Looking for ideas in the Sedona Az. area

[bobmak]

I want to tap into the collective travel experiences of the Views family:

I have some time to kill and just booked a flight to Phoenix on 4/8 and will be staying through 4/18. My plan is to rent a car, drive to the Sedona area and spend my time doing day hikes and maybe 1 or 2 short overnight backpacks. While I am day hiking I would like to stay in campgrounds vs. motels. There's a ton of stuff on the net and I plan to buy a guide book, but the advice of people that have been there is invaluable. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jim lombard]

I'm partial to Humphrey's Peak, for a hiker like me that was a great day and not too far from Sedona. I did this in mid-April and we could've used snowshoes. Yes you may get some looks at the Phoenix airport but believe me we needed them and left them at home. You can always call the Arizona Snowbowl to see what conditions are like before going.

Reaching the saddle between Agassiz and Humphrey and looking into the enormous shattered crater was breathtaking. We had a clear day and could see the Grand Canyon, Sunset crater etc.

 

[chomp]

Not sure about the hiking options in Sedona - I spent three days there and mountain biked the whole time. Mtn biking in Sedona is top notch.

As for campgrounds - good luck, there are none in the area. The only campground that I found in Sedona was an RV park, and not a good one at that. There are, however, plenty of places to camp for free.

I don't remember the routes, and I dont have a map in front of me, but if you take the main route WEST out of Sedona, you will travel maybe 10 miles... maybe less... and there will be a forest service road on your right. You can head in there and within a couple of miles, you will see plenty of places to car camp. And it is quiet. I was there in Feburary and there were very few people there.

Oh, and forget a shower. I tried my best to buy a shower in town before heading back on the plane. Turns out there is a major water problem in the town... DRAINING the water. Since everything is red clay or slickrock, septic systems don't work very well. I offered the dude at the RV park $5 to take a shower and he said no - he barely has enough drainage to support his RV customers. Bring baby wipes!

chomp

 

[bobmak]

Chomp, did you rent the bike? Clips or clipless? I am using Sedona as a general reference point... I don't have time to see the whole state so I figure on concentrating on the area between Sedona and the south rim.

 

[poison ivy]

Sedona is really a beautiful area and there are lots of different options for hikes around the Red Rocks. We did a short hike up Cathedral Rock (I think it was three miles RT) that we both really enjoyed and it had nice views of some of the Red Rock areas. As Chomp said there are lots of places to mountain bike around the Red Rocks too (which was our original plan but we nixed that because it was 100+ degrees out that particular day.)

I'll second the recommendation to hike Humphrey's Peak (with the caveat that we were there in summer and there was very little snow.) Terrrain-wise, it's not a difficult hike (though the altitude could get ya) and you can see all the way to the Grand Canyon on a clear day.

Another place to check out would be the Oak Creek Canyon area, which is basically between Flagstaff & Sedona. We only dropped by the little viewpoint place, but I believe there is hiking in the canyon as well.

Hope that helps,
- Ivy

 

[DougPaul]

Another place to check out would be the Oak Creek Canyon area, which is basically between Flagstaff & Sedona. We only dropped by the little viewpoint place, but I believe there is hiking in the canyon as well.

One can also swim in Oak Creek as a possible solution to the (no) shower problem.

Doug

 

[audrey]

I've only done one hike in Sedona, but it was a beauty - the North Wilson Trail that starts at the south end of Oak Creek Canyon which itself is worth the drive.

I don't know the camping rules - the plateau below the summit would have been super, (watch that cactus!) although water was nonexistent up there.

