Hiking Soldier Pass Trail: Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole, Seven Sacred Pools & Soldier Pass Cave

If you want a trail that packs two unique geological wonders into the first 1.8 kilometres (1.1 miles / 30 minutes) of easy walking, head to the Soldier Pass Trail in West Sedona.

1. How to Reach the Trailhead (Use the Free Line 14 Shuttle from Posse Grounds)

Because the Soldier Pass Trailhead sits at the end of a residential street (Shadow Rock Drive) with a tiny 14-car gated car park, from Thursday to Sunday year-round and daily during peak weeks the gated car park is closed to cars and served exclusively by the free Sedona Shuttle (Line 14). Park for free at Posse Grounds Park & Ride (525 Posse Ground Rd in West Sedona, with toilets, water refills and 250 spaces) and take the five-minute shuttle to the trailhead. From Monday to Wednesday when the small car park is full, park at the Jim Thompson Trailhead at the end of Jordan Road in Uptown and walk the 1.2-mile Cibola Pass connector trail into Soldier Pass.

2. The 3 Milestones Along the Soldier Pass Trail (2.0 km to 7.2 km Round-Trip)

1. Stop 1 (At 500 Metres, 8 Mins In): The Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole: barely five minutes from the shuttle drop-off, you stand at the edge of a 45-by-25-metre vertical-walled abyss filled with house-sized sandstone boulders. Rainwater dissolved a subterranean cave in the underlying Redwall Limestone until the roof caved in during the 1880s, followed by a second collapse in 1989.
2. Stop 2 (At 1.0 km, 20 Mins In): The Seven Sacred Pools: ten minutes further along the gentle trail, a seasonal sandstone wash has eroded seven consecutive cup-shaped rock basins that cascade into one another, reflecting Coffee Pot Rock and Brins Mesa. You can turn around here for an easy 2.0-kilometre round-trip walk taking 45 minutes.
3. Stop 3 (At 1.5 to 2.2 Miles): Soldier Pass Cave or Brins Mesa Loop: continuing past the pools, the main trail climbs to Brins Mesa, while an unmarked social spur branches right at the 1.3-mile power-line marker up to the rock arch window of Soldier Pass Cave.