Red Mountain Trail, near Flagstaff, AZ
When Sedona is overrun with Labor Day visitors, Red Mountain Trail is worth the drive to escape the crowds
Yesterday Sedona, Arizona, was an outdoor Disney World - trails overrun by visitors early in the morning, people walking along route 89 for miles to get to a trailhead after parking on the side of the road. There were cones and police cars everywhere. Holiday weekends designed for eking out every last bit of summer tend to do that.
We had spent too long dawdling around drinking coffee in the morning, so we had what’s known as a late start. It was 11 AM when we headed out towards Flagstaff for the 90 minute drive and 2500 vertical foot climb through the canyons to the Red Mountain trailhead.
Red Mountain Trail is an easy, 3 mile round-trip out-and-back hike that sits 20 minutes outside of Flagstaff proper.
The beginning of the trail is a wide, well-kept dirt trail that lazily meanders through a flat alpine forest. You can smell the pines in the air, and because the trail sits at just under 7000 feet in elevation, it’s 15 degrees cooler than the blistering 98 degree temps in Sedona.
The trail wasn’t crowded. Maybe 10 cars total sat scattered in the dirt parking lot, a far cry from the hordes that were jockeying for parking and trail access in Sedona.
The first two-thirds of the trail is easy and nondescript, until you get to the payoff - and what a payoff it is.
Red Mountain Trail terminates at the base of Red Mountain itself, which itself is known as a volcanic cinder cone that was formed after an eruption 740,000 years ago. As you’d expect, lots of volcanic rock is here, loose and exceptionally sharp and treacherous if one were to, say, lose his footing while scrambling down the loose wash after climbing to a high vantage point to take some pictures. Hypothetically-speaking, of course.
The end of the trail is a gorgeous, serene terminus that encloses mature pines and volcanic hoodoos in a natural amphitheater. It is literally one of the most peaceful places we’ve ever been - it’d be all too easy to take an extended nap in the shade the trees afford. As it turns out, it was probably the best lunch spot we’ve ever discovered.
Red Mountain Trail isn’t local to much of anything - except maybe Flagstaff, if you were staying there. But man, what a find. No crowds, much cooler temps, and a setting that would be hard to rival anywhere, much less via an easy, 3 mile hike. Bang for buck, it’s one of the best trails we’ve done.
It’s unlikely you will ever be “in the area,” per se, but if you’re ever even remotely close, don’t sleep on this hike. It’s underrated, underpopulated (at least when we were there, and we visited during Labor Day weekend), and it offers a payoff that’s simply spectacular.
Highly recommended.
More trail info can be found here.
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