How To Avoid Crowds Hiking In Sedona AZ
As many of my friends know, I have a love-hate relationship with Sedona. In a nutshell, I will always love the incredible scenery and some of the best hiking trails in the country that the Sedona area can uniquely offer. On the other hand, because of its popularity, population growth in Arizona, and the rise of social media platforms like Instagram, its can be extremely challenging to find any sense of solitude these days on some of Sedona’s Most popular trails like the West Fork or Boynton Canyon trails.
Back in the day when I first started visiting Sedona in the early 1980s there was actually a quiet “off season” in this high desert town that lasted from late fall until the end of winter. Today, with over 3 million tourists visiting annually there really is no “off season” in Sedona. This now world famous American Southwest destination is busy year-round with an almost industrial level tourism infrastructure in place that’s ready to accommodate throngs of tourists seeking to enjoy the great outdoors. According to my research, tourism in Sedona is a one billion dollar a year industry.
Couple these dynamics with ever growing popularity of hiking, you can easily imagine how this can adversely impact the trail system in the Sedona area. I get it the trail system was developed to provide recreation opportunities for the public, but not on the levels I am seeing now. There are simply way too many people using the trail system today which is causing overcrowding on many trails, un-safe parking issues near popular trail-heads, and very serious congestion and traffic in popular locations like Oak Creek Canyon.
So, what’s the best way to avoid the crowds in Sedona when hiking?
Here are a few of my personal tips, many of which are just common sense, but are still valid and effective.
Avoid the Weekends If You Can
Personally, I would rather stick in a needle in my eye than trying to hike a popular trail like Boynton Canyon or West The Fork Trail In Oak Creek canyon on a weekend. I get it if you are staying in town on vacation and have limited time. But keep in mind that 2.5 hours South of Sedona there are nearly 5 million people living in the Phoenix-metro area. Ask anybody who lives in Arizona what the traffic is like heading North on highway I-17 on the weekends up to Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff, The Grand Canyon, and beyond. The traffic can be insane on a ridiculously undersized 2 lane highway (they are finally making some widening improvements in some sections) and a lot of these travelers are heading to Sedona as its always been a very popular weekend destination.
Best Days To Hike
With that in mind, my favorite days to hit popular trails in Sedona are Tuesday through Thursday. I have found that Friday can at times be as busy as the weekend as many hikers will take that day off to create a long weekend break. Monday can also be very busy as many local visitors can be in town for a long weekend.
Hit The Trail Early- Really Early
When I say early, I mean before sunrise! If you want to enjoy and find some solitude on an extremely popular and beautiful trail like the West Fork Trail at the Call of the Canyon recreation area getting there before 6am is a good plan. There are some challenges to this plan, as the gate to the trailhead and parking lot does not open till 7am or 8am after November 1st. However, there are number of pullouts on highway 89A approximately ½ mile north of the entrance where you can park and just simply walk in to access the trail. Yes, this requires some extra effort and it can be a little dangerous walking along this narrow canyon road, but that’s what it takes in most cases to avoid crowds partcurlly during the busy Fall and Spring seasons. If it still dark out when I arrive, I just break out my headlamp or flash light and start walking in making it an even more exciting adventure.
For the uninitiated, just keep in mind that trailheads like the West Fork & Boynton Canyon only have limited designated parking spaces and call fill up extremely fast. Its not unusual to see a “Parking lot full” sign at the West Fork trail entrance anytime of the year now.
Afternoon Option
Another crowd avoiding tactic that sometimes works is hitting a popular trailhead later in the afternoon vs. the morning time. In my experience the vast majority of people planning a hike try to do it the morning especially day trippers.
Take The Trail Less Traveled:
There are plenty of other less known trailheads and hiking options in the Sedona area that can offer a great and scenic hike, are generally not crowded, and usually have more than adequate parking spaces available. I am not going to detail all of them in this post, but one example I will share that is not too far from the extremely popular Boynton canyon trailhead, is the Doe Mountain trail. This moderate trail that is less than a mile to the top of a Mesa offers great panoramic views and there always seems to be plenty of parking spaces and restrooms are available.
If you are feeling ambitious, you can walk across forest road 152C from the Doe Mountain parking lot and access the Bear Mountain trail. Fair warning, although the views are simply spectacular on this trail, this is a very strenuous hike (one of the hardest in the Sedona trail system) with an elevation gain of 2,000 feet to the top. I would not recommend this hike to anyone who is not in very good physical condition. In addition, I would not recommend going during the high summer months because of the heat, lack of shade, and the chance of thunderstorms developing. Every time I have done this hike I have ended up dehydrated on some level despite bringing lots of water. The winter months can also be tricky with snow and ice present occasionally in the higher reaches of Bear Mountain. All that being said, because of its difficulty, the Bear Mountain trail is a good option to find some solitude. when visiting Sedona.
Summary:
So, despite the ever increasing amount of tourists visiting daily to hike one of Sedona’s famous trails, there is a chance with a little planning and extra effort to find some solitude in this gorgeous red rock country. Heading out very early and avoiding the weekends is always a good starting point. In addition, although I mentioned there is no off season in Sedona anymore, the Winter months are generally less crowded than the high season months of March to June.
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This footage is from a very early morning fall hike I took on the extremely popular West Fork Trail in Oak Creek Canyon. In this case I was able to find some solitude for a few hours as I was literally the first person on the trail that morning.
This was one of the rare occasions where I had the West Fork trail to myself for a few hours as I walked in very early- about 6am. It did not last long. As I headed back out I passed quite a few hikers and it was even 7:30 am yet! This was also a weekday hike which helped mitigate the number of hikers on the trail.
Im not shy about walking along the creek bottom on the West Fork Trail in certain spots and its good way to avoid traffic jams on the trail when its busy with hikers. It also presents some good and unique perspectives for photography opportunities.
This was another early morning fall visit to the West Fork Trail in the Call Of the Canyon Recreation area. We did not have the trail to ourselves this time, but it was not overly crowded as we started very early and went on a weekday. For good reasons, Fall is one of the busiest times of the year in Oak Creek Canyon so plan accordingly.
Its a little unconventional and can be a little hazardous driving and hiking , but as a photographer I always look for opportunities when there could be a snow event in Sedona. Not only does it thin out the crowds, but it also provides some unique and great photography opportunities. This is near the official entrance of the West Fork Trail as it enters the narrow canyon where the West Fork of Oak Creek flows.
We only saw about 5 other people hiking into the West Fork Trail and Canyon this snowy morning during January of 2024. The major challenge on days like this is the gate to the parking lot could be closed because of the snow storm forecast so you would have to find some pullouts along the highway to park and walk in. Again, be careful, as it can be a little dicey and dangerous walking along the highway to get to the trailhead with snow falling or on the ground already. Winter Hiking Tip: A great tip for winter hiking in Sedona is to throw a pair of ice cleats in your backpack. These inexpensive items ($20 bucks on Amazon) can make a huge difference for traction on an icy trail which is not uncommon to encounter during the Winter season in Sedona.
One of my favorite trail crowd avoidance techniques on the very popular and always beautiful West Fork Trail. Feel free to contact me if you have questions or requests!