Boynton Canyon Trail — Attraction in Four Corners States

Boynton Canyon is a scenic red rock trail hike, in beautiful Sedona, AZ! I also chronicle & provide tips of other things to do, whilst in the area.

My wife & I drove here, during Spring Break, quite a while back.

Loved our 2 hikes, the Boynton Canyon Hike, as well as the Devil's Bridge Hike. The staging area of the DBH, is up a badly-rutted 2 mile dirt road. I seriously felt like car parts might start bouncing off the road, from the beating my car was taking out there. This hike was great, though.

I noticed a large teetering rock, overhead, & a bit in the distance. It looked like it could come crashing down, at any time. I also remember not being able to notice Devil's Bridge, until we were nearly beneath it, because it's red colors blends so well with the surrounding landscape. It looks pretty cool, once you're there, though. I think there's a way to walk on top of the bridge, but our energy was depleted, when we got under the bridge, so we just rested, took pics, & then headed back.

Boynton Canyon was a longer hike. I remember reading about javelinas, skinny wild boar, that live around this area. I was obsessed about running into one, yet we never once saw a single one. They were doing construction, on a new part of this large condominium, near the beginning of this trail, when we visited, years back. The hammering sounds the builders were making, put me off, quite a bit, near the start of this trail. As we got away from that, things greatly improved. We saw tall, skinny red rock towers, called Hoodoos, red rock mountains as well as interestingly-textured red cliff walls. All were set off, quite beautifully, by a brilliant blue sky, in which nature 'painted,' white streaks, here & there, to break up all that blue-ness.

The most interesting thing I witnessed, on this hike, was a Native American Shaman, dressed in full Indian attire, holding a staff, with a Bald Eagle's head capping the top. He was chanting, & dancing, performing some American Indian Tribal Ceremony-just unsure which tribe, sorry. The scenery on this hike was crazy beautiful & it became forever burned into my brain.

My wife & I had heard about Sedona's famous Pink Jeep Tours, but we didn't do that one, since my wife had a bad back, at the time. People with bad backs should steer clear of this activity.

You simply must see bright red Bell Rock, which is massive, & quite coincidentally bell-shaped... smirk!, as well as close-by Courthouse Butte. New Age folks talk about Energy Vortices in Sedona, but I'm just not smoking out of that pipe, if you get my meaning.

We drove slowly up to Slide Rock, before pulling over, at an opportune place beside the highway. Even though I was quite a bit younger, the sun wasn't up all the way yet, & I pictured shivering my bejeebers off, if I would've gone in, for a quick slide, or two. For the younger crowd, though, it looked like it would be lots of fun to do this!

Also a must see, is Cathedral Rock, which is best seen from Crescent Moon Picnic Area, beneath Cathedral Rock & along a river trail, where you must pay to access it. Inside the park, which has nice paved trails, & in one particular area, if there's no wind, you can see & photograph a mirrored reflection of Cathedral Rock, in the smooth river water.

You'll enjoy this place, or everything I've mentioned in this review, if you're someone who wholly loves...

My longest day of and one of the best days of hiking was up Boynton canyon. My first stop was a quick 1 mi hike to the man and kochina woman vortex. The woman represents the guardian of the canyon. I felt very peaceful near them. I actually did this hike twice and the second time, we met the heart man handing out stone hearts and reminding us about unconditional love. Relaxing flute music filled the canyon as we made our way down.

The second stop was the Boynton Canyon overlook. I wasn’t planning to go all the way to the end but somehow I got detoured trying to find the Subway trail. I’m glad I went because after a little Sedona snowfall, the canyons looked so pretty. The overlook at the end was nice but the Subway was the pinnacle of the long day of hiking.

The last stop was the hidden Subway trail. The reason I missed the trail because the entrance is covered with a bunch of branches and shrubs. I followed a couple of hikers after they received directions from hikers that just came out of the trail. After the hike and the climb up to the subway, I stood in awe at the stunning view. Such a unique perspective. I’m so glad I made it here and didn’t want to leave.

Total hiking for the day was ~10...

Boynton Canyon Trail to "The Subway".

This will be one of my all time favorite hikes due to the reward at the end of my turnaround -"The Subway" see pictures. I went very early on a Sunday in May so I had much of the hike and "Subway" to myself for quite some time. Was AMAZING. To get there, Start at the Boynton Canyon Trailhead. At the 2.02ish mark from the trailhead, there is a huge tree with a very wide diameter trunk just after a tree with a split trunk. Look in my photos for those two trees. Turn right just about a dozen feet further, into a trail that is not marked by the forest service and may be blocked off by people who don't want this trail to be known by others. After about 1/2 a mile, look to your left up into the rocks (again, you'll see in my picture just before the Subway picture. You have to turn left into the rock face to start climbing up into the Subway. Very Cool. Don't forget once you are up there, to walk around the ledge to the right to see the old indian ruins, homestead up in the cliffs. Again, very cool. Historical so please leave it as you see it. Take only pictures &...