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| | | Cathedral Rock Loop Sedona, AZ | | | |
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Cathedral Rock Loop Sedona, AZ
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| Hiking | 10.00 Miles |
2,959 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.00 Miles | 5 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.82 mph |
| 2,959 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Park at the Yavapai Vista parking area. Note that the parking area can only be accessed from the southbound lanes of SR179. From the ranger station, head north on SR179 5.5 miles to the Back o Beyond roundabout at milepost 310. Go completely around it and head back south towards Phoenix for 1.5 miles and take a right into Yavapai Vista, a little past milepost 309.
We started at the Yavapai Point on the Yavapai Vista trailhead. There are several converging trails here, so be watchful. You are taking the Slim-Shady trail to the HiLine. Most of the elevation occurs on the HiLine section of this trail.
Both the HiLine and the Slim-Shady trails continue somewhat opposite directions (Slim-Shady roughly parallels the highway, while the HiLine generally runs east-west). When you hit the HiLine trail, head west (left). The trail is best done in this clockwise direction.
The trail intersection is clearly marked; don't be alarmed by the sign that cautions "Extreme Difficulty" - this is for mountain bikers only. And we encountered more than a few, especially as the day went on, so I conclude that this may be a popular network of bike trails as well.
The trail is clearly marked and in most places very well worn. In the few places where you are hiking on the sandstone, there are white symbols that show the main trail...but as I said, the bikes have also clearly marked out the path...
About 3 to 3.5 miles in you will intersect the Baldwin trail. This is also the "exit" for the HiLine trail if you are on a mountain bike. Bear to the right (north/northeasterly); this is the eastern segment of the Baldwin trail. After about 1 mile you intersect the Templeton trail and are in sight of Oak Creek. About 100 paces to the right (going east) on the Templeton trail, the trail goes right down to the creek, and this makes a pleasant lunch spot. (We actually went about 100 paces to the west and came down to the creek at that point, but it wasn't as comfortable as we had expected.)
Oak Creek was running quite high the day we went, to the point that any ideas about crossing it or even cooling off were quickly set aside. But the views of Cathedral Rock from this point are spectacular.
After an extended break, we continued down the Templeton trail to the east. Once you climb out of the canyon - along a very well-worn and heavily used stone trail - you are over halfway through this hike.
Continue on the Templeton and you are going east, with Cathedral Rock on your right. Once you intersect the Cathedral Rock Trail, you may want to add an addition mile or so (plus associated elevation gain/loss) by hiking up the Rock, but our group was just enjoying the views so we passed on without attempting the Rock trail.
There was some ups-and-downs for the next couple of miles, but the trail was still well-marked and well-trod.
At the intersection of the Slim-Shady trail, turn south (right). Follow the Slim-Shady back to the intersection of the Yavapai Point and then down the Yavapai Vista trail back to the parking lot.
Some of our group missed the turnoff and continued down to the end of the Slim-Shady, which is the highway...so we had an additional mile back, hiking along the road. |
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