK
Arrive home
Miles: 000
Time for a nice cuppa tea and rest on the sofa as you reflect on what has been the most amazing journey along America's Wild West. Remember, friends for life are made during these challenges.
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Remember to start thinking about your next motorcycle Adventure with BC Motorcycle Tours.
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"Making your ride an Adventure"
Your tour includes the following:
Nine nights of quality hotels / motels
Welcome meeting and Tour Briefing
Daily breakfast where it's offered at your hotel
Guaranteed choice of rented motorcycle
Unlimited mileage
All fuel and oil for your motorcycle
Admission fees to all Museums and National Parks (on our scheduled route)
Any tolls, parking fees (any gratuities are additional)
The tour will be guided by a professional tour guide who will give daily summaries and tell of the history of your route
Transfers to and from the Airport and Hotel in the US
Motorcycle rental and the required liability insurance
24 hour roadside assistance
Support vehicle at all times with a spare bike
Luggage carried on the support vehicle.
Ice cold water, soft drinks and snacks throughout each day
Pre tour function including tour briefing
Comprehensive first aid and tool kits
BC Motorcycle Tours bike stickers
Your airfare to and from the US (Although it is arranged for you under a group booking)
Your ESTA (Visa Waiver to travel to the US) This costs $14 from the US Embassy / website https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta
Personal Travel Insurance. Click here for a competitive quote that covers you on larger motorcycles
Heading 6
Meals (Other than what is indicated) and tips, refreshments and your Alcoholic Beverages
Trip Cancellation Insurance
Personal Souvenirs
Shipping of any excess baggage, souvenirs, helmets, etc … To or from to your home
Any necessary riding gear and / or personal effects
Transfers to and from the Airport in the UK
Parking fees
Anything not indicated by a green tick in this section
What our participants think:
Being Ex-forces and also a biker it just made sense to give something back and I couldn’t think of a better way to do it. I signed up for the Wild West 1 Challenge in 2018 as rider and headed out to the USA in May. What an absolutely amazing trip! I now know why it’s called a “challenge” though, both mentally and physically but so rewarding with the sites you see and the people you meet.
What you also will take away from the trip is life long memories and the knowledge that the beneficiaries have taken part in something they never thought possible. To see the change in only the first few days, with smiles and laughter (and an odd tear) return to people’s faces who probably spend a lot of their time back home with untold worries on their shoulders is priceless. You don’t have to ex-forces to “get it” so my advice is save up, sign up and potentially change somebody’s life in a good way! BT4TW tours ticks all the boxes and many more. You won’t regret it……..”You Decide”……..
Tim Ryan on Wild West Motorcycle Challenge
I did the Wild West Challenge in June and it was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was brilliantly organised with some surprises along the way and the hospitality we experienced was out of this world. As a beneficiary, I got so much out of it. The camaraderie was as you'd expect but I also felt that the guys and girls helped me to settle some stuff in my mind and I'm still reflecting on it now. I'm doing Normandy next year and am trying to get the word out there to get more sponsors to say thank you to Darren and everyone else involved at BC Motorcycle Tours and BT4TW.
Clare Van Der Marel on Wild West Motorcycle Challenge
Full 5 stars! BT4TW needs to add extra stars if they want to keep improving their tours like this each year! I was a rider on WW Aug/Sept 2018 with a beneficiary as my pillion. As a bike tour it couldn't be faulted. Well organised, good bikes, great itinerary. But these tours are so much more than just bike tours. The beneficiaries are great people to meet and to hear their stories and, as you can read, they value the experience greatly. Being hosted at Legion posts means you meet real Americans and have a great time. They are so kind and generous. And you meet other surprise characters too....but you will have to come on a tour to find out about them, LOL! And for me personally seeing the improvement in two returning beneficiaries whom I met on a tour in 2017 , and knowing that several of this year's beneficiaries have found the courage to go back to biking and intend to be riders and help other beneficiaries to be pillions next year is worth all the gold stars in the World.
