Aug 9, 2026

Sedona Isn't a National Park: 14 Trails Your Dog Can Legally Hike, Ranked by Shade

Leashed dogs are welcome on almost every red rock trail, because this is national forest rather than a national park. Rank those trails by shade instead of by view and the postcard hikes finish dead last.

Luis ZamoraCo-founder of PetCompass; Dog Dad to Banzo and Tuck

Sedona, Arizona11 min readThings to Do

The red rocks around Sedona are National Forest, not a national park, and for a dog owner that single fact changes everything.

At Grand Canyon, Zion, and Arches, dogs are banned from essentially every trail below the rim. Sedona sits inside the Red Rock Ranger District of Coconino National Forest, where leashed dogs are welcome on almost every trail in the system. You can hike Boynton Canyon, Fay Canyon, Devil's Bridge, and Cathedral Rock with your dog beside you, legally.

The catch is not access. It is shade.

Sedona's signature landscape is open slickrock and juniper scrub, which means the trails people photograph are the trails with no cover at all. Rank Sedona's dog-legal trails by shade rather than by view and the list inverts completely: the famous ones finish last.

Fourteen trails below, ranked from most shaded to least. Distances are approximate and vary by trailhead.

The rules that apply to all of them

Six-foot leash, not retractable. Leashes are required on every public trail in and around Sedona, and the rule is enforced.

Pick up after your dog. Desert soil does not break waste down the way forest soil does.

A Red Rock Pass is required to park at 19 designated day-use sites on the Red Rock Ranger District. It costs $5 daily, $15 weekly, or $20 annually, and an America the Beautiful, Golden Age, or Golden Access pass is accepted instead. A brief stop of around 15 minutes or less to take a photograph does not require one.

Tier one: genuine, continuous shade

1. West Fork of Oak Creek

The most shaded trail a dog can legally hike in the Sedona area, and it is not close. West Fork runs up a narrow side canyon of Oak Creek Canyon between towering walls, under pine and hardwood, crossing the creek repeatedly. It runs roughly 5 to 10 degrees cooler than Sedona proper.

Dogs: leashed, welcome. The catch: the Call of the Canyon day-use area at the trailhead is run by a concessionaire and charges its own per-vehicle fee. A Red Rock Pass does not cover it. Budget separately.

2. Allens Bend

Short, flat, and pressed right against Oak Creek under mature streamside trees. It is the trail to use on a hot afternoon when nothing else is survivable, and it is easy enough for a senior dog or a puppy.

Note carefully: Allens Bend runs near Grasshopper Point, where pets are not allowed. Park and stay on the trail side, and read the signs.

3. Sterling Pass to Vultee Arch

A steep forested climb out of Oak Creek Canyon, well shaded by pine and fir for most of its length. Real elevation gain and a proper workout, which suits a fit dog in cool weather and no dog at all in July.

4. Secret Canyon

Long, quiet, and genuinely shaded once you are into the canyon proper, with a creek that runs seasonally. The access road is rough, which keeps the crowds off it, and the shade holds much later into the day than anywhere on the open west side.

Tier two: meaningful shade in the sections that matter

5. Boynton Canyon

Open and exposed for the first half, then it closes into a genuine box canyon with pine and fir at the head, which is cool and shaded. Roughly 6 to 7.5 miles round trip depending on the source and where you turn around.

Strategy for a dog: the shade is at the far end, so the exposed section has to be crossed early. Start before sunrise.

6. Fay Canyon

The best short option in Sedona with a dog. Roughly 2 miles round trip, nearly flat, with canyon walls that throw real shade across the trail for much of the morning. Easy enough for almost any dog, and it ends at a natural arch.

7. Wilson Canyon

A modest canyon walk off the Midgley Bridge area with partial shade from the canyon walls and scattered trees. Short, easy, and usable when the open trails are already too hot.

8. Huckaby Trail

Two trails in one. The Oak Creek section down near the water is shaded and cool. The upper section that climbs toward Schnebly Hill is fully exposed slickrock with nothing overhead. Hike the creek end with a dog and turn around before the climb.

Tier three: scattered juniper, mostly open

9. Soldier Pass

Some juniper and pine cover, but broken and unreliable. Roughly 4.5 miles round trip with around 840 feet of gain from the Soldier Pass trailhead, and longer from Posse Grounds.

Access problem for dog owners, and it is a real one. See the shuttle section below.

10. Munds Wagon

Follows a wash with intermittent tree cover, better than the open mesa trails and worse than any canyon on this list. Historic wagon route, gradual grade, and a decent option in the shoulder seasons.

11. Little Horse

Scattered juniper, gentle terrain, wide views, and not much protection. Popular, easy, and hot by mid-morning from spring through autumn.

Tier four: no shade whatsoever

These are the famous ones. They are also the trails that put dogs in front of a veterinarian.

12. Bell Rock Pathway

Roughly 4 miles round trip with about 357 feet of gain across completely open ground. Beautiful, easy, and utterly exposed. There is no tree to stop under, in either direction, at any point.

13. Devil's Bridge

Roughly 4.6 miles round trip from the main parking area, on open, hot, and heavily trafficked ground. The final section involves a rock scramble that many dogs cannot manage safely, and the queue at the bridge itself means standing still in full sun.

14. Cathedral Rock

Short, steep, and entirely on bare slickrock. Distances quoted vary from about 1.2 miles round trip from the trailhead to around 3 miles depending on the approach. The rock surface heats to temperatures that burn paw pads, and the scramble sections are difficult for a dog to climb and worse to descend.

Honest assessment: Cathedral Rock is the most photographed hike in Sedona and one of the worst places in the region to take a dog between April and October.

