Summary: This trail circles a red rock mesa near the base of Cathedral Rock. You can take a short side trip and hike along Oak Creek
Challenge Level: Moderate
Hiking Distance: Approximately 3.3 miles
Trailhead Directions: The trailhead is located out Verde Valley School Road on the unpaved portion of the road. From the roundabout, which connects Highway 179, Jack's Canyon and Verde Valley School Road, proceed approximately 4 1/2 miles out Verde Valley School Road to the parking on the left side of the road. The GPS coordinates for the parking lot are: 34° 49.312' North; 111° 48.504' West. The trailhead is across the road.
Description: This hike provides wonderful views of Cathedral Rock. Take a short side trip down the Templeton Trail and in about 0.2 mile you'll be along Oak Creek. You can see the area called "Buddha Beach" across Oak Creek where visitors construct stone pillars from the river rock. You may be lucky and see hundreds of the rock structures. We hiked in the morning so the views of Cathedral Rock are somewhat obscured by looking into the sun. It might be better to make this hike later in the day to get pictures of Cathedral Rock.
Photos:
Here are photos from our December 2007 hike
Guest Photos:
Here are photos taken by Lou Camp
For those of you have a GPS unit, I have the GPS data available for the hike.
Great Sedona Hikes
Last Updated February 13, 2010
Web Page by Bill Bohan (billbo@greatsedonahikes.com)
