There are 250 hiking trails in and around the Sedona area, and each one is both thrilling and unique.
A Pink Jeep rolls into view at Chicken Point on the Broken Arrow Trail.
agape as the unmistakable Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, and Cathedral Rock formations came into view along the way. There's no requirement to hop on a mountain bike or don hiking boots to enjoy the majestic crimson peaks surrounding Sedona, however. On another occasion, we parked at the Courthouse Vista Overlook and walked a mere hundred yards onto the trail where we witnessed an extraordinary sunset glowing between the spires of Cathedral Rock as the last vestiges of orange light poked out from under huge black storm clouds overhead. The clouds were moving fast, and Mark captured a glorious long-exposure image of streaking clouds behind a wall of red rocks in the waning light. Wild skies at dawn created a memorable hiking experience for us just south of downtown Sedona on winding and intersecting trails named for the pig-like javelina that live in the area: Pig Tail Trail, Hog Heaven Trail, Hog Wash Trail and Peccary Trail. These trails are much less used than other more famous trails in Sedona, and in the early morning hours of a dark and stormy day we had both the trail and the glorious surrounding scenery all to ourselves. As we rounded a corner, the dark blanket of sky suddenly split open over the distant red rock mountains to let a sliver of sunlight through,
and for a moment the brightly lit peaks were framed by deliciously brooding clouds. The network of trails in Sedona is so vast that little known trails often run alongside or cross the most popular trails. Just steps from the network of Pig Trails lies the famous Broken Arrow Trail, which is actually two trails, one for hikers and one for motorized vehicles. Amazingly, the presence of UTVs and Jeeps on the motorized trail doesn't detract from the tranquility of the hiking trail, and we were surprised to come face to face with a coyote who looked us over and then turned and walked away. In a few places the two Broken Arrow trails intersect, and it was fun to see the animated and charismatic Pink Jeep Tour drivers thrilling their passengers on the adjacent trail. Arriving at well-known Chicken Point, we found wide flat rocks surrounding a series of towering pinnacles. The whole area was filled with endless possibilities for photo-ops and we got a kick out of trading cameras with other tourists for portraits in front of the vibrant rock formations. Dazzling Chicken Point can also be reached from the opposite direction via Little Horse Trail, which cuts through a myriad of red rock desert scrub brush from a trailhead on SR-179. A sunrise hike on that trail delivered us to Chicken Point before the first Pink Jeep Tour of
RED ROCK BEAUTY
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2020
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