The year of hiking America began in Sedona. When I selected Sedona as my inaugural hiking destination, I had no idea how popular a destination it was for hikers. My only problem hiking in Sedona was serious FOMO (fear of missing out 😉 just in case my parents are reading this). So many trails and so little time AND parking! More on the parking later.
My goal for day one was to get in a short hike of moderate difficulty, get my bearings, and recover from sleepless red-eye flights. I studied http://www.alltrails.com for months trying to find the perfect hikes, and I landed on Devil’s Bridge via the Chuckwagon Trail for the first hike.
Rookie Sedona-hiker mistake -showing up to the trailhead at 11:00 a.m. No parking! Thankfully I had the wisdom to rent a 4×4, and found my own parking spot down the access road.
Many people choose to hike the access road to the Devil’s Bridge trailhead; I chose to take a trail that branched off the access road. The Chuckwagon trail was fun and sparsely populated. It was the perfect warm up for Devil’s.
Once you hit the Devil’s Bridge trail you start gaining in elevation and people. The trail is beautiful on the way up, offering fascinating rock formations and just enough shade to keep you cool.
A few areas on the trail get very narrow and require you to yield to other hikers. All of the hikers I encountered had stellar trail etiquette, so navigation was no problem.
You can’t really see the bridge from the trail until you’re at the very top, but WOW that short climb is worth it!
Since Devil’s Bridge is in the Coconino National Forest, I didn’t know what to expect with the government shutdown well into its third week. The trail and surrounding area were beautifully kept. Not sure if the park rangers are being paid still, working without pay, or they have a dedicated group of volunteers; whoever is looking after that trail has done a great job. Thank you!
Jerome
Since the hike to Devil’s Bridge only took a couple of hours, I spent the remainder of the day exploring Jerome. Jerome is an old mining town in the mountains that was established in 1876. Now the old, worn buildings are interspersed with great shops, galleries, wine tasting rooms, and restaurants. It’s only about 40 minutes outside of Sedona, and definitely worth the trip. Thanks for the recommendation, Paul.
Straight Up, Hold the Tent 