The Hikes in Sedona That Actually Have Elbow Room

Most people show up in Sedona, Google "best hikes Sedona," and end up at Devil's Bridge shoulder-to-shoulder with 300 strangers. I get it — the photos are everywhere, the trail is easy to find, and it feels like the obvious choice. But Sedona has over 200 miles of trails, and the crowds are almost entirely concentrated on maybe eight of them. The rest? Surprisingly quiet, even in peak season.

These are the ones I point guests toward when they ask me what locals actually do.

Huckaby Trail (and Why Nobody Talks About It)

Huckaby gets slept on constantly, which baffles me. It starts near Schnebly Hill Road — not exactly hidden, but apparently inconvenient enough that the parking lot is manageable most mornings. The trail drops down to Oak Creek, crosses it on stepping stones, and then climbs up into some genuine canyon terrain with views back toward Munds Mountain.

It's about 5 miles round trip with around 600 feet of elevation change. Enough to feel like a hike. The creek crossing adds a tactile element that Cathedral Rock's trail — more famous, more crowded — honestly can't match. Come in spring when the water's running and the cottonwoods are leafing out. That's when this one earns it.

Park at the Huckaby trailhead off Schnebly Hill Road. Get there before 8:30 a.m. in summer or you'll pay for it.

Soldier Pass: Go Past the Arches

Soldier Pass is not a secret. But most people stop at the arches — see the hole in the rock, take the photo, turn around. If you keep going past the second arch and work your way toward Devil's Kitchen sinkhole and up toward the ridge, the trail empties out fast. Within half a mile of the arches, you'll likely have the canyon to yourself.

The sinkhole itself is eerie in a good way — a collapsed cavern about 75 feet across that opened up sometime in the 1880s. There's no railing, no interpretive sign, just a big hole in the earth with a faint trail around the rim. That's the Sedona I like.

Parking at Soldier Pass requires a Red Rock Pass and fills up by mid-morning on weekends. I tell guests to either park along Jordan Road and walk in (adds maybe 10 minutes), or show up before 7:30.

The kind of view waiting about a mile past where most hikers turn around — no crowds, no noise.

Robbers Roost: Short, Weird, Worth It

This one's barely a hike. It's about 1.3 miles round trip, gains maybe 100 feet, and ends at a small cave that was supposedly used by outlaws in the late 1800s. I have no idea if that's true, but the cave is real and the views from up there look straight down Uptown toward Coffee Pot Rock.

What I like about it: it's accessible from Uptown without a car. If you're staying in one of my places near the main drag, you can walk to the trailhead in under 10 minutes. It's a good sunset hike when you don't want to drive anywhere, or a decent leg-stretcher on a morning when you're not committing to a big day out.

It's not going to replace a full canyon loop. But for what it is — easy, local, interesting — it's underused.

Schnebly Hill Road (on Foot or Mountain Bike)

Most people drive this one, which is fine. The washboard road gets rough enough that a regular sedan won't make it far, so there's a cluster of cars at the bottom and then almost nothing after the first mile. That means if you walk it — or ride it — you're largely alone once you get past the initial overlook.

The views looking back over Sedona from the upper sections are the kind of thing people come to Sedona hoping to see. No particular summit or arch, just the whole basin spread out below you. It's a long out-and-back if you go all the way to the top — about 12 miles round trip with significant elevation — but even 3 or 4 miles up and back gives you something most visitors never find.

Looking back over Sedona from higher on Schnebly Hill — the kind of perspective most people only see from a car window or a helicopter tour.

A Note on Timing

None of these trails are truly isolated on a Saturday in March at 10 a.m. Sedona gets 3 million visitors a year. But early weekday mornings — especially in fall or early spring — these trails can feel genuinely empty. If you're flexible, that's when to go.

If you make it out to Huckaby while the creek is running, take your shoes off and walk through. The water's cold and the streambed is slippery and it's exactly the kind of thing you won't regret.