![]() Next is a pretty bend and another bushy, tree-lined section, at one point bordered by a big sandy overhang, on the right side, used (illegally) for primitive camping, with litter, graffiti on the walls, and remains of fires at its base. A long straight, now 2 miles from the end of the trail, leads to a temporarily less distinctive section, before the widest pool, also quite long, and at its narrowest point 6 feet or more deep, though passable via a shallower wade along a slippery, submerged shelf. A steep tributary joins from the southwest as the canyon angles back to the north, running through more nice passages lined with many green-flowered bog orchids in midsummer. After more boulders, pools and cascades, the canyon bends to the left (north) and becomes wider and bushier once more, on to a section with deep red rocks below an overhanging cliff. A deeper pool is followed by a dark channel, a series of boulders, and another narrow, deep pool, passed by walking along a shelf on the left side. The canyon rounds a bend, below a photogenic, streaked cliff, near a good wildflower location that includes four bright red species growing close together ( cardinal flower, california fuchsia, scarlet cinquefoil and washington monkeyflower), and continues with a lengthy section of trickling shallows over slickrock. Past the confluence is another wading pool and a bushy section a long, straight, now heading northwest, about one mile from the end of the trail. ![]() The lower end is overgrown, usually dry, and does not look particularly interesting. Not far beyond is a tributary on the south, originating on the slopes beneath Buckhead Point. The streamway then becomes bushier, and less enclosed, as it curves through a U-shaped bend and heads north towards the next pretty section, another subway-like like passage below vertical, blackish walls, with a lengthy pool beneath. The pool is relatively shallow, usually just one foot or so, and extends for 400 feet, round a wide bend, then gives way to a sequence of smaller pools and boulders, at one point overlooked by a huge, streaked, overhanging, head-shaped rock formation. A notice warns backpackers that camping is not permissible until after another 2.7 miles. The official West Fork Trail begins just beyond, entering the canyon and following the creek for nearly 3 miles before descending to the pebble beach in front of a long pool, framed by eroded, subway-like cliffs. The upper reaches of the West Fork though are rather less scenic than the downstream section since the canyon sides sloping rather than sheer, the streambed is more overgrown and boulder-filled, the creek is more likely to be dry, and the rocks around the streambed are grey rather than red.įrom the car park, the path crosses a meadow, runs alongside Oak Creek briefly, through a corridor of trees then passes over the stream on a high bridge, into another meadow, site of the ruins of Mayhew Lodge, which operated as guest accommodation until 1968. From trail's end, the canyon is next accessible by a road after 8.6 miles, via a track (FR 231) through the Kaibab National Forest, from Rogers Lake, and the whole distance could be hiked in one day, preferably using a car shuttle, with an alternative exit via Casner Cabin Draw, a deep tributary to the north. This particular obstacle can be avoided, if desired, by scrambling up the overgrown slope to the right, but ahead are numerous other places where wading is required, through clear water usually no more than two feet deep and often just a few inches. The hike is popular all year even in the depths of winter when some of the pools freeze and the canyon sides are enveloped with snow, though at any time not so many people continue beyond the official trail - after crossing the creek 13 times, and otherwise running across wide, usually wooded benches either side of the streamway, this ends after a descent from a higher bench in front of a pebble beach just before the first of many places where the stream covers all of the canyon floor, confined between low, red cliffs. The 3.1 mile path along the lower reaches of the deep canyon of the West Fork of Oak Creek is generally considered the best trail in the Sedona region owing to the beautiful red rock scenery, the abundant wildflowers in spring and summer, and the many pretty pools and cascades along the creek.
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