Sedona trails: 3 day weekend

Hey guys,
I live in western New Mexico and have decided to head to Sedona with my girlfriend to enjoy the upcoming 3 day weekend

Would you point in the right direction for some beautiful trails in Sedona?

I've only been once before. So far I am planning to hit Schnebly Hill road. Other than that I don't know any scenic trails. (If you're willing to share any cool camping spots I would appreciate it as well but I understand if you want to keep those a personal secret.)

I live in the Gila National Forest, so I'm on Forest roads all the time, I'm hoping to hit some trails with the beautiful views that Sedona has to offer. My truck is stock height but have I full skids and sliders.

Thanks for the advice
Adam

 

You gotta do Broken Arrow!

I used freecampsites.net when I went out there. Found a cool spot just outside the city

 

Second Broken Arrow. A must do. Soldiers Pass (easy to get permit required) is another good one.

OVFLG at Broken Arrow by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

DSC_2236 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

If you have the time, go by MYE Jeep in The Village of Oak Creek. Hawk runs it and is a Sedona trail genius. Tell him Mike with Overland Flagstaff sent you.

 

Thanks guys!
You convinced me to do Broken Arrow. I was thinking it’s be to difficult and stressful.

 

I lived in the Sedona area for 4 years with a fully beefed taco. I wrote an extensive guide to wheeling trails up there that you can find here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/az-ratings.420477/page-3#post-12254414


Hit me with questions. I have your answers.

 

I just came back from a trip to sedona a couple months ago. We did broken arrow trail then drove and hiked up to cathedral rock the first day to watch the sunset. The next day we watched the sunrise at the devils bridge trail (you can drive all the way up to the trail head and eliminate 2 miles of walking) and then drove out through the Diamondback Gulch and back into town. The last day was a random trail called cliff hanger which was pretty much like driving on a normal dirt road, and just did normal sight seeing around town.

 

Thanks guys @greenEFSI @jandrews @MR E30 @pdaddy

You've giving me a lot of good leads
I just bought my permit for Soldier's Pass

 

I was out in Sedona last Feb and did a few trails with the FlipPac and before the lift and didn’t have any issues.

- Broken Arrow is a good trail just I definitely recommended getting out there as early as possible. We were the only ones on the trail and saw a couple “pink Jeeps” on the way out. There are a couple spots you’ll have to watch your line but otherwise its not very difficult. On the stairs on the way out just go slow and take your time down it looks harder than it is.

- Solder Pass I also did this one it’s a cool trail but kinda short. I recommend taking the two little off shoots for a bit more “wheeling” there are some cool features around as well.

- Dry Creek Road is a little long but it’s pretty mellow. You can take a little off shoot out to “Devils Bridge” which has a little bit of a hike up it’s kinda cool to check out but again go EARLY it was packed when we went around 7:30. There is another offshoot out to a cabin which is also kinda cool to check out but I hit my hitch a couple times crossing the creek and making a small climb. If you take the road till it dead ends there is another hike you can take out to Vultee Arch which in my opinion is better than devils bridge and there was no one out there when we went.

- Might want to check on Schnebly Hill it’s probably closed right now (seasonal road). It was closed in Feb of last year because of snow/ice.

 

No worries about snow - AZ has had no precipitation in how long now?

 

Everyone else has basically told you what you need to know. My two cents are, Schnebly is an annoying waste of time. Dry Creek road is just that, a road. Devils Bridge hike can be hard/sketchy depending on your fitness level. Broken arrow is fun but incredibly short, if its not busy when you get there youll be done in an hour and thats with stopping at all the scenic spots.

 

I did Broken Arrow and I’m 2wd. Didn’t have to use my locker. You’ll be good

 

Schnebly had snow on the top when I was there a month ago, and Flagstaff got snow on Christmas when I was there.

 

For sure looks like it's open currently butt figured it's good for him to check into it because like I mentioned it was closed last time I was there.

 

Alex!! Thanks for the tips man, def adding Devil’s Bridge to the list

 

Is broken arrow really that easy? I thought that one would be difficult for stock truck? I did see someone do it in a very lightly modified ranger fx4 but they didnt show all the trail and I think they left out the ending step up(not devils staircase but after) If its doable stock with decent tires and aired down I'd be stoked if someone can run it with me sometime I'm up there

 

Yes, it is that easy, and short. Dont go all the way to Sedona to do it unless you plan to do other stuff.

 

loads of mountain biking for me to do up there too so thats the main draw really

 

Here’s all the trails in Sedona. My personal favorites are Broken Arrow, Outlaw Trail, Diamondback Gulch, in that order.

Outlaw Trail: first part is easy and you then hit some ruins you can check out. Then it gets moderately hard and has amazing views of the west valley.

Diamondback Gulch: can get pretty steep and challenging. Not great views but good off-roading!

Broken Arrow: best scenes in Sedona. One part is kind of hard (Devil’s staircase), but you can bypass it if you want.

https://youtu.be/OeYd8mItfVs

 

If you’re gonna camp then this is what I recommend. First day do the west side of Sedona. Diamondback gulch and outlaw trail and then camp there for the night. Lots of camping available off the main road there (Loy Butte).

next day do Broken Arrow and then Schnebly hill and camp at the top of it (plenty of camping at the top). However... sometimes Schnebly is closed

 

Broken Arrow is fairly easy, as it is traveled so heavily. If this trail was in the middle of nowhere, with no one around, it would be a different story. But even if you suffer catastrophic failure of some sort there is literally no way to be stranded on this trail. That makes it a lot 'easier'.

I've led all sorts of rigs through it, even stock TRD Sports driven by guys who have never offroaded in their lives. However, never seen a non TRD Offroad 2wd tackle it. I'm sure it can be done, but man, what a terrible idea. Many steep short climbs really benefit from the extra control of 4Lo. I'd probably have a good laugh watching a one-wheel wonder use excessive skinny pedal to bounce up some sections. I won't get into this being an irresponsible use of the trail, as it damages it much more than 4wd, but whatever.

I live not too far away and may have some availability tomorrow. Give me a call or text at 928 224 1633 if you want and maybe we can meet up to run it. Or bike some trails.