Llama Trail: Sedona's Walk-Up Route to Soldier Pass Landmarks

1.7-mile loop via Cibola Pass, easy-moderate, 250 feet of gain from Sanborn Drive. The permit-free connector to Devil's Kitchen sinkhole and Seven Sacred Pools -- no Recreation.gov reservation, no $25 day permit, no 14-car lottery. Sanborn Drive street parking fills by 8 AM on peak weekends.

By The Lowdown Guide Editorial Team · Visited Spring 2026 · Updated May 2026

Trail Stats

  • Distance1.7 mi loop (Cibola Pass); 2.0 mi RT same-way
  • DifficultyEasy-Moderate
  • Elevation Gain~250 ft
  • Trail TypeLoop (via Cibola Pass)
  • ParkingFree street parking, ~15-20 spots, fills by 8 AM weekends
  • Pass RequiredNo - free at Sanborn Dr access
  • TrailheadSanborn Drive, West Sedona
  • Trail UseHikers, Dogs on Leash
The Lowdown Verdict: Llama Trail is the insider answer to Sedona's most permit-frustrating experience: wanting to see Devil's Kitchen sinkhole and Seven Sacred Pools without the Recreation.gov lottery for the 14-vehicle Soldier Pass Trailhead. The Sanborn Drive access point is free, requires no Red Rock Pass, and sits in a West Sedona residential neighborhood that most first-time visitors never think to check. Llama Trail threads sandy pinyon-juniper and brief slickrock benches to the Cibola Pass junction, from which the full Soldier Pass landmark network -- Devil's Kitchen at roughly mile 1.7 and Seven Sacred Pools beyond -- is accessible on a 4 to 5 mile walk-up combo. The 1.7-mile Cibola Pass loop back to Sanborn Drive is the shortest circuit. If you want a harder challenge in the same corridor, Soldier Pass Trail gives the full picture with the permit overhead.
What Llama Trail Is Not:
  • Not a permit bypass for everything. Llama Trail itself is permit-free. But if you enter the designated Soldier Pass vehicle permit zone beyond the Cibola Pass junction, you are technically in an area that the Forest Service manages as part of the Soldier Pass permit corridor. The walk-up approach via Llama is permitted; parking at the Soldier Pass Trailhead without a reservation is not.
  • Not a maintained wide trail throughout. The Cibola Pass section involves cairn-marked slickrock benches. If you lose the cairns, backtrack to the last known marker. Do not bushwhack in pinyon-juniper -- the terrain off-trail is rough and disorienting.
  • Not a large trailhead lot. Sanborn Drive is a residential street. There is no formal kiosk or paved lot. Street parking is first-come, first-served with approximately 15 to 20 curbside spots. Weekend mornings before 8 AM are necessary for reliable parking.
  • Not stroller-accessible. The slickrock sections on Cibola Pass are too uneven for any wheeled conveyance. This is a foot-only route with older children (ages 6+) and dogs on leash.

Trailhead and Parking: Sanborn Drive Access

Llama Trail's primary access is from Sanborn Drive in West Sedona, reached by turning north off Soldier Pass Road approximately 0.4 miles west of the SR-89A and Soldier Pass Road intersection. Drive Sanborn Drive north until the road ends at the informal trailhead area. Street parking lines the final two blocks. The access point sits in a residential neighborhood and has no kiosk, pay station, or formal signage beyond a small trail marker at the turnaround.

No Red Rock Pass is required at the Sanborn Drive entry point. This is a long-standing local workaround that the Forest Service tolerates because the access corridor crosses residential land before reaching the national forest boundary. Available curbside spaces number approximately 15 to 20 along the final two blocks of Sanborn Drive. On spring and fall peak weekends, those spaces fill between 7:30 and 8 AM. Arriving at 7 AM gives comfortable odds. Do not park blocking any residential driveway -- citations are issued and the neighborhood is actively patrolled.

The contrast with the Soldier Pass Trailhead is stark. That lot holds 14 vehicles on a Recreation.gov reservation system at $25 per day per vehicle. Reservations open 6 months in advance and sell out within hours for peak spring weekends. Llama Trail via Sanborn Drive sidesteps that entirely. For permit logistics on other Sedona trails, see the Sedona permits and passes guide.