Adrian on Wild West Motorcycle Challenge
I was invited on the tour literally 10 days before it embarked and initially was running about trying to sort things out so I could get on this amazing trip. Any how I finally got my admin sorted and we traveled to London where I met other ex wounded veterans at the airport. The whole group was a complete mixed bag and no one seem to know what to expect and initially everybody was a bit stand offish. but as the tour went on Day by day in fact I would say hour by hour people were bonding ,making new friendships with plenty banter thrown around . Every town and place we visited we were greeted by a fantastic American spirit with huge warm welcomes making you feel like royalty if not a little humbled and overwhelmed by it all. However it was amazing nevertheless . I would like to thank Darren and the team at bike tours for the wounded and BC Motorcycle Tours for this amazing experience
I will never forget and look for to more adventures with this amazing charitable organisation.
Craig Greenhalgh on Wild West Motorcycle Challenge
Hi guys, firstly I would like to thank all the crew at Bike tours for the Wounded.
I've recently come back from one of the Wild West tours, and to say it's changed my like is an understatement, Not only did everybody on the tour pull together as a team, it was also good to have like minded people to talk to, or give and take banter from.
I mention to Darren that the experience of just being in the company of Military minded brothers and sisters, felt soul cleansing and the fact that everything is run with Military timings was like having a blast from the past. ( actually, blast was probably the wrong word for me?) Haha
I also found that just being sat on the back of them fantastic motorcycles with nothing stressful to worry about, gave me the first opportunity to have a good think, and put some stuff to bed, or as I put it, Deleting files inside my head.
This experience has motivated to save up to buy my own Harley Davidson, with the view of joining in on a future ride out and hopefully raise some money for charity..
Thanks to Pavlo, my rider and thanks to everybody at BT4TW
Ned Kelly. on Wild West Motorcycle Challenge
What can I say, this opportunity was unbelievable. the organisation, before, during and after was exceptional. The UK admin team provided all the help and guidance you could want in preparation for flying out, even proactively checking to ensure that I had got everything I would need.
On arrival at the airport, the transit from checking in to boarding the plane was seamless. All the first time veterans were initially quiet and nervous, but by the time we arrived in Las Vegas, many of us had started to come out of our shells.
On arrival, we again moved smoothly through immigration and customs, where US Immigration and Customs people were really good and very helpful. Then it was on to the hotel, teamed up with our roommates, for me, this was the first time I had shared a room with someone other than my ex wife in over 12 years. The BT4TW team had clearly managed to gauge our personalities and needs as I do not think anyone had any snags with their 'buddy'.
The tour itself was phenomenal, my rider, Hutch, was easy going and we hit it off straight away. he was an expert on the Indian motorcycle that we were on and even though I had not ridden pillion in over 30 years, I was was not nervous once.
The scenery, welcome from the American people wherever we went and the company in the group along with the peace an serenity of riding along with music playing and the sound of the wind in my ears made this a truly memorable experience.
I cannot recommend BT4TW highly enough. The tour has improved my mental outlook, my appreciation of the wider world and the opportunities within it and brought me out of a prolonged period of social isolation. My confidence in social situations is now closer to what it used to be than before I went.
I cannot thank Darren, Mark, Amy, Bekkie and the entire team for all they have done for me and the other veterans. If you get the opportunity to take part in one of these challenges, do it. I can almost guarantee you will not regret it.
Would I go with BT4TW again? In a heartbeat.
Simon Zammit on Wild West Motorcycle Challenge
Just WOW had an amazing time with some wonderful guys and the riders were. I would do it again tomorrow if I could even though I was hurting most days nothing new there . Having done Route 66 last year and had an amazing time on that tour just had to do this 1 when offered place . Tour guides are top blokes and know there stuff and theres always a jack wagon on hand if the going gets a bit to tough . Have had 2 excellent riders on both tours and this guys are awesome
Brian Leach on Wild West Motorcycle Challenge