Devil's Bridge from Chuckwagon Trailhead

October 21, 2015 started out a bit on the chilly side, but the sun was shining brightly, giving us hope for a pleasant hike to Devil's Bridge. My last visit to the bridge had been in March of 2009. However, I think some of the group hiked there in March of 2012 while the rest of us climbed the west face of Capitol Butte, Thunder Mountain if you prefer.

We drove north from Cottonwood on Hwy 89A to Sedona and turned west on Dry Creek Road, proceeding for 2.0 miles before turning right onto Forest Road 152 (some maps label FR as 152 Vultee Arch Road; some call it Dry Creek Road). In any case, after turning onto it, we drove another 0.2 miles before turning left into a large, paved parking area with toilet facilities. That means, of course, that you must display a Red Rock Pass or a U. S. Forest Service Golden Age Pass. The turn in is hard to miss because it is located just where the pavement ends and a line of partially-embedded boulders bisects the road ahead. If your vehicle can't cross the boulders, use the parking area.

This road has deteriorated significantly during the fifteen years I have lived in the area. I am sure this is primarily due to lack of funding but the resulting rough road must also be a favorable development for the jeep tour companies located in Sedona. A lot of their customers are surely tourists who would drive themselves if the road were maintained. I myself do not hesitate to drive the road, even as far as the Vultee Arch Trailhead where it ends, about 3.5 miles ahead. But I only do it in a 4-wheel drive, high-clearance vehicle equipped with skid plates. Four-wheel drive and high-clearance vehicles are, in my opinion, necessities; the skid plates are added insurance.

The upside of the non-maintained forest road is that a lot of work has been put into improving and adding trails to provide access to the area. For instance, whereas a few years ago one could drive up the road and do a short, 1.8 mile, in-and-out hike to Devil's Bridge, we would today park at the newly-developed parking lot and hike on Chuckwagon Trail and a short connector trail to reach the Devil's Bridge Trailhead. In this instance, it made for a 6.3 mile round trip hike, just about right. On the other hand, to hike some of the longer trails located farther up the road, one really does need vehicle access.

We donned our gear and gathered for a group photograph.

Left to right: David Beach, Chris Jensen, Daisy Williams, Roger Fenske, Gary Jacobson, Iris Dobler, Lila Wright, Nita Nettleton, Dirk Knehr, Ellen McGinnis, Jim McGinnis, Robert Reed, MaryAnn Reed-Cook – author not shown

We looked back over our shoulders to Lizard Head (below left) outlined against the sky along the slope of Capitol Butte and then fixed our eyes on the trail ahead (below right).

Although I had a GPS track for the trail we would follow, it was completely unnecessary. The path was well-worn and clearly marked. We left the parking area at the well marked trailhead and found ourselves traveling along a lightly forested hillside, the vegetation consisting primarily of juniper, scrub oak and manzanita. This light growth was soon interrupted by a wide slick-rock area, mostly devoid of vegetation, that formed the low point of a wash running down the slope of Capitol Butte and emptying into Dry Creek. After crossing this bare spot, the trail led us up a slight slope and into another stretch of junipers, scrub oaks and manzanitas. Looking west from this section of the trail we had a great panoramic view of the nearby red rock formations and the Black Hills on the horizon. The black hills can be seen stretching from the left to just past the middle of the below photograph. The red mound in the center is Cockscomb, the flat mountain behind the dead tree is Doe Mountain and the mountain at right is Bear Mountain.

The Black Hills, Cockscomb, Doe Mountain and Bear Mountain

After crossing a gently-sloping ridge, the trail descended into the next wash and the junipers and small shrubs gave way to Arizona cypress trees. The first specimens we saw were a rather scrawny lot but, as we moved deeper into the wash, the trees became larger.

The trail runs generally parallel to and, at first, quite close to FR 152. But after about 0.8 miles it turns away from the forest road before swinging back and crossing it to connect with the Devil's Bridge Trailhead. One result is that the distance by trail is almost a mile greater than by road. Recognizing this, the trail builders provided a connector trail (below left) here so that hikers can conveniently connect with the road if they wish. We chose to continue on the trail and soon came to a unique, laddered stretch of the trail (below right) that had been carved by nature in the bottom of a wash.