Crowd Timing: How to Beat the Soldier Pass Rush

Soldier Pass Trail is one of the most crowded corridors in Sedona because it leads to two genuinely unusual geologic features -- Devil's Kitchen sinkhole (one of the largest natural sinkholes in Arizona at roughly 75 feet across and 65 feet deep) and Seven Sacred Pools (a series of tinajas carved into red sandstone that fill seasonally). The permit system manages Soldier Pass Trailhead vehicle volume, but it does not cap the total number of hikers reaching the landmarks. Llama Trail brings permit-free hikers into the same corridor from the west.

The busiest window at Devil's Kitchen is 9 AM to noon on weekends, when both permit-holders from the Soldier Pass lot and walk-up hikers from the Llama/Cibola Pass approach converge. The quietest windows are before 8 AM and after 2 PM on weekdays. If your goal is to have the sinkhole to yourself for photographs, a 6:30 AM start from Sanborn Drive puts you at Devil's Kitchen around 7:30 to 7:45 AM -- typically before the first Soldier Pass permit holders arrive from the east. Early morning also brings better light on the sinkhole's north-facing interior walls. Check current trail conditions before any early-morning start, particularly after winter precipitation that can make the Cibola Pass slickrock sections slippery.

Weekday timing is markedly better than weekends throughout the year. Tuesday through Thursday mornings from 7 to 9 AM are the quietest windows on the Llama-Cibola-Soldier Pass network. The Sanborn Drive street parking on weekday mornings rarely fills before 9 AM even in peak season, giving you a much wider arrival window.

Trail Breakdown: Mile by Mile

0-0.3 mi

Sanborn Drive to Forest Boundary

The trail begins as a social path from the Sanborn Drive turnaround, heading northeast through sparse residential-edge juniper. The grade is flat. A small Coconino National Forest sign marks the boundary where the residential land ends. Beyond this point the trail is managed as national forest. The surface is packed sand and cinder, easy walking.

0.3-0.7 mi

Pinyon-Juniper Corridor

The trail widens and climbs gently northeast through open pinyon-juniper woodland. Red rock formation walls begin to appear to the north and east. The trail is well-worn and marked with occasional cairns at route-decision points. Grade is gentle with approximately 100 feet of gain in this section. Partial shade available in the morning from the juniper canopy.

0.7-1.0 mi

Cibola Pass Junction and Slickrock Benches

The trail reaches the Cibola Pass area and transitions to slickrock benches with cairn markers. This is the most technical section of the route -- not difficult, but requires attention to the cairns. Views open significantly east toward the Soldier Pass corridor. The junction with the Soldier Pass Trail network is reached at approximately mile 1.0. To reach Devil's Kitchen and Seven Sacred Pools, continue east on Soldier Pass Trail from the junction.

1.0-1.7 mi

Loop Return via Cibola Pass South

The loop return swings southwest from the Cibola Pass junction back toward Sanborn Drive via a slightly different sandy corridor. The descent is gentle with views back toward the red rock walls. The loop rejoins the outbound trail approximately 0.2 miles from the Sanborn Drive turnaround. Total loop distance from Sanborn Drive and back is approximately 1.7 miles.

Extension

Devil's Kitchen and Seven Sacred Pools via Soldier Pass Trail

From the Cibola Pass junction, continuing east on the Soldier Pass Trail network adds approximately 1.5 to 2 miles round trip to reach Devil's Kitchen sinkhole (approximately mile 1.7 from Sanborn Drive) and Seven Sacred Pools (approximately mile 2.0 to 2.2). The total walk-up combo from Sanborn Drive to the pools and back runs 4 to 4.5 miles with 350 to 400 feet of total gain.

Best Season and Nearby Trails

Llama Trail is open year-round. The best hiking windows are October through April when temperatures stay comfortable for the full walk-up to Soldier Pass landmarks. Seven Sacred Pools are most photogenic from January through April when winter rains and snowmelt fill the tinajas with standing water. By June the pools typically dry up. Visiting in spring gives you the best odds of seeing the pools with water and the red rock scenery under green desert vegetation. Summer (June through August) hiking on this exposed trail is not recommended; start before 6 AM if you must hike in summer.

For nearby alternatives in West Sedona, Sugarloaf Loop Trail is a short 1.4-mile loop starting from Jordan Road with panoramic West Sedona views and is similarly free of permit requirements. Carroll Canyon Trail is a slightly longer West Sedona option that stays in the canyon bottom with more shade than the exposed Llama-Cibola corridor. Thunder Mountain Trail departs from the same West Sedona area and offers more elevation gain and red rock rim views for hikers wanting a longer outing.

