Doe Mountain 5067’
Total Time: 1 hour
Round Trip Mileage: 2.0 miles
Elevation Gain: 575′
Crux: Class 1
Trailhead and Amenities: Bear/ Doe Mountain trailhead near Boynton Pass. Trash, Pit toilets, no water. Red Rocks Pass required.
Companions: Holly
For our first trip into Sedona together with some persistent intense heat and thunderstorms by noon, we wanted to do a fairly short hike to introduce us to Red Rock Country. Doe Mountain, a flat topped Red Rock mesa to the west of Sedona, fit the bill nicely. The trail starts out at the joint parking lot for Bear Mountain and Doe Mountain near Boynton Pass.
The trail is straightforward and easy to follow, and after a few junctions early on, the trail switches up several layers of Sedona red rock through Pinyon pines and Juniper.
The grade was fairly tame, and the trail traversed around several levels of sandstone rocks and several minor cliff bands. Not long after starting out, we found ourselves eye level with a series of sandstone caves below the summit mesa.
The trail cuts directly to the right of these shallow caves through a weakness in the top layer, a shallow crack that you can walk up to the top. The summit mesa does offer 360 degree views… just not all at once. The top is braided with use trails from one lookout to the next. Holly and I headed to the promontory jutting out to the NE to get a great view of Capitol Butte.
True to its name, we stumbled upon a small doe hiding under a tree which ran away from us in terror before I could snap a picture. We enjoyed the view for a bit, already seeing huge storm clouds looming above.
We quickly tagged to true highpoint in the middle of the mesa before heading down uneventfully and grabbing lunch in Sedona proper. A nice easy introduction to Red Rock country, and the first of many Sedona summits in the years to come.