3 Easy Hikes in Sedona

This week, my wife and I were in Scottsdale for a conference, and decided to head up to Sedona for a day trip of trail walking / hiking. Although we used to do a fair amount of hiking back in Boston, we decided to do a fairly relaxed trail day, and found a few gems that we absolutely loved

Red Rock Crossing

Red Rock Crossing was a great starting point for our hiking day — we came in the morning around 0900, so the trail was deserted and we had the whole place to ourselves. There was a 10 dollar entry fee for parking, but it was well worth it — the grounds at the beginning were very well-maintained, and offered great views of Cathedral Rock. After doing a loop on the paved trails, we headed into the woods to walk through the vortex, balance on branches, and stack rocks on ‘Buddha Beach’. Our primary goal for the trip was to enjoy nature and not twist an ankle, and this hit the spot perfectly.

Fay Canyon

After getting warmed up, we decided to head to Fay Canyon. Although this was fairly close to our prior location, it looked completely different — instead of the water and lush vegetation, this trail was very sandy and rocky. It was also amazing to walk and see ourselves be dwarfed by these giant canyon walls on either side of us. At the end of Fay Canyon was a peak one could scramble up, but we decided to leave that to more experienced hikers.

Sugarloaf Summit Trail

After catching some lunch, we headed to Sugarloaf Trail for our last hike. Unlike the past two hikes which were kept the same elevation, this had us headed to the peak of a small hill. Although it was a little daunting seeing the summit from our starting point, it was amazing to get to the top and look over Sedona and feel a sense of accomplishment. Such a beautiful landscape.

After hiking, we relaxed at the Kimton Amara Hotel in downtown Sedona with drinks, and then headed to Elote, which was an amazing restaurant and had amazing authentic Mexican cuisine. Deena got a copy of the sourced cookbook, signed by owner/chef Jeff Smedstad!

Such a wonderful experience. Can’t wait to come back again to Sedona!