I have a new favorite city and its name is Sedona! After a lackluster experience at the Grand Canyon, Sedona was the second stop on my week-long Arizona road trip with my husband, and it exceeded all expectations. The city’s vibe, views, food and hiking are incredible!

Devil’s Bridge is the trademark hike of Sedona — and rightfully so. The rock formation is unique and the photo op is incredible. But after reading dozens of reviews that complained about the crowds, I scrapped my original plans for Devil’s Bridge and have no regrets.

If you’re looking for alternatives to Devil’s Bridge, here are 3 Sedona hikes to consider:

Doe Mountain
We started this hike early to beat the sun and crowds, and only saw a handful of other people the entire time. It’s a short but steep hike, at just about 1.5 miles round trip.  It’s quite rocky in some places, but nothing that hard or scary.

The views at the top of Doe Mountain are spectacular. It’s technically a mesa — a flat-topped hill with steep sides — so once you reach the top you have 360 views as far as the eye can see. Find a place to sit down, read, meditate, or just take in the views.

Started from the bottom…

…now we’re here.

There’s a trail marker when you reach the top, and allegedly a trail along the top perimeter, but we got lost. I recommend using your phone to drop a pin on the map at the trail marker so you can easily find your way back.

Wilson Canyon Trail
Wilson Canyon is a flat, shaded and overall easy 3-ish mile round trip. The end of the trail is very anti-climactic, with a sign that literally says “end of trail.” Thanks to the reviews I read, however, I knew to continue on and look for a steep and rocky hill to climb so that I could experience this view:

Although Wilson Canyon is mostly shaded, this quick little climb after the trail ends gets you above the trees.

Like Doe Mountain, there was hardly anyone out on this trail (and we went after lunch!), and we had the hilltop views to ourselves. It’s worth noting parking at the trailhead is minimal.

Soldiers Pass
This was probably my least favorite hike that we did in Sedona, but it was still very pleasant. It’s also very popular: we arrived 15 minutes before the parking lot gates opened at 8 a.m. and there was already a line to get in. There are several sights to see on this trail, including a sinkhole, water holes and more. Round trip, it’s about 4.5 miles and overall pretty easy.

There’s a flat mesa shortly after the trail begins that gets you great views in every direction.

My general motto is to eat as much as I hike, and Sedona made that very easy! Look for a blog post soon detailing the restaurants you must eat at when you’re in Sedona.

Tell me in the comments
Have you been to Sedona? What was your favorite hike and/or place to eat?