Rancho Sedona RV Park

Rancho Sedona RV Park – Sedona, AZ

Sedona….aah, the land of red rocks, healing crystals, art, shopping, vortexes and all kinds of epic hikes!

Sedona seems to be the Mecca of the red rock experience. No matter what trail we traversed we felt like we were either on a movie set, a journey across Mars or on a ride through thunder mountain. Sedona is nothing short of magical and it truly is a one-of-a-kind experience. Two days was plenty of time for the Grand Canyon and a week wasn’t enough for Sedona! There are so many trails, one could spend a lifetime hiking them all.

After several oooh’s, aaaah’s and traffic circles on highway 179, we eventually arrived at our home for the next several days, Rancho Sedona RV Park. This “park” felt more like a resort as it is one of the prettiest campgrounds we have stayed at so far. There are towering trees covering each campsite with ample shade, a creek that runs beside the camp that provides a tranquil escape, huge green lawns for picnics, a community red brick BBQ pit, a sand volleyball court and quick access to downtown and local hiking trails.  It was the perfect location for our stay in Sedona.

We spent the first night checking out the campsite, did a short hike to Mole´ for a cocktail and some chips, then popped into a few of the retails stores as we made our way back to camp.

What made this section of our journey extra special was that Terrie and Joe, longtime friends of Kandace’s, flew into town to spend the week with us.  Early that morning before they arrived, we did a short hike on the Marg’s Draw trail.  Although we could access the trail close to our campground, we found there was an easier route to the trailhead a bit further down the road near Mole´.  The hike is easy with little elevation. We also got a good close-up look at Snoopy rock.  It took a while, but once we spotted it, we could easily see Snoopy laying on his back with his signature nose sticking up in the air – pretty cool.  It was a great hike to get us started as it was quick, easy and gave us a small taste of the epic hikes we had planned for the week ahead.

(can you spot Snoopy rock?)

The first big hike on our list was the trek to Devil’s Bridge. It was a long hike that took us about 4 hours round trip.  The hike is relatively flat most of the way and it’s not until the end that it gets more difficult with a few sections of steep narrow “stairs” to climb.  As we rounded the final bend and the natural bridge came into view, we were greeted with a line of people waiting their turn to walk out to the middle to have their picture taken as proof they were there and brave enough to walk out onto the narrow slab of red rock.  Heart pounding and eyes straight ahead I eventually made my way to the (almost) middle to have my picture taken with Kandace who practically skipped her way across! I’m glad that I did it, conquered my fear of heights (kind of) and would highly recommend this hike just for the views alone.

Later that evening we drove into Cottonwood, AZ.  Made a quick pit stop at Burning Tree Cellars (surprisingly good wines) then went to the main event we had planned that night – a good ol’ dinner and ho down show at Blazin’ M Ranch.  The setting is an old western theme with a saloon, mercantile shop, axe throwing, photo booth and bull riding.  Although it was a little corny and geared more toward kids, it certainly brought out the kid in us… well mostly Kandance!…….

Side note: We learned a valuable lesson when we got back from dinner.  We had a skirt steak marinating in the fridge for a BBQ dinner we had planned later in the week. Sato outsmarted us and used his nose and paws to open the fridge.  He ate the entire skirt steak and chomped at some butter as well!!  Live and learn – now we lock up everything if we leave him in the camper for an extended period of time!

The next epic hike we had on our list was Subway Cave which requires finding an unmarked path off of the Boynton Canyon Trail. Unfortunately Kandace had to sit this one out as the bull got the best of her the night before.  She tweaked her knee which left her on injured reserve for a couple of days.  Terrie, Joe and I got an early start on this hike as well so we could beat the heat and the crowds. The majority of the trail was in the early morning shade which kept us nice and cool as we made our way along the rocky and sandy path.  After about 45 minutes we arrived at the unmarked trail that would eventually take us to Subway Cave – a hollowed out rock formation that looks like… well…. a subway.  (I’m beginning to sense a theme in the naming convention of the rock formations in Sedona….  Snoopy Rock, Subway Cave…..).  Once we got to the “subway” we were challenged with a steep incline to get to the viewpoint.  Fortunately, the rock is very sticky and grabbed the soles of our hiking boots like Velcro making it very difficult to slip and easy to scale up to the top.

We sat at the top for a bit to catch our breath and take in the view, then we walked out on the ledge to get our “Instagram Moment” photos.

There is another rewarding view for the super adventurous who are brave enough to make their way around the narrow ledge on the west side of the cave.  We didn’t have the guts to go but the people who do get to see a couple of ancient caves with petroglyphs carved into the walls.  Really fascinating stuff to see but we decide to head back versus potentially putting ourselves on the injured reserve list or possibly worse.  Pretty sure if Kandace was with us, she would have gone ;-).

On our last day in town, we did two final hikes. First up was Cathedral Rock – which was short but challenging as it just goes up, up, up and up. Sato made it with us about a third of the way and there was one section that he just couldn’t make it up, so we took turns going to the top to take in the spectacular views.

Lastly, it’s not a complete visit to Sedona if you don’t make it to a vortex.  Our final hike was to the airport vortex which offers one of the best sunset views in Sedona. There are only a handful of parking spots at the vortex which were all taken by the time we got there so we had to park up at the top and hike a half mile down to the viewpoint. There is a viewpoint right off the road next to the upper parking lot but it’s not quite as special.  We were really hoping we could have a zen moment and fully experience that vortex feeling but by the time the sun went down there were so many people and noisy kids that it didn’t make for the most ideal experience.  We did our best to block out the noise however and enjoyed a gorgeous Sedona sunset.

Notable extras:

• Not only is Sedona known for shopping, hikes and vortexes – it is also knows for golf. Had a great 9 hole round at Oak Creek Country Club

• Want a free haircut? All of our visitors have gotten a free haircut from Kandace – just sayin….

• On our way in, someone driving behind us recognized our tire cover with our Instagram name, snapped a pic and sent it to us!

Pro tip – If you are planning on visiting Sedona in the Spring or Summer, it’s best to plan your hikes for the early morning or end of the day.  Early morning you will beat the heat and the crowds and then you have the rest of the day to eat, drink and relax!  The end of the day you will probably battle larger crowds on the trails but you will beat the heat and will get better lighting for taking pictures.

If you have any additional Sedona tips for our readers, please add them to the comments section.

Cheers,

-Tiny Trail Trips Crew