Long Canyon Trail
State: Arizona
Location: Coconino National Forest
Length, One-Way: 2.9 miles
Trail Type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 4500 feet
Elevation Change: 500 feet
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: Easy
Usage: Moderate
Trail Information
Wide and nearly level, Long Canyon Trail provides easy access into Sedona’s scenic red rock backcountry. For the first mile or so, the route follows an old jeep trail up an ephemeral streambed. Though this drainage is usually dry, it still supports a community of riparian or water-loving vegetation. Along the trail you’ll even find a number of cypress trees, Arizona cypress, which are easily recognizable by their shaggy bark and round, gum ball-size seeds. Providing a scenic setting for this unique habitat are a sampling of the picturesque buttes and cliffs for which the Sedona area is so famous. Steamboat Rock, Wilson Mountain, Maroon Mountain and a number of unnamed cliffs, spires, windows and arches are visible from this trail. The trail ends at a red sandstone cliff where there are a few small Indian ruins and some primitive rock pictographs.
Directions
From Flagstaff:
Drive 27 miles south from Flagstaff on Arizona Highway 89A through Sedona to Dry Creek Road. Turn north (right) about a mile and a half to Long Canyon Road (Forest Road 152D) and north (right) again about 0.5 miles to the Long Canyon trailhead on left.