For permit planning on other Sedona trailheads, the Sedona hiking permits and passes guide details which lots require Red Rock Pass, which require advance reservation, and how the America the Beautiful annual pass applies across Coconino National Forest trailheads.

Guided Soldier Pass Tours from Sedona

If you want a guided experience through the Soldier Pass corridor with a local naturalist explaining the geology of Devil's Kitchen and Seven Sacred Pools, Sedona jeep and hiking tour operators offer guided trips that handle permit logistics. Viator lists available departure times and current pricing for Sedona's most popular guided hikes.

Find Sedona Soldier Pass Tours on Viator →

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Editorial note: Trail researched Spring 2026 by The Lowdown Guide editorial team. Sanborn Drive street parking capacity (~15-20 vehicles) and fill times verified on-site. Soldier Pass Trailhead permit specifications (14 vehicles, $25/day, Recreation.gov) sourced from Coconino National Forest official permit listings. Devil's Kitchen and Seven Sacred Pools distance estimates from Sanborn Drive field-verified. Cibola Pass cairn section terrain described from direct observation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Llama Trail used for in Sedona? +
Llama Trail is primarily used as a walk-up connector route to the Soldier Pass Trail landmarks, specifically Devil's Kitchen sinkhole and Seven Sacred Pools, without needing the permit-required Soldier Pass Trailhead. The Soldier Pass Trailhead has only 14 vehicle spaces reserved through Recreation.gov at $25 per day, and those reservations sell out weeks in advance during spring and fall. Llama Trail, accessed from Sanborn Drive in West Sedona, bypasses that permit requirement entirely. Hikers combine Llama Trail with Cibola Pass for a 4 to 5 mile round-trip walk-up loop to the same landmarks.
Where do you park for Llama Trail in Sedona? +
The primary access point for Llama Trail is Sanborn Drive in West Sedona, off Soldier Pass Road. Street parking along Sanborn Drive is free and does not require a Red Rock Pass at this residential access point. The available curbside spaces fill by approximately 8 AM on peak spring and fall weekends, so arrive by 7:30 AM to secure a spot. There is no dedicated trailhead lot with numbered spaces. On-street parking is limited to roughly 15 to 20 vehicles along the Sanborn Drive corridor. Do not block residential driveways.
How does Llama Trail connect to Soldier Pass Trail? +
Llama Trail connects to Soldier Pass Trail via the Cibola Pass junction, approximately 1.0 mile from the Sanborn Drive trailhead. From Cibola Pass, hikers continue south and east on the Soldier Pass Trail network to reach Devil's Kitchen sinkhole at approximately mile 1.7 and Seven Sacred Pools at approximately mile 2.0 to 2.2 from the Sanborn Drive start. The combined Llama-Cibola Pass-Soldier Pass loop runs approximately 4 to 5 miles round trip depending on how far into the Soldier Pass landmarks you explore. The terrain is sandy pinyon-juniper with slickrock benches on the Cibola Pass section.
Do you need a permit for Llama Trail in Sedona? +
No permit is required to hike Llama Trail itself. The Sanborn Drive access point is a residential street entry that does not require a Red Rock Pass or any advance reservation. The permit requirement applies specifically to the Soldier Pass Trailhead, which has 14 vehicle spaces managed through Recreation.gov at $25 per day. Llama Trail is the permit-free alternative route that accesses the same Soldier Pass landmark network via Cibola Pass without using the permit lot. If you stay on the Llama and Cibola Pass corridor and do not enter the designated Soldier Pass vehicle permit zone, no fee is charged.
Is Llama Trail good for families and dogs? +
Llama Trail is suitable for families with older children and dogs on leash. The 1.7-mile loop gains approximately 250 feet with no technical scrambling or cliff exposure on the Llama Trail segment itself. The Cibola Pass section involves brief slickrock benches with cairn markers and is manageable for fit adults and teenagers. Dogs are permitted on leash throughout. There are no water sources on trail; carry at least 1 liter per dog on warm days. The sandy surface is forgiving on paws outside of summer midday heat. Strollers are not recommended given the uneven terrain and slickrock crossings.