The shade ranking at a glance

Rank	Trail	Shade	Approx. distance	Best for
1	West Fork of Oak Creek	Continuous	Varies, out and back	Hot days, any dog
2	Allens Bend	Continuous	Short and flat	Senior dogs, afternoons
3	Sterling Pass to Vultee Arch	Continuous	Steep climb	Fit dogs, cool weather
4	Secret Canyon	Continuous once inside	Long	Quiet, no crowds
5	Boynton Canyon	Exposed then shaded	~6 to 7.5 mi	Early starts
6	Fay Canyon	Good morning shade	~2 mi	Best short hike
7	Wilson Canyon	Partial	Short	Backup on hot days
8	Huckaby, creek end	Shaded at the water	Short if you turn back	Water access
9	Soldier Pass	Scattered	~4.5 mi	See shuttle warning
10	Munds Wagon	Intermittent	Moderate	Shoulder seasons
11	Little Horse	Sparse	Easy	Winter only
12	Bell Rock Pathway	None	~4 mi	Winter, early morning
13	Devil's Bridge	None	~4.6 mi	Not recommended with a dog
14	Cathedral Rock	None	~1.2 to 3 mi	Not recommended with a dog

The shuttle problem nobody warns dog owners about

This is the single most useful thing in this article, and almost nothing published about dog-friendly Sedona mentions it.

The free Sedona Shuttle runs Thursday through Sunday, year round, roughly 7am to 5pm, and during those hours the trailhead parking lots at Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass are closed to private vehicles. You are expected to ride the shuttle.

And the shuttle's pet policy requires that a non-service dog be either in a carrier or wearing a properly fitted muzzle, and on a leash. Service animals are exempt under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

So on a Thursday to Sunday in the middle of the day, reaching Cathedral Rock or Soldier Pass with a large dog means muzzling it. Most visitors do not travel with a muzzle, and most dogs are not conditioned to wear one comfortably.

Three ways around it: hike outside shuttle hours, when Cathedral Rock trailhead parking reopens. Come Monday to Wednesday. Or pick a different trail, which given the shade ranking above is usually the better call anyway.

Where dogs cannot go at all

Access in Sedona is generous but not universal. Pets are not permitted at:

Red Rock State Park, which is managed as a wildlife sanctuary
Slide Rock State Park between 1 May and 30 September, and the creek area is off limits to pets year round
Grasshopper Point
The Red Rock District heritage sites: Palatki, Honanki, and the V Bar V Ranch rock art site

Alternatives are covered in the companion piece on where dogs are banned in Sedona.

The heat rule that overrides the shade ranking

Shade helps. It does not make a Sedona summer afternoon safe.

Exposed red rock reaches surface temperatures far above the air temperature, and paw pads burn on it. From roughly April through October the working rule in Sedona is that a dog's hike happens at dawn or it does not happen, which is covered in detail in desert timing for dogs and Sedona paw safety.

Carry more water than the distance suggests, know the signs of heat stress from summer heat safety for pets, and have a veterinary number saved before you set out, from emergency vet, what to know.

If you are still choosing a base, search verified pet-friendly hotels, and if your dog is large, the specifics matter more, which is covered in the big dog guide.

Conclusion

Sedona is a national forest wearing a national park's reputation, and that is the best news a dog owner gets in the Southwest. Leashed dogs are welcome on nearly every trail in the Red Rock Ranger District, including the ones on the postcards.

Rank those trails by shade instead of by view, though, and the answer flips. West Fork, Allens Bend, Sterling Pass, and Secret Canyon give a dog continuous cover. Cathedral Rock, Devil's Bridge, and Bell Rock give none at all, and two of those three are also the hardest to reach with a dog because of the shuttle's muzzle requirement.

Hike the canyons. Photograph the slickrock from the car. Trail conditions, fees, shuttle schedules, and park rules all change, so confirm current details before you go. Then find the trail your pet will wag "yes" to.

Frequently asked questions

Can dogs hike in Sedona? Yes. Sedona's red rock trails sit in the Red Rock Ranger District of Coconino National Forest, not a national park, and leashed dogs are welcome on nearly every trail. A six-foot leash is required, retractable leashes are not permitted, and the rule is enforced.

Why can dogs hike in Sedona but not the Grand Canyon? Different agencies with different rules. Sedona's trails are National Forest land managed by the US Forest Service, which permits leashed dogs broadly. Grand Canyon, Zion, and Arches are National Park Service units, which restrict dogs to developed areas and ban them from nearly all trails.

What is the most shaded dog-friendly hike in Sedona? West Fork of Oak Creek. It runs up a narrow canyon under pine and hardwood with repeated creek crossings and sits roughly 5 to 10 degrees cooler than Sedona itself. Note that the Call of the Canyon trailhead charges a concessionaire fee that the Red Rock Pass does not cover.

Do I need a Red Rock Pass to hike with my dog? You need one to park at 19 designated day-use sites on the Red Rock Ranger District. The same pass rules apply here. A stop of around 15 minutes or less for a photograph does not require one.

Can I take my dog on the Sedona Shuttle? Yes, but a non-service dog must be either in a carrier or wearing a properly fitted muzzle, and on a leash. This matters because Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass trailhead parking is closed to private vehicles while the shuttle runs, Thursday through Sunday, roughly 7am to 5pm.

Is Cathedral Rock dog friendly? Legally yes, practically no in warm weather. The route is entirely on bare slickrock with no shade, the surface gets hot enough to burn paw pads, and the scramble sections are hard for a dog to climb and harder to descend. Access also requires the shuttle on Thursday to Sunday.

Sources

Trail conditions, fees, shuttle schedules, parking closures, and pet rules change. Confirm current details with the managing agency before you go.