OK-Dawa-Arizona Cypress Loop

Mescal Mountain seen from Dawa Trail

Bear Mountain from OK Trail

Arizona Cypress Trail

OK-DAWA-ARIZONA CYPRESS TRAIL LOOP

Best tip for hiking in Sedona—learn to appreciate the little trails. Many of Red Rock Country’s lesser-used routes offer easy access, no fees and surprisingly available parking. The Upper Dry Creek Area Trails are a great place to start exploring the joys of under-the-radar hiking.  Easy to access off Dry Creek Road and Boynton Pass Road in West Sedona, the maze of short, interconnected trails winds through classic high desert ecozones, mingling with the jumbled corridor of Dry Creek and scoured drainages.  Excellent map signs placed at all trail junctions make finding you way around so easy. One scenic loop to try uses the OK, Dawa and Arizona Cypress trails. The simple-to-follow singletracks are neither secret nor hidden. They’ve been around for decades, existing in relative quiet not far from the famously popular Bear Mountain, Fay Canyon and Devils Bridge trails.  Starting from the blink-and-you’ll miss-it OK Trailhead, a short access path dives into juniper-cypress forests with glimpses of Doe Mountain on the western skyline.  At the first junction, pick up the Dawa Trail (Dawa is Hopi for moon) heading west. Evidence of this trail’s former life as a dirt road pops up intermittently as it jogs between sunny meadows and deep woods. Sometimes wide, sometimes a narrow footpath. The trail makes a gradual climb to a scenic high point where views of Bear Mountain, Mescal Mountain, and the Cockscomb formation stand out in an arc of rusty stone. At the 0.8-mile point, veer left at a junction to stay on the Dawa trail as it twists down to meet the leafy corridor of Dry Creek. Lush with manzanita and flowering shrubs, yucca and mesquite, there’s plenty of shade between breaks in the tree cover that frame mountain and wide valley views. Just past a crossing of the creek, pick up the Arizona Cypress Trail (go left again), which parallels the creek.  True to its name, the route is flush with the eponymous shaggy barked conifer with distinctive geometric seed pods. For the final leg, follow the OK Trail back to the first junction and backtrack to the trailhead where a kiosk shows an overview of the many hike options available to hikers who love solitude, options and a good leg stretch. 

LENGTH: 2.7-mile loop

RATING: easy

ELEVATION: 3,339 – 4,539 feet

GETTING THERE:

OK TRAILHEAD: From the State Route 179/89A traffic circle in uptown Sedona, go 3.2 miles west (go left) on SR 89A to Dry Creek Road.  Follow Dry Creek Road 2.8 miles to Boynton Pass Road, turn left and continue 0.5-mile to a small parking area on the left.  There’s room for 3-4 cars. A Red Rock Pass in not required at this trailhead. 

NOTE: The Sedona Shuttle does not serve this trailhead.  For info on how to use the FREE shuttle to access popular trailheads Thursday – Sunday, visit https://sedonashuttle.com

Maverick-Cholla Mountain-Corral Loop

MAVERICK-CHOLLA MOUNTAIN LOOP

Saguaros on the Maverick Trail

All it takes is a little rain to paint the desert in wildflower color.  

Buckwheat

The late December precipitation in the Phoenix area soaked the Sonoran Desert just enough to revive drought-stressed plants and spur new growth.

Chuparosa

Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve is a rich botanical garden that’s already teasing of spring blooms to come.  

Desert lavender

A short hike using Browns Ranch Road, Maverick Trail, Cholla Mountain Loop and the Corral Trail provide a good tour of desert plant diversity.  From the Brown’s Ranch Trailhead, follow Brown’s Ranch Road north.

Dry Gulch Trail

Along this wide passage, fragrant turpentine bushes and yellow-flowered brittlebush dominate the fringe, shading delicate wishbone bushes sporting tiny white blossoms.  

Cholla Mountain Loop

At the one-mile point, turn right at the Maverick Trail sign.  Fiddleneck, globemallow and shrubby deervetch sprout along washes and at the bases of desert hackberry and wolfberry shrubs.  

Mormon tea

Wolfberry

This early in the season, it takes a sharp eye and slow pace to catch patches of rattlesnake weed, lacepod and scorpionweed emerging from the sandy soils.  

Wishbone bush

Continue following the signs to the Cholla Mountain Loop trail where massive boulders harbor clumps of chuparosa, desert lavender and jojoba bushes.  

Shrubby deer vetch

Hang a left at the Dry Gulch Trail and follow it a short distance noting the expansive basin of giant saguaros that front views of Tonto National Forest mountains to the north.

Christmas cactus

Next, turn left at the Corral Trail. This leg features acres of filaree, also known as stork’s bill.  Introduced by Spanish settlers, the low-growing naturalized plant with purple flowers and a beak-like seed pods served as forage for livestock.

Filaree aka stork's bill

Brown's Mountain seen from Corral Trail

Also, along this leg, look for spiny Mormon tea, fragile paperflower, pungent triangle bursage and Christmas cactus.

Fiddleneck

Back at the Browns Ranch Road junction, head back to the trailhead taking in big views of distinctive flat-topped Brown’s Mountain framed by mesquite, yucca and creosote. 

Fairy duster

Happy New Year!

LENGTH: 4.5 miles

RATING: easy

ELEVATION:  2,678 – 2,800 feet

GETTING THERE:

Browns Ranch Trailhead:
30301 N Alma School Pkwy, Scottsdale