Soldier Pass Trail: 7 Arches, a Sinkhole, and a Cave You Can Stand Inside

By The Lowdown Guide Editorial Team · Updated April 2026

Getting to the Trailhead

The Soldier Pass Trailhead is in West Sedona, accessed via Soldier Pass Road off AZ-89A. The lot is signed and the gate is operated by the Forest Service: open 8am, closed and locked at 6pm. If your vehicle is still inside the gate at 6pm, it stays until the gate reopens the next morning.

Parking reality: 14 spots. On weekends from October through April, the lot is full by 8:15am. Once full, a ranger turns vehicles around at the gate. There is no waiting line for spaces.

Three ways in:

• Arrive at 7:50am: Be at the gate when it opens. Spring weekends, this is competitive — multiple cars line up.
• Take the Sedona Trolley: The trolley shuttle from Uptown stops at the trailhead. This bypasses parking entirely and is the lowest-stress option.
• Walk in via Jordan Road / Cibola Pass: Park at Jordan Road Trailhead (free, larger lot). Take the Cibola Pass Trail connector north to Soldier Pass Trail. This adds about 1.5 miles each way — your day becomes ~7.5 miles total.

A Red Rock Pass is required at the Soldier Pass Trailhead lot itself ($5/day). The America the Beautiful annual pass also works.

Trail Highlights in Order

The trail follows a wash north into the canyon. Each highlight comes at a predictable spot:

Mile 0.4 — Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole. A roughly 150-foot-wide, 50-foot-deep active sinkhole. The Forest Service maintains a viewing area set back from the edge. The most recent collapse expansion was in 1989; older guides reference earlier collapses in the 1880s. The sinkhole is still considered geologically active.

Mile 1.2 — Seven Sacred Pools. A series of basin pools carved into the slickrock by water erosion. In spring (March–May) all seven typically hold water. By August in a dry year, you may find only one or two pools with water. The pools are sensitive — do not swim or bathe in them.

Mile 1.6 — Soldier Pass Cave junction. A signed spur trail branches left and climbs steeply to Soldier Pass Cave. The spur is about 0.5 miles but includes hands-on scrambling and a final approach where you climb up into the cave entrance. The cave has a famous 'window' opening that frames the canyon below — the Instagram shot. The cave interior is large enough to stand in and walk back several rooms.

Mile 2.2 — Soldier Arch and Brins Mesa Junction. If you continue past the cave junction, the trail climbs to a saddle with views of Soldier Arch and the Mogollon Rim escarpment. Most hikers turn around here, though Brins Mesa Trail continues to a longer 9-mile loop option for advanced hikers.

Pink Jeep Tour Overlap

The first 1.5 miles of Soldier Pass Trail run on the same path that Pink Jeep Tours and other off-road tour operators use. Expect to share the wash with motorized tours, especially mid-morning to mid-afternoon. The tours are loud and dusty for short stretches — this is the nature of the trail.

If the jeep traffic bothers you, hiking before 9am avoids most of it. After 9am, the tours run heavily until about 4pm. The path widens enough that you don't need to step off-trail; jeep drivers are courteous to hikers.

Past the Devil's Kitchen viewing area, motorized traffic ends — the rest of the trail to the cave and beyond is hiker-only. See Pink Jeep Tours if the off-road experience appeals — Broken Arrow is the more famous Pink Jeep route.

Gear and Safety

• Footwear: Closed-toe shoes with grip — the cave spur involves rock scrambling. Trail runners or day boots work.
• Water: 2 liters minimum. The wash section is exposed midday.
• Headlamp: Bring one if you plan to explore the cave's rear chambers — they get dark quickly.
• With kids: Devil's Kitchen and Seven Sacred Pools are kid-friendly. The cave scramble is best for ages 8 and up with hands-on supervision.
• Gate timing: Allow at least 3 hours from gate-in to gate-out. Don't push past 5:30pm starting back if you have to retrieve a car.

Who This Trail Is Right For

Good fit for: Anyone who wants the most variety per mile in Sedona, families with older kids, hikers chasing photos at the cave window, and people willing to plan around the parking constraint.

Not the right trail if: You can't arrive before 8:15am on a weekend and don't want to walk the Cibola Pass workaround, you have a fear of enclosed spaces (the cave gets tight in the rear), or you can't manage hands-on rock scrambling for the cave spur.

For a less-crowded alternative with similar arch features, see Cathedral Rock Trail. For a flat canyon walk with no scrambling, see West Fork Oak Creek. For a true vortex hike, see Bell Rock Trail. For all 8 trails, return to the Sedona hiking pillar.