Fat Tire Fest 2024

Southern Illinois Fat Tire Festival (FTF) happening again for the 20^th year in a row, one of the best MTB events in the entire MidWest! This year’s event goes down October 18-20, 2024, at the one and only Camp Ondessonk located in Ozark, Illinois right in the middle of the beautiful Shawnee National Forest. We have miles and miles of great riding for all levels of riders from mellow flow to rugged all mountain boulder strewn rowdiness. The Midwest’s all inclusive mountain bike weekend with tons of fun riding; both professionally guided and self-led, amazing food and drink, awesome tree-house accommodations, and tons of outdoor adventures Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

FTF has something for everyone, from those wanting to ride every minute of the day to those tagging along to enjoy some time in the great outdoors. The list of fun evolves each year and is part of what makes Fat Tire Fest such a fun event for EVERYONE. The year the list includes 30+ miles of onsite trails to explore at any time, including the 10+ miles of fun and flowy trails handcrafted specifically for MTB riding that weave thru the 800+ acres of CampO property.

At Fat Tire Fest there’s always a ton of riding and a bunch of “other fun” too.

The Fat Tire Challenge will be back on Friday night with the “huffy toss”, the “big kids on little bikes” races, the CampO tug of war and other FTF Challenge tomfoolery.
Saturday afternoon includes the first “race” of the weekend with the “Kids Race” at the expo area followed by the Off-Road Crit race on a super fun one mile course, ~30 minutes of racing for bragging rights all weekend long.
We plan to celebrate all 20 years of Fat Tire Fest on Saturday night with our first ever “FTF Disco Ball” dress up in your best disco outfit and come enjoy the rocking retro DJ for some great fun in expo area.
“The Hunt” scavenger challenge goes on all weekend long.
A Tunnel Hill Rail Trail ride happens Saturday mid-morning
Guided family MTB rides happen both Friday and Saturday
On-site bike demo’s from Santa Cruz, Cannondale and Cervelo all day Friday and Saturday and a number of other brands on site with cool gear to check out.
Fat Tire wouldn’t be Fat Tire without great food, cold drinks, treehouse accommodations and amazing prizes, last year was over $7,500 worth.
We cap the weekend off right with the O-Face MTB Bracket race on Sunday, a predicted time bracket race on a “less than” 10-mile course.

Join us for the 20^th Fat Tire Fest and have more fun, more adventure and embrace the outdoors while enjoying your best weekend of the year. For more in-depth event information just keep reading.

Each FTF registrant receives:

Treehouse Lodging for Friday and Saturday nights or a space at the tent camping or RV area (no hookups). No Pets, please and thanks.

Exclusive access to the Fat Tire Fest trail network with almost 35 miles of trail right out your treehouses front door, this includes the CampO trails, fast and flowy trails built for riders of all levels. We also have exclusive access for the weekend to 15 more miles at Lake Glendale, the original home of FTF, just a short drive away.

ALL meals and drinks for the weekend, starting with lunch on Friday and ending with lunch on Sunday. Great food too, hot breakfasts with bacon and kick-butt BBQ! Soft drinks from Excel Bottling and the beer is ice cold and flowing thanks to our sponsors and New Belgium Brewing, no need to be thirsty this weekend.

Friday and Saturday, include multiple guided trail rides ranging from the tame to the extreme, options for all ages and experience levels.

To celebrate the anniversary we are doing a super sweet FTF 20^th anniversary commemorative MTB Jersey!! And we have hoodies available for pre-order and a limited amount for onsite purchase too.

Multiple chances to win thousands of dollars in giveaways at Sunday’s lunch.

The Off-Road Crit and the FTF MTB Bracket Race; races for everyone, from the super-fast racer to the first-timer.

ALL of the mountain biking and fun you can cram into 3 days!

Come out and enjoy all the fun that is Fat Tire Fest!