May 24, 2021

Dog Friendly Sedona, Arizona

We took an evening trip down to dog friendly Sedona Arizona which was about 1 hour from Flagstaff.

The main attraction Cathedral Hill hike which is 1/2 mile up 800 feet to reach one of the areas largest vortexes. This trail is dog friendly but if you want to climb to the very top there is one section dogs would not be able to get up or down on their own. There is also quite a stretch of additional uphill climbs. We used our K9 Sport Sacks to do this with our corgis.

Some of the hike smooth rock area during the incline. Rather than testing my shoes stickiness I opted to just crawl to be safe
Halfway up
The final stretch
View from the top / vortex area

The middle section of the climb was very narrow to get up but thankfully there were foot holes. Getting down is quite difficult with very steep smooth rocks that you have to butt scoot down. It is doable but plan to brace yourself against the sides. A dog would definitely not be able to do this on their own and carrying them wouldn’t let you use your arms. With the use of our K9 Sport Sacks we could use our arms to not tumble forward.

The narrow most difficult part of the climb

That being said, the views on this trail prior to the steep climb are still worth the trek with your pup. The 1/4 mile hike to the steep spot still offers great views and most dogs would be able to do this stretch.

Walking around the more level areas of the landscape

This hike is popular and unfortunately has a very small parking lot. Due to minimal parking they were stopping cars from entering the area from the Main Street. It appears you can take a shuttle in to avoid this (unsure if the shuttle is dog friendly). The hike is quite far from the main road so we would not recommend parking elsewhere and trying to walk in.

After our intense hike hauling 60 pound of corgi uphill we headed to the Sedona Beer Co.’s dog friendly patio. The corgis got a bowl of water and relaxed while we had dinner and drinks.
While waiting for our table we walked through some of the nearby shops but didn’t check if any were dog friendly. The town itself is very cute and worth a walk through if you are in the area.