Hot Air Balloon Rides

Two ways to fly

• Morning Ascension Ride: depart from Wild Horse Pass Festival Grounds and fly for about an hour over farm fields and the Sonoran Desert.
• Sunset Rides: check in at the festival grounds in the late afternoon and take your sunset flight. You land off-site, and Rainbow Ryders shuttles you back to the festival grounds to enjoy the Evening Desert Glow.

After landing, Rainbow Ryders closes each flight with a celebratory toast and shuttles you back to Wild Horse Pass Festival Grounds.

Passenger flights are a paid experience booked with Rainbow Ryders. They aren't part of the ABC16 balloon competition.

Good to know

• All flights are weather permitting. Sunset flights in January are especially weather-dependent.
• Rainbow Ryders can't fly anyone under 5 years old or anyone who is pregnant.
• Flights are booked and sold by Rainbow Ryders, not through ABC16 tickets. Pricing and available dates are shown when you book.

Prefer to stay close to the ground?

Tethered Balloon Rides go up about 75 feet and come straight back down. They run every evening, plus Saturday and Sunday mornings, and are sold on site.