As we were crossing another juniper-covered ridge between sections of the trail that were overhung with Arizona cypress trees, we came to a second great viewpoint, from here we had a panoramic view into the Secret Mountain Wilderness.

Secret Mountain Wilderness–Doe Mountain (left) to Little Round Mountain (right)

We descended from the ridge and, deep in the Arizona cypress forest and, just 2.2 miles from the trailhead, came to the Devil's Bridge connector trail. The connector begins at the sign pictured here (below left) and ends at Forest Road 152, just across the road from the Devil's Bridge Trailhead (below right).

The distance from FR 152 to Devils Bridge is only 0.9 miles. The first part of that is along an old wagon road which is quiet steep in places (below left). Then it leaves the old road and becomes very steep (below right).

Don't be discouraged by the steep section of trail shown above. It is short and, despite the fact that they don't show up very well in the picture, there are steps to make the climbing easier.

In the below photograph, seven of our hikers are shown standing on the bridge. The trees shown in the background are on the other side of the canyon. The scraggly little bush in the foreground is a manzanita.

Left to right: Jim McGinnis, Lila Wright, the author, Chris Jensen, MaryAnn Reed-Cook, Robert Reed and Dirk Knehr

There were a lot of hikers at the bridge, but they were quite orderly, going onto the bridge one or two at a time, occasionally in larger groups, to have their pictures taken by compatriots waiting on the slope above. I chose a spot in the sun and photographed some of our group as they ventured onto the arch of the bridge.

We lingered for some time on the sunny rocks overlooking the bridge to watch the hikers. Some just looked at the bridge from the slope, some ventured tentatively out onto the arch as though they might be the person under whom it collapsed and some strode confidently onto the arch and turned walked on their hands or stood on their head to show their lack of fear.

We had delayed our midmorning snack until we arrived at the bridge because Lila had told us the mountain behind us would shade the area starting around 1100. As predicted, the sun retreated behind the mountain and we stirred ourselves for the return hike. On our way back, we moved smartly along until we found a sunny spot for lunch on the other side of FR 152. Unfortunately, I had perspired enough by then that my clothes were damp and a chill wind was blowing. I was just too uncomfortable for my normal noon nap, barely closing my eyes before being awakened by a cool gust of wind. I was ready to move on and my trailmates readily agreed.

We arrived back at the parking lot early enough that we decided to add a short scouting hike to the itinerary for the day. We planned to hike to Windmill Mountain next January and still had not determined just what route we would take. We had noted, while looking at an out-of-date map that an old road once ran toward the mountain, leaving the highway somewhere between the Sedona Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Dry Creek Bridge on Hwy 89A. We hoped to use that road for part of our hike. We just needed to locate it and hike on it far enough to find a good point from which to bushwhack our way to the top of the mountain. We determined that the access to the old road is now by way of the northernmost entrance to the wastewater treatment facility. One just turns off Hwy 89A as though entering the facility and then immediately turns right on a dirt frontage road. We parked there and explored on foot, finding that the old road, still marked as a forest road, will indeed lead us over half way to the top of Windmill Mountain.

Today's hike to Devil's Bridge and back turned out to be 6.3 miles. However, it can be shortened to 5.3 miles by taking the connector located 0.8 miles along Chuckwagon Trail from the parking area and continuing on FR 152. Additionally, one can drive on past the Forest Road 152 turnoff on Dry Creek Road to the stop sign, turn right on Long Canyon Road (FR 152B) and continue 0.6 miles to the Chuckwagon Trail sign on the right and shorten the hike to 4.3 mile. You will recognize the start of this hike by a small parking area alongside the road. Although it was marked as Chuckwagon Trail the last time I hiked it, it might be called Lost Way or Mescal Trail or Mescal Bike Trail. I have seen all three names on different maps.

Our GPS track for the 6.3 mile round trip hike we did today is shown in red on the included map (below). The highest elevation was 5009 feet and the total ascent was 1283 feet.

The alternative section of trail, starting at Long Canyon Road and resulting in a 4.3 mile hike, is shown by the blue track on the map.