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| Chuckwagon to Secret Canyon Arch, AZ | |
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| | Chuckwagon to Secret Canyon Arch, AZ | | | |
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Chuckwagon to Secret Canyon Arch, AZ
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| Hiking | 13.47 Miles |
1,547 AEG |
| | Hiking | 13.47 Miles | 7 Hrs 41 Mns | | 2.06 mph |
| 1,547 ft AEG | 1 Hour 8 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | We planned to do this hike in June but had to find an alternative that day because of the Miller Fire closure in the area. Our main destination was Secret Canyon arch--I was here almost two and a half years ago but didn't have time to go up to the arch that day, and it looked like a nice one from below.
We arrived around 8AM and were fortunate to find parking amongst the Birthing Cave crowds near Long Canyon Trailhead. We even managed to get started without anyone asking us for Birthing Cave directions--in June, the count was two before we set foot on the trail. It was a beautiful morning as we set out on Chuckwagon and continued on FR 152 to Secret Canyon Trailhead...no traffic on 152 and no vehicles at the trailhead.
I'd forgotten a lot the details of the trail since the last visit, but it's mostly flat, easy hiking north through plenty of great Sedona landscape. Past the David Miller intersection, we continued on Secret Canyon Trail as it turned west into the canyon and started dodging poison ivy...that part I remembered well. The trail is faint and overgrown in places, but someone had tied orange ribbons at some of the less obvious points.
The arch came into view, and I took off into the brush. I've seen maps that show a trail leading up there, but if there was any sign of a trail, I missed it. Gloves and clippers were handy on the way up, but at least there wasn't any poison ivy to avoid once I left the creek bed. I broke free of the brush at the base of the red rock below the arch and looked for a way up from the front, but that didn't go well in boots with worn treads and some chunks falling off the soles. I worked my way up two levels and still had two more to go, maybe 20-30 feet directly below the arch, before I abandoned that plan. With better treads, better climbing skills, and a little more courage/stupidity, it might've worked...
I figured I'd check out the back side of the formation, so I worked my way around the base of the cliff and found that much easier--a few somewhat steep sections, but flatter than the front side and with much better footing. It's one of the nicer arches in Sedona, with plenty of shade and room to sit down and enjoy the views...looking down Secret Canyon with the afternoon shadows made for a nice spot to take a break.
[ youtube video ]
As I packed up to start down, I saw two people coming up the back side...it looked like they'd followed a trail through the brush. We passed each other on my way down, and I tried following their route to see if I could find a less brushy option back to the main trail. There were a few cairns and a faint trail, but I ended up following a creek bed that eventually connected with Secret Canyon Trail. It was less direct than the straight shot I took on the way in...less brushy, but more poison ivy, and a few steep drops to navigate. It still seems like whatever trail was there has mostly grown over.
We weren't going to have time to hike to the end of Secret Canyon, and we knew from experience that the canyon only gets narrower and the poison ivy thicker farther back, so we made that our turnaround spot, and it was a comfortable, pleasant hike out. We'd only seen two bikers and four hikers all day...lots of solitude with great scenery and weather, and it was nice to escape the Phoenix area for the first time in a few months, see something different, and get a closer look at the arch. I-17 traffic wasn't too bad until some closures on the north side of Phoenix, but there was a great sunset as we got back into the valley. |
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