2 years ago, right after my first visit to Sedona, I heard about the magnificent beauty of West Fork Trail. Without hesitation, it went to the top of my list. I finally made it to this natural gem, and I can’t contest it being one of the top 10 trails in the United States.
Depending on your start point, you would want to account for two and a half hour drive from Phoenix area to the trail-head.
The trail is rated as easy and is accessible all year round for hikers and dogs, with a distance of approximately 7.2 miles and an elevation gain of 820 feet according to All Trails.
The earlier you get to the trail-head the easier it is to find a parking spot. It is recommended to be there before 9 am but it also depends on the season.
The hike starts on a paved path and then turns into a dirt road that splits off to the right. This is the direction you want to go!! It was a little tricky to figure it out as there were no cairns to mark the path. We met a group of international travelers from France, Chile and Canada; who went completely the wrong way and did a lot of hiking off trail.
During the hike, expect to cross the stream about 12 times and that’s basically how you get to the end of the maintained trail (Unless you want to continue for 2 additional miles to get to the first campground)
I very much enjoyed this hike, especially the last narrow section that looks and feels a lot like the Narrows in Zion National Park (Stay tuned for an upcoming article about the Narrows)
The way out was very straight forward and didn’t take as long as the way in because of course “Not many stops to take photos 🙂 ” Except for this one I guess…
After the hike, we drove back to the town to check out the Chapel of the Holy Cross and to enjoy some tasty local food. Then we started finding our way back to Phoenix area.