4 Trail Around Sedona Today.

 

Soldier Pass;

We met the group at the Blue Arches (McDonalds) They don’t have “golden” arches in Sedona.

At 8:30 we took off for the first trail; Soldier Ridge. We drove a short distance east on 89A to Soldier Pass Road. We turned north on Soldier Pass Road and drove to the turnoff for the trail.

 

The trail started out kind of bumpy right from the beginning.

The road goes by Devil’s Kitchen. It looks like it may have been a large cavern that collapsed at some time in the prehistoric past.

There is a little climb up some slick rock to a parking lot.

Here is the view from the parking spot.

Our next stop was at the Seven Apache Pools; a series of small natural stone basins in the bedrock.

Schnebly Hill Road.

This trail Is basically a wide dirt road with lots of bumpy rocks that goes from Hwy 179 south of Sedona to I-17.

 

We passed this car coming the other way. Some people have a lot of balls.

We drove past Merry-go-round Rock.

The views from the Schnebly Hill Vista Point are pretty spectacular.

On the way back down the road Patti spotted this rock that she called Goose Head Rock.

 

Broken Arrow;

This trail is very popular and a lot of fun to drive. There is some slick rock and a spot called the steps that are a little challenging but not to bad for experienced jeepers.

Slick Rock.

There are some nice views of red rock spires along the trail.

At the end of the trail is a view of the valley below.

More slick rock fun.

Going down the steps. It looks a bit easier than it actually was but it wasn’t bad.

Oak creek Homestead;

Our next trail was to the Oak Creek Homestead.

The first challenge was  this lady on horseback. The horse was very spooky.

 

Eventually we all shut off the engines and she was able to get by us.

From further down the trail we could see into the valley where the Sycamore trees were in their fall colors.

 

At the end of the trail we came to what is left of the stone walls of the homestead.

We parked here and walked down to the beautiful Oak Creek.

Here we turned around and headed back up the trail for Sedona.

Okay, that was the four trails on Thursday. A long exhausting day but it was all worth it.