Doe Mountain Trail: The Short Climb, the Unfenced Rim and the Way Down

Doe Mountain is the short climb with the long view: 0.7 miles of switchbacks up the north face of a flat-topped mesa, then a 1.3-mile walk around its rim with nothing between you and the whole of West Sedona’s skyline. The Forest Service rates it moderately challenging and allows an hour and a half, which is honest on both counts — the switchbacks are steep and rocky for a few minutes, and the top is as easy as walking gets. What makes it worth a page of its own is the decision it forces at the rim. The trail stops marking the way, the edges are unfenced, and how far around you walk and how close to the drop you stand are entirely your call. This guide is about making that call well, and about who should pick the shaded canyon down the road instead.

In This Guide

11 min read

Where: the Doe Mountain trailhead on FR 152C — Dry Creek Road north from SR 89A about three miles to the Boynton Canyon intersection, then left on FR 152C about a mile; all paved, about 5 miles and 15 minutes from Sedona (Forest Service directions) | Official figures: Doe Mountain Trail No. 60, moderately challenging, 0.7 miles to the top of the mesa and 1.3 miles around the edge, 542 ft of gain from a 4,615 ft trailhead, 1 hour 30 minutes | Pass: fee site — Red Rock Pass or federal Interagency pass to park (Forest Service) | Shuttle: none | Shared with: Bear Mountain, which starts across the road

Is Doe Mountain the right short hike?

	Doe Mountain	Pick something else when
Best for	A first Sedona hike with a real payoff; sunrise or sunset with little effort; anyone who wants the 360-degree view without a long day	You want shade or water — Fay Canyon is minutes away and has both the canyon feel and the easier floor
What is hard	The switchbacks: steep, rocky steps for the first stretch, a hand on the rock here and there, over quickly	Uneven rock steps are a problem for you, or you need a stroller-friendly surface — see accessible viewpoints
The top	Flat cap rock, open, unfenced; the rim walk is the point	Small children who cannot be kept away from edges; windy days if heights bother you
Time	An hour and a half by the Forest Service's estimate, including the rim	You have a full morning and want a bigger climb — Bear Mountain from the same lot, with everything that implies
Preview	The Doe Mountain Trail Preview shows the switchbacks, the notch and the first steps onto the unfenced rim at a hiker's eye level. The rim loop and the descent are not shown.

The climb: seven-tenths of a mile, most of it switchbacks

From the lot the trail heads straight at the mesa's north side and starts climbing almost at once. The Forest Service's description is a trail that "switchbacks directly up," and that is what you get: a built, rocky zigzag that gains the mesa's 542 feet in under a mile, with the steepest, rockiest steps near the bottom and the grade easing as the trail traverses toward a notch in the cap rock. Footing is the whole difficulty — uneven stone steps, a little loose grit, a steadying hand on the wall in a couple of places — and the right shoes turn it from a scramble into a stair climb. There is no exposure worth the name on the way up; the drops are beside the trail, not under it, and the tread is wide enough to feel secure.

The rim: 1.3 miles with no fence and no sign

You come up through a break in the cap rock and the mesa opens out: a near-level top of slickrock, packed dirt and low scrub that the erosion-resistant cap has protected while everything around it wore away, which is the geology lesson and the reason for the view. The Forest Service puts the vantage point about 400 feet above the surrounding country and lists what you are looking at — Bear, Maroon and Wilson mountains; Loy, Boynton and Secret canyons; Chimney Rock and the Cockscomb; Sedona to the east and south; Munds Mountain and Sycamore Pass marking Sycamore Canyon and the Verde Valley beyond. The 1.3-mile route around the edge visits all of it, and the usual way to do it is the obvious one: turn one way along the rim, keep the drop on the same side, and come back to the notch.

Two things to manage up here. The first is the edge. Nothing is fenced, the rock near the rim is often sandy, and wind on the mesa top is common — give the drop more room than feels necessary, and more again with children or a camera in your hands. The second is the way down. The rim looks alike from above, use-paths wander across the top, and the notch you came up through is easy to walk past on the return; note what it looks like from the mesa side when you arrive, and if you are using a phone map, drop a pin there before you start the loop. Cell coverage on the mesa is not something to rely on.

