Lisa, Lynn and I headed to West Sedona and up the Boynton Pass Road for a morning hike up Boynton Canyon. The trailhead parking is off Boynton Canyon Road, just past the intersection with Boynton Pass Road. The parking area is ample and has restroom facilities near the entrance plus the standard Red Rock Pass kiosk (very handy for us tourists). But since this is a holiday weekend, there was no need to purchase a Red Rock pass today, so bonus there. This was a very nice hike measuring 6.4 miles and taking us 3.5 hours to complete. There was a lack of critters on the trail, only a couple Stellar’s Jays, a few song birds and several butterflies. But we were treated to wonderful views along the lower part of the trail looking up the canyon. No wonder there was a resort and several large houses built here in this canyon as it is quite peaceful and truly a beautiful setting looking out on the red rock formations. We named the two predominate formations “The Capitol” and “The Parthenon” but I have no idea if they have other names or not. The second part of the trail was wooded and therefore much cooler (actually very pleasant as the day was warm and the skies were clear and blue). The last short section was a bit of a steep climb but it was not that long nor overly difficult. The view at the end of the hike was less spectacular than I was expecting; perhaps we needed to work our way over the last little rise beyond the “End of Trail” sign to get the view. But still the hike was worth the effort. There was a fair amount of traffic on the trail and a few folks enjoying a break at the end of the line. But it was not crowded and we had long stretches of the trail that were devoid of other hikers. As usual, the trail provided some interesting people watching opportunities. As I recall, just about everyone we saw was prepared for the hike. No flip-flop-wearers on the trail and everyone seemed to have water, so overall the hikers on this trail seem to know what they are doing. We also opted not to take the spur up to the spires for the overlook. Maybe next trip. I guess we were back at the trailhead about 1:00. While the conditions when we started the hike were pleasant, it was getting quite warm now that we were in the early afternoon with the temperature topping 90 F. Time for a beer on the back porch.

Hiking/Backpacking

Sedona, Arizona, Boynton Canyon, Hiking, Red Rock

Arizona, United States

time : Oct 12, 2015 9:26 AM

duration : 3h 32m 38s

distance : 6.4 mi

total_ascent : 1201 ft

highest_point : 5164 ft

avg_speed : 1.8 mi/h

user_id : OhioHick

user_firstname : Allen

user_lastname : Arrington

Lisa, Lynn and I headed to West Sedona and up the Boynton Pass Road for a morning hike up Boynton Canyon. The trailhead parking is off Boynton Canyon Road, just past the intersection with Boynton Pass Road. The parking area is ample and has restroom facilities near the entrance plus the standard Red Rock Pass kiosk (very handy for us tourists). But since this is a holiday weekend, there was no need to purchase a Red Rock pass today, so bonus there. This was a very nice hike measuring 6.4 miles and taking us 3.5 hours to complete. There was a lack of critters on the trail, only a couple Stellar’s Jays, a few song birds and several butterflies. But we were treated to wonderful views along the lower part of the trail looking up the canyon. No wonder there was a resort and several large houses built here in this canyon as it is quite peaceful and truly a beautiful setting looking out on the red rock formations. We named the two predominate formations “The Capitol” and “The Parthenon” but I have no idea if they have other names or not. The second part of the trail was wooded and therefore much cooler (actually very pleasant as the day was warm and the skies were clear and blue). The last short section was a bit of a steep climb but it was not that long nor overly difficult. The view at the end of the hike was less spectacular than I was expecting; perhaps we needed to work our way over the last little rise beyond the “End of Trail” sign to get the view. But still the hike was worth the effort. There was a fair amount of traffic on the trail and a few folks enjoying a break at the end of the line. But it was not crowded and we had long stretches of the trail that were devoid of other hikers. As usual, the trail provided some interesting people watching opportunities. As I recall, just about everyone we saw was prepared for the hike. No flip-flop-wearers on the trail and everyone seemed to have water, so overall the hikers on this trail seem to know what they are doing. We also opted not to take the spur up to the spires for the overlook. Maybe next trip. I guess we were back at the trailhead about 1:00. While the conditions when we started the hike were pleasant, it was getting quite warm now that we were in the early afternoon with the temperature topping 90 F. Time for a beer on the back porch.