Sedona Arizona Six Best Day Hikes: Red Rocks and Energy Vortexes!
View from one of the false peaks of Bear Mountain in Sedona Arizona.
Sedona Arizona. Home to the Red Rocks and Energy Vortexes. And great day hikes! In this article I share six of my favorite day hikes in Sedona Arizona!
Sedona Arizona is a clash of personalities. It has a true hippie culture embedded in it that doesn’t seem to go away even though year after year Uptown Sedona adds more high end boutique hotels and spas to it.
Sedona is where the bouje meets the yogi meets the dirtbag meets a beautiful outdoor red rock hiking wonderland in Arizona.
When I was choosing where to live next after a wonderful time in Paso Robles on the Central Coast of California I felt a calling to Sedona. It’s known for its vortexes of energy and it is a hot bed for yogi’s and hiking lovers so it makes sense that I was lured here for a month but I never imagined just how special it would be to get to spend more than a few days exploring the region. This was my fourth time here but far and away my longest stay.
I personally LOVE the hiking in Sedona. The options are limitless, the trails are challenging, they have a wide variety for all levels, the hiking is close to town, and it’s fairly easy to access. Depending on where you stay you don’t even need to get in a car for some of these trails!
There is a lot more to do in Sedona (wine, yoga, massages, vortex raves, rescuing lost hiking families, picking up hitch hikers, pricey dinners, ATV tours, Pink Jeep Rentals, and MORE.) I may have partaken in some or all of these activities in the several times I have been here!
Here are our Six Best Day Hikes in Sedona Arizona!
Brins Mesa Trail:
Wide sweeping views of the forest and canyons, 1,000 feet of elevation gain, slick red rock bouldering, Jill G hiking pole poses, and about six miles round trip with additional add-ons to several other side trails if you want more in the Coconino National Forest.
A challenging and fun day hike that gives you a snapshot of the Red Rock Wilderness in half of a day!
Kimmy Yo hanging with the trees!
Fay Canyon:
Looking for a quick and easy stroll in the woods with epic red rock canyon shots? Fay Canyon packs a mean punch for two miles. You’ll be back to the trailhead in less than an hour and it’s a great add-on to nearby trails such as Boynton Canyon, Bear Mountain, and Doe Mountain.
Boynton Canyon:
Rumored to have some of the strongest energy waves of the vortexes in the region this six and a half mile round trip hike gives you about two miles of relatively flat hiking before ascending some 800 feet in the last mile and change as you plunge into the deepest parts of the canyon.
IPA’s, yoga mats, and chanting are all welcome and encouraged at the halfway point of this trek!
Amitabha Stupa Peace Park & Chimney Rock:
The yogic scene is HUGE in Sedona and a great place to stroll around and do some meditation/journaling is the Stupa Peace Park. Run entirely on donations from visitors and unlocked each day by local buddhist monks this park is littered with Himalayan Peace Flags and after a stroll around the park you can embark for more miles towards Coffee Pot Rock or Chimney Rock for a nice day hike if you go behind the statues and prayer towers.
Namaste friends!
My best bud Matt and the Pinball Wizard himself my pops Bernie enjoying a cold beverage atop Chimney Rock during sunset. The trails behind the Stupa Park will lead you up to this wonderful vortex platform for sunset and suds!
Oh yeah, hot air balloon rides at sunrise and sunset are available as well!
Bear Mountain:
It’s as advertised in the name. It’s a fricking BEAR of a hike y’all! 5 miles round trip but 1,800 feet in elevation gain, numerous clambering up vertical rocks, and THREE FALSE PEAKS. If you think you made it to the top, think again until you see the sign that says END OF TRAIL!
It’s hard as shit, fun as hell, and will leave you feeling like a bad ass. Bring your hiking poles, lots of water, and be prepared to sweat.
The trailhead is located in the same parking lot as Doe Mountain if you care for two peaks in one parking spot.
If the mountains are calling you in Sedona this is one of the best but certainly not for the faint of heart!
Another epic hike at sunrise or sunset. Rock scrambling involved and maybe a bit more (like a vortex energy rave party OR finding a family of four in the pitch dark that is lost and driving them back to their hotel after leading them two miles in the dark to the road). Yes both of those happened IN ADDITION to this epic Sunset hike at Cathedral Rock. It was a nice little Tuesday night to say the least!
Insider Tip: Hike from the Baldwin Trail to the Templeton Trail for some beautiful miles, a dip in the creek after the ascent, and a panoramic view of the best Sedona has to offer. Once again you will be sliding on your booty and doing a bit of bouldering to get to the top so BE PREPARED!
Cathedral Rock End of Trail at sunset. OMG what a beauty she is!
Want more hikes? Okay okay let’s do it!
There are more plans to hike Devil’s Bridge, Soldiers Pass (which you can do with Brins Mesa if you want), Box Canyon, and West Fork of Oak Creek. Bell Rock is one of the most popular spots but I have always found it to be way more crowded than it’s worth. Some of these other day hikes I shared in the post I hope give you a bit more solitude while working your feet on the dirt paths!
Sedona truly is one of the most special places in America for day hikes and I’m truly grateful for getting to spend the month here, it’s a place I will continue to explore as long as I am alive and it’s a mixing pot of so many different ways of being that I enjoy it time and time again. Sedona Arizona is forever changing and always evolving. Yes maybe it’s not as hippie and dirt bag approved as it once was but it seems to have found a way to keep the old styles going while not being completely overtaken by the bouje brunch spots and high end spa retreats.
Enjoy the dirt paths in the red rocks, the energy vortexes and some of these epic day hikes!
Comment with questions or your favorite day hike in Sedona!
Stay wild moon child,
Mike R