Here's where I got info on the trails:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/red_rock/rec_redrock.shtml

 

[John Graham]

Arizona is getting hammered by the same storms that are pounding California. I was there in the winter when they were having heavy rains and you do have to think about where you go in such circumstances. The brooks drain off quickly, though they will flash flood in these kind of storms, as will gullies that are described as dry. We went up Wilson Mesa and Horseshoe Mesa, and they were lovely, but the mud was not. These mesas are formed by a layer of water resistant basalt, hence they do not drain off, and the mud on top was a clinging clay that came over our ankles, and this was a week after the rains had ended. Also, we almost got our rental car stuck in the same kind of clay approaching some of the more remote trailheads. This caused me some anxiety, as most rental contracts and insurance policies stipulate that the vehicles not be used on unpaved roads. The Subaru was literally covered in in mud when we got it out (as were we) and I had to run it through the car wash three times to get the mud off. Oddly enough, most of the lower canyons drained off quickly and were flushed clean of mud, so these provided the best hiking. One plus in hiking after a a period of heavy rains is that the desert was plants were all out in spectacular bloom. We climbed a couple of higher mountains and found the snow quite deep and wet, even with snowshoes, it would have been balling up on them. I found the best tactic was to look for south or west facing trails where the snow melted off quickly, when we stumbled into the shaded slopes, we found ourselves slogging through thigh deep, soggy snow.

 

[chomp]

Chomp, did you rent the bike? Clips or clipless? I am using Sedona as a general reference point... I don't have time to see the whole state so I figure on concentrating on the area between Sedona and the south rim.

I did rent a bike - a Gary Fisher Sugar 4 for something like $30/day. It gets cheaper the longer you rent it, too. The place that I rented from put SPDs on the bike for me, so I didnt have to bring them. Note: the most popular shop in the area is Bike and Bean (biek shop and coffee shop) but I didn't really like that place. I went to:

Absolute Bikes Inc
6101 Highway 179, Sedona, AZ 86351
(928) 284-1242

They treated me very well, but it has been a couple of years, so I would call first to see what their deal is.

Oh, as for camping, you want to take Route 89 out of town. I am not sure, but looking at the map, I think that I turned right onto Red Canyon Rd - its a forest service road. There are tons to places to camp in there. Bathing in the river is an obvious choice, but when I was there, it wasn't really warm enough for that (freezing at night, 50-60 in the day). Perfect for riding, tho. Enjoy!

 

[Rob S]

I know you said you'd like to stay in a campground, but just throwing this out there, I own a condo in Sedona and have some options for ya if you just want to use it for 4, 5, or 6 days during your stay. (VFTTers get a special discount )

Send me an email or PM if interested.

You've been given great advice. You'll love Sedona, both for hiking and biking. Ivy mentioned Catherdral Rock which is a short but very fun hike especially if you approach from "Back O' Beyond" Road ...... there is some scrambling and awesome views from the top. And, as Ivy also mentioned, there are several places to explore in Oak Creek. I recall parking on the side of 89A just past a very high bridge spanning Oak Creek ...... there are several trails, we followed one all the way down the gorge to the creek and looped back around for a neat little 2 mile hike.

Secret Mountain Wilderness is another great area. I've only hiked there once, an easy hike to a natural rock arch, (cant remember the name) but I am anxious to explore there again this fall.

Bring your camera. And lots of film or memory.

Rob

 

[BobK]

BLM office as a resource

As with many of the western states, much of the public land around Sedona is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. On my one and only trip there (now over 15 years ago) the folks at the BLM office were very helpful with not only advice on a wide variety of trails, but maps too. I highly recommend checking in with them (possibly before your trip). I did a great day hike with terrific indian remnants. BLM is also tops in Utah.

 

[hotloophiker]

I live in and hike Sedona trails constantly. There's been a lot of bum info in this thread. There are almost 100 trails of any level you might want. There is no BLM here. Only Forest Service. Backpack camping is limited and can be best explained by local Forest Service. Since Sedona is in the middle of a National Forest you must buy a Red Rock Pass to park virtually anywhere out of town. It's possible to start on one trail and hike continuously over dozens of interconnected trails. There are no tent camping facilities that I know of in the area. I am in the process of creating a trail condition website. http://home.comcast.net/~hotloophiker/ The recent heavy rains have done a lot of damage. Any questions, check my website.