Perfect day to hike! Lizard trail was well Marked Capitol Butte was very challenging and not well marked… but we loved it
Came up the south side, over the top and down by Lizard Head. A steep rocky scramble with some technical sections and route finding required. Great views from top including San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff.
Awesome scrambling, it was a navigational nightmare but I thought it was totally worth it. I would recommend not attempting this trail without experience scrambling and navigating difficult terrain. I also swapped from my hiking boots to approach shoes on the saddle and it helped a ton. Overall 10/10 experience.
This is one of my favorite hikes in sedona ! definitely recommend bringing a backpack with plenty of water and maybe a little snack. you will want your hands to be free for the climbing parts. pay attention as there are no trail markings, expect for a few in the very beginning. it will challenge you but it is worth it. if you’re scared of heights this is probably not the trail for you
Awesome trail. Extremely difficult route finding toward the top. I got a late start, so I had to head back down. Literally spent about 45 minutes probably 20 minutes from the top trying to figure out how not to do some class 5 climbing. I know it’s possible, but I’ll have to come back.
Accidentally took this trail off of Chimney Pass and it was wild! Difficult but fun on the way up, at the top I was questioning my decision making, and the way down took some high level problem solving. Certainly a spiritual experience when done alone.
“This review is written by the fiancé, who got a frantic call for help when his dearly beloved was trapped at the top without a safe way down! She’s an excellent mountain climber and hiker with years backpacking, scrambling down crazy pitches on the trail, but this definitely takes the cake for me almost calling in a rescue.”
My mind is torn between I am never doing that again and that was fun. To do the whole thing you need lots of problem solving and scrambling skills. The tail does not go exactly on the green line so just a heads up. Also you will question your life decisions and what god you believe in at least once on the way down. Good luck, this hike is the definition of type 2 fun.
Trail was very difficult to find. Definitely download the map for this one, but just know it will only get you so far as the trail becomes basically nonexistent the farther you go. Amazing and challenging hike with good views! Be ready for some scrambling.
PUT down your phone, open your eyes, look ahead and use some common sense. It is not an "established" trail, but there is a route (and many misguided routes on social media). If you are bush-wacking you are off trail. At some point if feel lost or uncomfortable turn around.
We just hiked up about a mile to the first real "lookout point." The trail was super steep at parts and flat at others. Nothing expert level; we had to watch out for loose rocks and dust as we climbed big steps and crossed steep drops. We turned around because it was obvious that the grade 3 scrambles were ahead of us.
We were all alone, strenuous uphill climb, dusty at times so can be slippery, only went 1 mile up. Nothing was expert difficulty.
Not for the faint of heart, don’t bring your kids or girlfriend haha lots of exposure but super fun if you get off on adrenaline
Awesome views of Sedona and Boynton Canyon. Definitely need GPS/mapping to stay on the correct route.
Yes, it’s not an easy one. Yes, you need the trail on your phone. Yes, sometimes you need to stop and think but overall, I totally enjoyed that crazy one. Beside one time, following the trail of AllTrails is the best option. I parked not too far in Lizard trail parking and hiked to this trail. It was easy, a trail that doesn’t showed on the map does exist.
It’s a steep dangerous trail. Also, it’s hard to stay on trail with GPS. The views are the best of the city and amazing distance shots. It was worth it!
This is a very difficult hike, probably the most challenging in Sedona. There is no parking or signage at the trailhead. I ended up parking at the Dry Creek Vista (Dantes Bridge) Trailhead. This used to be the original parking area for this hike. I went cross country, bush whacking, my way up to where Lizard Head Trail climbs onto the ridgeline. The trail is fairly worn with some scratched in direction arrows. I talked to a local who uses the Andante Trailhead directly to the south of Capitol Butte. I did the hike in 5 ½ hours. Give yourself at least 5 to 7 hours to do this hike.
believe the reviews that say that this trail is extremely poorly marked… we had to turn back shy of the top because we couldn’t find the trail. several times losing the trail meant having to essentially boulder 10 ft pitches at a time. On the way down we got lost for 45 minutes and ended up going off trail to connect to the next point we could see. Closest I’ve ever been to calling search and rescue, and I’m an avid hiker in utah. 2 stars because the view is beautiful the whole way up.
This trail was so difficult to figure out where to start. We ended up parking off the road near devils bridge and walking to the lizard trailhead probably .5-.75mi down the road. From there, the trail is pretty apparent until you have to wrap around the loop in the beginning. We almost missed the turn so I’m glad I was tracking the hike. There were multiple points where we got off trail and thought we were going the right direction, mainly on the way down. Good to wear pants as you are bouldering some and then walking through some prickly bushes. Bring plenty of water. While its a short hike, it’s a climb!! It took us much longer than we expected and we are avid hikers. Worth the views and so goad we did it.
Really fun hike, really bad [no] trail. Gets super dangerous towards top because of brittle rock
Bluebird sky, more difficult coming down, than going up, and cairns weren’t always available to point the way, but wow, what views! Totally worth the effort.
lack of trail markings and all trails cursor not pointing in the direction you're facing made this extremely hard
Very tricky route finding and class 3 scrambling. You must be comfortable with exposure and experienced with this kind of stuff. Don’t expect to see many cairns, they are ironically missing where they are needed the most. More of a climb than a hike. Excellent views from the summit. Someone left a sword up there.