Difficulty, dimension by dimension

Dimension	The climb	The rim walk
Cardio	One steady effort: 542 ft in 0.7 miles, then done	None; level cap rock
Scrambling	A hand on the rock at a few steps; no climbing moves	None
Exposure	Low; the trail is wide and the drops are beside it	As much as you choose — the rim is unfenced and the edges are real
Footing	Uneven rocky steps and some loose grit; sturdy shoes, not sandals	Slickrock, sand and dirt; sandy rock near the edge is the slip to watch
Navigation	Obvious	No signs; use-paths; the descent notch is the thing to keep track of
Heat	Open north face; shade is sparse on the climb	Fully exposed; scattered junipers only. Start early from May through September (heat plan)

Doe Mountain is not an accessible trail experience: the climb is rocky steps and the top has no barriers. Leashed dogs manage the switchbacks, with a lift over a step or two for small ones, and need their own water; there is none on the route. For children the climb is rarely the issue — a child who handles rocky steps on their own handles this — but the rim is, and a parent needs to be able to keep a small child away from an unfenced edge for the length of the loop. If that is not realistic, Fay Canyon, our younger-children recommendation, is a few minutes away on the same road.

The lot, the pass and Bear Mountain across the road

The Forest Service describes the trailhead lot as large, and the roads to it are paved all the way, which makes this one of the easier West Sedona trailheads to reach in any car. It is a Red Rock Pass fee site — a Red Rock Pass or a federal Interagency pass goes on the dashboard. The simplest way to have one is to buy it online beforehand, where it is matched to your license plate and nothing needs printing; the machines at fee sites take cards only. Bear Mountain shares the lot and starts across the road, so the parking pressure here is two trails' worth, most of it Doe Mountain's short-hike traffic through the middle of the day in the busy months. Early and late, when the light is best anyway, is also when the lot is calm. The Doe Mountain parking guide has the details.

Sunrise, sunset and what to pair it with

Because the mesa faces every direction and the climb is short, Doe Mountain is among the rare Sedona summits where both sunrise and sunset are practical without a long walk in the dark. A sunrise visit means climbing the switchbacks by headlamp — on dry rock that is fine — and being on the rim as the first light reaches the formations around you. A sunset visit means the reverse problem: the descent in fading light, with the notch to find first. Either way, the sunrise hikes guide has the month-by-month timing.

The natural pairing is contrast. Doe Mountain is open rock and sun; Fay Canyon, down the same road, is walls and shade, and the two together make a half day from trailheads minutes apart. For water in the afternoon, the Oak Creek sites — Crescent Moon at Red Rock Crossing, Grasshopper Point — are concession day-use areas with their own $15 vehicle fee, and your Red Rock Pass or federal pass buys nothing there; the where-it's-required guide keeps that straight. In summer, the mesa is a first-light hike and nothing else; in winter it is the clearest air of the year, and ice on the shaded steps is the one thing to check for.

If you want something else

• The same lot, ten times the climb: Bear Mountain — 2,289 ft of tilted slickrock, strenuous by the Forest Service's rating, not for children. Doe Mountain is the view from the foot of it.
• A big view with even less effort: the easy hikes with big views guide, and the Airport Mesa overlook for a drive-up version.
• Shade, canyon walls and small children: Fay Canyon, and the family hikes guide for the rest of the list.
• Another mesa walk in West Sedona: Sugarloaf and Thunder Mountain, closer to town and quieter.

Questions people ask before they go

How long is the Doe Mountain hike? By the Forest Service's figures, 0.7 miles to the top and 1.3 miles around the edge, so about 2.7 miles if you climb, do the full rim loop and come back down, with 542 feet of gain. It allows an hour and a half.

Is it hard? The switchbacks are steep and rocky for a short while and then it is flat. Rated moderately challenging; the rating is for the steps, not the distance.

Can kids do it? Children who manage rocky steps on their own, yes — the climb is short. The question to answer first is whether you can keep them away from an unfenced rim for the whole loop. If not, Fay Canyon.

Do I need a pass? Yes: this trailhead is a Forest Service fee site, so a Red Rock Pass or a federal Interagency pass goes on the dashboard. There is no shuttle.

Is it good for sunset? One of the best short options, provided you locate the descent notch before the light goes and carry a headlamp for the switchbacks.

Doe Mountain or Bear Mountain? Doe for the view in ninety minutes; Bear for a strenuous half day on slab with the same view from much higher. They start from the same lot and have nothing else in common.

Last updated: October 20, 2026