Devil’s Bridge is an easy hike to the largest natural arch in the Sedona area. It’s definitely a must-see if you don’t mind crowds during the day. Otherwise, make the hike during sunrise or sunset like we did to avoid the lines that form for photo ops and see Sedona colors at their finest.
We’re lucky enough to live only about an hour and a half or so from Sedona, making it easy to take day trips to explore the area. Even though we’ve been dozens of times now, we feel like there is still so much left to see! But this time, we decided to return to a Sedona classic for sunset: Devil’s Bridge. We still like Cathedral Rock better for sunset as it has a more direct view of the sun setting, but this is definitely a great time to see the bridge without hoards of people!
If you’re lucky enough to have a high clearance 4×4 vehicle, you can drive directly to the actual Devil’s Bridge trailhead. Pretty sure Cory thinks about pulling the trigger on one at least once a day, but for now, we still have to start at the parking lot off Dry Creek Road and walk along the old jeep trail. After about 1.5 miles, the trailhead will be on the right.
From this trailhead, the top of the bridge is only .7 more miles away! Be warned that most of the elevation gain listed for this hike is in this final portion. The trail gradually moves upward and then gets fairly steep when you reach the natural rock stairs. The trail splits here: to the left is a trail to walk underneath the bridge, to the right are the stairs leading to the top of bridge.
You’ll end up at a viewpoint to the right of the bridge, presumably with lots of other people waiting their turn to a take a photo.
We started our hike about 2.5 hours before sunset, with plans to chill at the bridge and wait for the crowds to thin out. We were pretty hopeful it wouldn’t be too busy at the top since we passed TONS of groups walking the opposite way on the trail.
When we arrived, there were still quite a few groups, but after about 15 minutes or so, almost all of them cleared out. Besides a few straggling teenage girls who kept being unsatisfied with their selfies, we were able to take photos and enjoy the view in peace.
Sunset is a magical time in Sedona. The colors really come alive.
We wanted to stay longer and enjoy the after-sunset glow, but we didn’t want to hike too long in the dark, so we headed back down. We made it back to the car just before we would’ve had to bust out the headlamps!
