The actual hike is only about 2 miles round trip, but the road to get to the hike is actually very uneven and a high clearance vehicle is recommended. Phil and I decided to take my Murano (not AWD) on the road and we made it, but it wasn't pretty and took a very long time. We enviously watched as the Jeeps hauled down the road at 3x the speed we could go. We kept thinking that we weren't going to make it to the trail head, most likely because of the slow pace, but we persisted and got to the obvious trail head on the right.
The trail is easy to follow until you get to the part where you can go up on top of the natural arch, also called the bridge, or you can go underneath it. The route up to the top of the bridge passes a nice overlook of a large Sedona mountain and was a great place to stop for pictures. Also, the route going to the top involves some mild bouldering. Since the hike was so short, we actually got pictures on top and underneath the Devil's Bridge. Karen refused to go all the way out to the middle of the natural arch since she was worried it would crumble beneath her, but Phil celebrated right in the middle of the bridge.
The drive back to the main road was pretty much just as slow as the drive to the trail head, but again, the Murano made it. Since our hike was so short, we attempted to do another hike right after, but the sun was setting too fast and we were on the darker side of a mountain. Neither of us can remember the name of this hike we attempted, but I don't think we will ever forget turning back early, running in the dirt, and being completely exhausted to avoid total darkness in the desert without headlamps.
Devil's Bridge is a must see in Sedona, but a high clearance vehicle would definitely save you a lot of time driving to the trail head. The website we used gave pretty much good directions so you would be ok to follow it.
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| View of the top of Devil's Bridge |
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| That's as far as she would go towards the middle. |
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| View from Below the Natural Arch |
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