Hot Air Balloon Rides in the United States
Three US rides are listed on this site, all over the Sonoran Desert outside Phoenix, from about 181 EUR. Albuquerque appears here as a festival, not a booking.
American ballooning is large. This site's American listings are not. Three rides, all in Phoenix, from about 181 EUR a seat, over the Sonoran Desert at first light or at dusk.
The gap is worth explaining, because two different things get filed under the same heading. There is what you can book, and there is what you can go and watch, and in the United States the second is much bigger than the first. Commercial passenger flying is spread thin across a very big country, and much of it never reaches the international booking platforms this site draws from.
Choose a destination in the United States
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Phoenix
Balloon flights over the Sonoran Desert outside Phoenix, Arizona, in saguaro country.
8 experiences -
Temecula
Sunrise balloon flights over the Temecula Valley wine country in southern California, above vineyards, citrus groves and Lake Skinner, an hour north of San…
7 experiences -
Albuquerque
Balloon flights over Albuquerque, New Mexico: the Rio Grande valley, the Sandia Mountains and the city that holds the largest balloon festival on earth every…
6 experiences
Hot Air Balloon Experiences in the United States
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Flight with Aerogelic Ballooning
Fly during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta from a launch site miles from the crowds, in the same sky as the largest balloon gathering on earth.
Albuquerque Sunrise Balloon Flight over the Rio Grande Valley
Sunrise over the Rio Grande Valley with the sun clearing the Sandia Mountains, and a pilot who explains how New Mexico is put together. Toast on landing.
Albuquerque Sunrise Balloon Ride in a Basket of 8 to 12
Four Corners caps the basket at 8 to 12 where others carry 14 to 16, so there is elbow room and more of the pilot to go round. Sunrise over the Sandias.
Albuquerque Sunset Balloon Ride over the Rio Grande Valley
Sunset flights are rare in ballooning: most operators fly only at dawn. This one crosses the Rio Grande Valley with the sun going down over the mesa.
Luxury Private Balloon Flight for Two over Temecula Wine Country
A private basket for two over the vineyards, citrus groves and lakes, with a winery toast after landing. Free banner for a birthday or anniversary.
Phoenix Dawn Hot Air Balloon Ride over Valley of the Sun
A 45 minute balloon flight at sunrise over the Valley of the Sun, meeting on N Glen Harbor Blvd in Phoenix, with mimosas after the landing.
Phoenix Golden Hour Balloon Ride with Bubbly and Charcuterie
Golden hour instead of dawn: 45 to 60 minutes over the desert, then chilled champagne and a fruit and cheese plate on a laid table out in the sand.
Phoenix Morning Balloon Ride with Champagne Breakfast in the Desert
Between 2,000 and 5,000 feet over the Sonoran Desert, high enough for the whole valley and low enough for single saguaros. Champagne breakfast on linen.
Phoenix Sunrise Balloon Ride over the Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran is the only desert where saguaros grow, and at first light each one throws a long shadow that makes the pattern readable from the air.
Phoenix: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride, Sonoran Desert
Sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Sonoran Desert near Phoenix, in saguaro country. Transport to and from the launch site and a toast included.
Phoenix Sunrise Ride on the Largest Passenger Balloon in the USA
The largest passenger balloon flying in the United States: even with 24 aboard, more room per person than a standard basket. Forty-five minutes at sunrise.
Phoenix Sunset Hot Air Balloon Ride, Guided Desert Flight
The only sunset balloon ride on this site. A guided evening flight over the Sonoran Desert near Phoenix, flown at golden hour rather than dawn.
Private Albuquerque Balloon Flight for 2 to 8 with Elevated New Mexico
Private here means 2 to 8, not the usual 4 to 12, with an FAA-certified pilot of nearly 30 years and the Sandias in view while the crew inflates.
Private Balloon Ride over the Temecula Valley for Special Occasions
The private basket people book for proposals: an hour aloft, three hours all in, meeting at the Meadows Village car park. Note that all sales are final.
Private Temecula Balloon Flight for up to Four, from Akash Winery
Cielo flies private only, four passengers maximum, where a shared Temecula basket can put seven in one compartment. First light from Akash Winery.
Shared Sunrise Balloon Flight over Albuquerque and the Petroglyphs
An hour at dawn with the Sandias on one side and old lava flows on the other, reading as dark ribbons across the desert the way no road ever shows them.
Sunset Balloon Ride over the Sonoran Desert at Phoenix
An hour as the sun goes down over the Sonoran Desert. Evening flights are rarer than dawn ones, and the light comes in sideways instead of overhead.
Temecula Shared Balloon Flight at Sunrise from Akash Winery
A shared sunrise basket from Akash Winery, with a pilot who tells you what is below and which wineries are worth stopping at once you are back down.
Temecula Shared Balloon Ride with a Racing-Team Pilot Crew
The baskets have doors, which you appreciate on the way out, and the pilots fly on a professional racing team. Check-in at the Meadows Village car park.
Temecula Wine Country Morning Balloon Ride over the Vineyards
Fourteen balloons, and which one flies is decided on the morning by the weight aboard. Space per person stays the same. Meeting at Meadows Village.
Temecula Wine Country Sunrise Balloon Flight with Winery Toast
Sunrise over the Temecula Valley vineyards, citrus groves and lakes, then a winery celebration with champagne. No two flights cross the same ground.
Ratings collected by Viator, Tripadvisor, Civitatis and Tiqets
Where the sport was reinvented
The modern hot air balloon is an American object. Ed Yost put the first one in the air in 1960, and every envelope anyone climbs into today descends from that work. Before then the sport had been effectively dead for most of a century, carried along by gas balloons and by little else; the full account sits on the page about the 1960 flight. What followed in the US was a participant culture rather than a tourist product, with chase crews in pickup trucks and launch fields on the edge of small towns. That is the main reason the ride count on this page is low while the festival count is high.
From one flight in Nebraska to 500 balloons over Albuquerque
The origins
1960
Ed Yost flies the first modern balloon
Nylon envelope, propane burner: the design every balloon still uses.
The growth
1972
The first Albuquerque Fiesta
Thirteen balloons in a shopping mall car park, to mark a radio station's birthday.
Today
2026
The 54th Fiesta
3 to 11 October at Balloon Fiesta Park, with more than 500 balloons over nine days.
Albuquerque, and what you can actually book
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the largest balloon gathering in the world. It is an event rather than a product on this site. Nothing here sells a seat at Albuquerque, and the mass ascensions are something you stand in a field and watch. Treat it as a trip in its own right, and read the festivals page before booking flights and rooms, because the city fills. What you can book here is Phoenix: three flights over the Sonoran Desert, from about 181 to 217 EUR, with transport to and from the launch site and a toast after landing. Two go up at sunrise and one at sunset, which is rare anywhere in ballooning. Arizona flies mostly in the cooler months, and summer departures leave very early because of the heat, so check the seasonal notes before fixing a date. Desert landings are dusty and the air at altitude is colder than the ground, which the packing page covers. Operators set their own limits on age and mobility, and the who can fly page lists the usual thresholds.
Data verified on. Fiesta dates from the organiser; prices from the operators' listings.