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The Vultee Arch trail in Sedona is the perfect place for your next offroad adventure. The trail runs through the beautiful red rocks, leading to a vast network of hiking trails in the Coconino National Forest and the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness. The area is home to many natural wonders, including stone arches, natural bridges, pinnacles, cliffs, and slot canyons, all waiting to be explored.
If you have a high-clearance vehicle, you can easily drive to the hiking trailheads of Devil's Bridge, Brin's Mesa, Secret Canyon, and Vultee Arch. Even if hiking is your main attraction, off-roaders can take unique photos of their vehicle against the beautiful red rock backdrop along the Vultee Arch Trail. For the best photos, you should take the trail in the afternoon when the sun casts its warm light on Capital Butte and the surrounding ridgelines.
If you want to explore the area's history, head down the trail and take a short side trip on Forest Road 9917 to the nearly century-old Van Deran Cabins. These cabins were used in two movies back in the 1940s: "Riders of the Purple Sage" and "Blood on the Moon." A plaque at the site provides additional history of the previous owners and building materials used.
Vultee Arch offroad trail is situated on the north side of Sedona, Arizona, and measures 5 miles in each direction. The trail comprises flat bedrock and protruding rocks with various small steps and ledges with small levels of off-camber. There are also a few dry wash crossings that may have water during a storm.
Before enjoying the beautiful scenery, you must conquer the gatekeeper obstacle at Waypoint 2. Navigating over this narrow ledge will give you an idea of your vehicle's capability to navigate the rest of the trail. Although not a technically difficult trail, overcoming the ledges and steps will boost a new offroad driver's confidence. Vultee Arch is suitable for most stock, high-clearance 4x4 vehicles.
The trail's southern end has heavy traffic due to hikers from the Dry Creek parking area heading to the Devil's Bridge trailhead and local offroad/Jeep tour companies.
Once you reach Vultee Arch Hiking Trailhead, it's time to turn around and get a completely different perspective while heading out.