Have you ever been to Sedona, Arizona before? If not, is it on your list of places to explore?

I recently traveled to the beautiful, sunny, hot state of Arizona with my family. We spent the majority of our time in Scottsdale (which that trip will be the subject of a separate blog) and we really enjoyed ourselves. While doing some Arizona research for our trip, I came across a photo of the Subway Cave in Sedona and knew that we had to add it to our agenda. We have been to Sedona before and hiked the beautiful Bell Rock Trail and it was amazing, but the Subway Cave will forever be my favorite thing in Sedona.

We got up relatively early to make the two hour drive to Sedona. The plan was to get to the trail as early as possible, but it ended up working out just fine that we got there around 10:30 am. We found a pretty decent parking spot and if you know anything about trail parking, pretty much anything goes once the lot is full. The name of the trail that leads you to the elusive Subway Cave is the Boynton Canyon Trail. There are several off shoots on the trail so I highly recommend having your route downloaded before you start. Cell Service was pretty good on the trail, but that’s not usually the norm.

The trail itself is relatively easy and mostly flat. The first mile winds you through the red rocks and past the Enchantment Resort and at mile 2 you will veer to the right. I downloaded a detailed map of the hike through the *All Trails App and followed that very closely since there is no marking to tell you where the path to the Subway cave begins. From the turn off, the Subway Cave is about .4 miles. This really is a beautiful hike! To get up into the cave you will have to walk/rock scramble and this is by far the hardest part. If you have a fear of heights, this may not be the hike for you! The view was definitely worth the few minutes of heart pounding though!

Once you have made it to the top and taken 1000 pictures, you can continue around the edge of the cave to the other side if you are feeling daring. We didn’t want to risk it with our son so we opted to go back down the way we came in. It was much easier going down in my opinion, but still a little tricky. We did see people of all ages, but not any small children. Also, make sure you have the appropriate shoes on! I couldn’t believe what we saw on some other trail goers feet for this hike!

*All Trails is an inexpensive way to have access to the trail map and you can record your hike for future reference! And please remember to practice the principles of Leave No Trace!

On our way back to the car we decided to do the short Vista Trail to check out the Boynton Pass Vortex. Sedona vortexes are thought to be swirling centers of energy that are conducive to healing, meditation and self-exploration. We thought it would be cool to see if we felt anything different when standing on the vortex. This part of the hike was a bit more strenuous than the Canyon Trail, but the views from the top are beautiful! And no, we didn’t feel anything special but it was still interesting to check out. This added about 30-40 extra minutes on at the end but I am so glad we did it. In total, the hike was about 6.5 miles and took us about 3 hours with lots of stops for pictures.

After our hike, we definitely needed some lunch and a rest so we drove into town. We walked around a bit but I have to say it was quite busy and nothing like the peaceful trail we had just left. We ate quick and then made our way to meet the guide for the off-road jeep tour we booked. There are many tour companies offering jeep tours in Sedona so I suggest doing lots of research (check out Viator for reviews and comparisons) and making your decision based on what suits your group best. The tour I booked was through A Day in the West and was the most off-road experience they offer. I thought my son would get a kick out of it and let me tell you we haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. That was one bumpy ride. Our guide Stan, was the best and took great care of us. I cannot recommend this adventure enough! I might also note that our company was doing all of their tours private, and I was happy it was just us.

After the jeep tour, our day in Sedona came to an end and as we drove out of town, we caught the tail end of a beautiful sunset. It truly was a perfect day spent exploring and laughing with my family.

There really is something magical about Sedona.

x, Julie