In case I didn’t already mention it, my wife and I are expecting our first child (a boy!) in a few weeks. Since that is such a life-altering event, we decided that we needed to travel as much as possible before things would change forever. Naturally, the idea of a “babymoon” was very enticing to us, and so we knew we wanted to go somewhere unique (not too far away, but just far enough to know we were outside of our element). Sedona was an excellent selection, and provided the right amount of both adventure, and relaxation.
Situated approximately two hours north of Phoenix, Sedona is a great hiking destination and is an easy getaway if you fly into PHX. Just don’t get me started on the rental car experience at Sky Harbor (yes, it’s still pretty miserable; although I must say it hasn’t been quite as awful as it once was).
While in Sedona, we opted to do one “big” hike per day, with some other sightseeing and shopping to round it out. A quick overview for each hike is below:
- Cathedral Rock – a cool place for our first hike. We chickened out a bit because the preggo wife didn’t want to go all “daredevil” day one (as there were some steep/narrow inclines that we would need to navigate).
- Devil’s Bridge – perhaps our most favorite of the hikes… It is challenging, yet manageable. All in, it is probably around 4 miles, and is moderate in difficulty. The trail head (and the parking area) is actually around 2 miles from the “real” trail though, so beware of the added time to get to the good stuff. For those who aren’t faint of heart (or fearful of heights), there is a pretty iconic “bridge” that fellow hikers will gladly help get your picture on:
- Fay Canyon – a mostly shaded, quick hike out to a decent sized mountain. Apparently this trail has been known to have bears near it, so that was kind of cool and freaky at the same time. It’s a lesser-traveled hike, so it is a bit more peaceful and secluded than some of the others.
- Doe Mountain – very underrated, this switchback hike up the side of a mountain yields absolutely incredible views as you are perched on a huge plateau with panoramic views of all parts of Sedona.
- Little Deer / Chicken Point (Holy Cross) – a pretty fun and short hike (with the ability to expand longer), complete with views of a very cool church built into the side of a mountain (Holy Cross).