Gail and I had never visited Sedona, Arizona before. Arriving to town mid-morning our eyes scanned the landscape with awe. The town and surrounding area were beautiful and inviting in every direction. After a quick stop at the visitor’s center to get our bearings and some regional maps, we chose the Jordan Trail to Soldier Pass as our first hike in Sedona.

I’m a bit unsure if we started this hike at the official trailhead for Jordan Trail. The parking area we selected off Jim Thompson Road offers multiple trails to access. Jordan trail was one of them. The notes in our travel diary says we hiked 6 miles on Jordan Trail to Soldier Pass to Cibola Pass.

I mention all of this because there are several entry points in the area to access all of these trails. The Sedona trail system is well linked. Since the route we took was a loop, anyone can access these trails without starting exactly where we did.

The Jordan Trail to Soldier Pass was reasonably busy the day we were there. Most people on the trail seemed to be mainly interested in seeing the Seven Sacred Pools and the sink hole on Soldier Pass. Those two landmarks were busy and had small crowds at them.

Cibola Pass

As we continued on, we were in awe of the landscape around us. The red rock bluffs, mesas and valleys were incredible in all directions.

Being a bit lost at one point, we checked our map and realized we could either turn around and go back the way we came or link up to Cibola Pass. Once we learned Cibola was a loop that would lead us us back to our van Alice the new path was a no-brainer decision to make.

Once we made this decision, it was apparent this trail was the most steep and difficult section of our hike that day. The change in route also added about 3-miles overall, but we were up for it.

In the end, we are really glad we opted to add-on this distance to the hike because it was was the most interesting and beautiful.

To learn about other great day hikes, click the links below: