Boynton Canyon (Secret Cave) Sedona

Boynton Canyon, located in Sedona, Arizona.

Now this canyon is an extremely popular trail to hike for all ages. It doesn’t stop there…it is also dog friendly! Parking is located at the Boynton Canyon Trailhead, where there is limited parking. In order to beat the crowds and have a guaranteed spot…GO EARLY. We arrived in February at 7am and the lot was already filling up. There is a bathroom and a map of all the trails within the area. This is where I saw we could go to Birthing Cave from here(see previous post for details).

From the trailhead to the end of the canyon and back is about 6 miles and only roughly 800 feet of elevation gain. On this hike I saw people with Starbucks in hand, sandals, regular clothes, and just basic water bottles. I am not suggesting you do the same as them…But what I noticed, was it was manageable for them with minimal preparation. I always wear my Osprey day pack with 2.5L of water and protein/Clif Bars just in case. Anyway, I would recommend you bring water and be prepared because you just never know.

This canyon was pretty neat with all the red rocks surrounding us as we hiked up into it. We even had the added bonus of some snow on the trail about 2.5 miles in. Clearly was parts of this trail that get little to no sun exposure, therefore not melting the snow. I was pleasantly surprised as I have never seen Sedona(in person) covered in snow. Marked it off the bucket list. With the tree coverage, canyon feels and snow…it was one of the coolest feelings and sights I’ve seen in a long time. Once you almost reach the end…the trail ascends for a short, somewhat steep climb up to a flatter rock area to sit down and take in the scenery. Not the best view in Sedona, but nothing to complain about.

“Secret Cave”.

Now this was the real reason we went to Boynton Canyon. I had done my research online. Spent a couple hours reading reviews, asking others how they found it, and searching AllTrails for others who had recorded it. Once I was confident enough with what I found out, I was ready to find this so called “Secret Cave”.

From the trailhead, about 2 miles in there will be a big Alligator Juniper Tree on the left and what looks like a bunch of dead branches blocking off the side trail. If you look past this you will see a faint trail off to the right and that’s the way you need to go. Go around them or try and step over it. From here you follow the small trail, which is fairly easy to follow along. The spot I could see giving people difficulty was when there is a fallen tree branch where you must go around. This leads you to the creek bed. DON”T go left, look up to the right where the fallen tree branch is and go up that trail. A little bit further up there is a metal forest sign, continue past this to the left and you’ll notice a rock slant going up between the two rock walls. YOU ARE THERE. Be careful climbing up the slant, it is slippery in one specific spot and could be worse depending on rain/snow/weather. Turn around and the view you’ve seen on Instagram is right there. While looking out of the cave, the ledge to the right leads you to more little “bunker/caves”. It was about a quarter mile off the main trail, definitely under a half mile.

Good Luck!