Hiking in Sedona: Soldier Pass Trail
Want to get away for the weekend or maybe just the day? Why not go to Sedona! Every time you go there’s something different to discover. For an easy and scenic hike, Soldier Pass Trail offers beautiful red rock landscape, Seven Sacred Pools, and the Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole. It’s a great hike for kids and grandparents since it’s not steep and has some great resting points if you don’t make it to the actual Soldier Pass.
How to get there
Here’s a map of the trailhead location. It’s a 2 hr drive from Phoenix to the trailhead. The trailhead parking lot is in a residential neighborhood, and as a head’s up, the lot was full and we had to park on Soldier Pass Rd since there is no street parking the neighborhood. It wasn’t bad and actually nice to stroll the streets and check out the homes.
The Seven Sacred Pools on the Soldier Pass hike.
Fun Facts
Devil’s Kitchen Sinkhole reaches a depth of about 70ft.
It’s the most active sinkhole in Sedona, appeared first in the 1880’s, then collapsing agin in 1989, and 1995 — not that long ago!
Seven Sacred Pools were very important to the Apache and Yavapai tribes as a year round source of drinking water.
Wildlife Caution
Just beware of wildlife. We stumbled upon a family of javelinas with a tiny little baby on our way back to the car on a main road. They can be aggressive, especially with young, so stay as far away as you can. Don’t feed the javelina; it’s dangerous and illegal. Our family dog had been gored twice by javelina and needed some deep stitches. Be safe!
Cost
Free 99!
Hours
8am - 6pm (for the parking lot)
Ease of hike
Allow yourself 1.5 hours to get to the Seven Sacred Pools and back. If you’re going for the whole loop, account for 2.5 hrs. The trail is quite level up to the Seven Sacred Pools, which is where many people turn around and offers some gorgeous views of the red rock formations. Lot’s of people with various degrees of fitness can make it here and it’s totally worth it. Beyond this point, the trail gains a little more incline.
We actually had to turn around about a quarter mile past the pools since our daughter had a very interesting diaper situation and we did not bring anything diaper related with us on the trail. Plus Dan, who had her on his back in the carrier, really needed to change his shirt after this incident!
Devils Kitchen is a sinkhole just a quarter of a mile into the hike.
If you’re in Sedona and want to hike with your family, but don’t have a lot of time, this is a great little jaunt to get a feel for Sedona. You don’t have to hike in very far to see and photograph some of nature’s beautiful landscapes.
Check out the Forest Service site for the trail here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coconino/recarea/?recid=55392
