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Hiking in Sedona is full of incredible views and interesting red rock formations. The Birthing Cave Sedona hike offers both with little effort to reach!
In fact, it’s one of the easiest caves to reach in Sedona, and the hike is only 2 miles round trip.. most of it flat up until climbing into the cave itself.
While hiking to Birthing Cave is super easy, we found finding parking to be a bit tricky, and even ended up not hiking to the cave a second time because parking was so bad!
After making a few mistakes on this hike during our first visit, and missing out on this hike a second time due to parking, we knew we needed to write this post to help you be able to actually visit Sedona’s Birthing Cave.
Birthing Cave Trail Quick Facts
- Location | 34.913036, -111.836172
- Parking | Free at Long Canyon Trailhead | 34.90657, -111.824171
- Duration | 2 miles out and back
- Elevation | minimal until you climb up to the cave
- Terrain | sandy trail with rock scramble at the end
Making The Most Of This Guide
Pinnable Map | As with all of our trail guides for Sedona, we recommend downloading the free offline map app, maps.me. This app allows you to pin locations and even leave notes on each place.
This is a great way to visualize where different hikes in Sedona are, and an easy way to remember what you actually want to do and see.
Specifically for this hike, we’re sharing exact coordinates of places you need to to turn off the trail, but the actual trail to Birthing Cave is on the map too, making it a super easy find!
Trail Etiquette | Before we dive into the hiking guide, let’s cover some hiking basics. There are no services at this trailhead, be sure to practice leave no trace principles, and pack out everything you pack in.
Be mindful of other hikers on the trail and photographers and people in the cave. Move aside if you’re moving slowly, and don’t spend too much time in the cave if others are waiting for their shot too.
5 Step Guide Hiking Sedona’s Birthing Cave
Step 1: Park At Long Canyon Trailhead
- Coordinates | 34.90657, -111.824171
The Long Canyon Trailhead is found on Long Canyon Road. It’s just up around the corner from Mescal Trailhead, but is easy to miss!
This trailhead is not as defined as other trailheads in Sedona, and is actually just a dirt parking area mixed into some trees!
Take care when finding parking, as the drop from the road to the dirt can be quite drastic and not great for low-clearance vehicles!
Step 2: Follow Long Canyon Trail for .6 Miles
- Coordinates For Turnoff | 34.912493, -111.830755
The Long Canyon Trail is a wide, flat, sandy trail that’s pretty popular for mountain bikers and hikers. Be aware of your surroundings, and step to the side if you hear or see bikers coming through.
The turnoff for the social trail to Birthing Cave is just before a fence, and you’ll likely find stacks of branches across the trail. This is to deter people from hiking to Birthing Cave… step right on over them!
Once we turned onto the social trail, off of the main Long Canyon Trail, Georgie (our cat) got a lot more comfortable, and was happy to hike around. There are way less people on this part of the trail!
Step 3: Follow The Trail Until A Hard Right Rocky Trail
- Coordinates for Start of Climb | 34.912703, -111.835683
When we hiked to this cave, we could actually hear and see people inside the cave before we got to it. This was a dead give away of where the cave was.
While the chances of other people being in the cave are quite high due to this being a short and easy hike in Sedona, there’s a chance there’s nobody there offering you the ability to follow the sound.
If that’s the case, don’t worry, the start of the steep and rocky climb is pretty obvious, even though the cave is not.
This is the only real elevation gain and tricky part of the hike… unless you actually want to get up inside the cave.
Step 4: Carefully Climb Inside The Cave
- Birthing Cave Coordinates | 34.913036, -111.836172
We did this hike on a rainy day, and the trail was super slippery and muddy at this point. In fact, we were slipping just climbing up to the base of the cave.
However, we were both wearing really great hiking shoes for Sedona, and were able to still climb up inside the cave.
Be warned though, the rocks can be really slippery, even when not wet, and there’s a steep fall to serious injury if you slip.
For those willing and able, hiking up inside the cave and around to the small ledges is exhilarating and a great test of fear of heights. 😉
Step 5: Return The Same Way You Came
Getting back to your car, you’re going to go the exact same route you came. This is a simple out-and-back hike in Sedona that’s exactly one mile from the trailhead, and then one mile right back to the start.
Remember to take a right when you get back to Long Canyon Trail to get you right back to the trailhead parking!
How To Photograph The Birthing Cave
What Lens To Use
We’ll be the first to say, we were fully unprepared when we hiked to the Birthing Cave. We didn’t realize how wide and big this cave was, and we didn’t bring our wide-angle lens to capture the entire cave.
With that said, it’s still possible to get the entire cave in “one” photo if you have the ability to edit in something like Lightroom. In fact, the photos we have of Birthing Cave are actually multiple photos stitched together to make one image!
We recommend bringing a wide-angle lens like this to be able to easily capture the entire cave. Alternatively, if you take multiple photos, where the edges of one photo overlap the edges of the second photo, you can then stitch them together to create a single image getting the entire “birthing canal” the cave is famous for.
Alternatively, a GoPro or an Insta360 Go with the wide angle settings would be a good smaller option.
Where to Shoot
The famous shot of the Birthing Cave is done from a little nook, directly above where the trail ends. This nook is difficult to get to, and you’ll need both hands and feet to climb up to it.
Using a camera clip like this allows your hands to be free while hiking up to this photo spot.
If you have someone with you, it’s great to position them inside the cave, giving a better perspective of just how large this cave actually is!
Best Time to Photograph the Birthing Cave
We hiked to the Birthing Cave on a wet, cloudy day, so the time of day didn’t really matter. However, based on how this cave faces, we would suggest hiking it in the late afternoon or closer to sunset.
The parking is going to be the trickiest part though, so plan extra time to find parking!
Alternative Parking Options
There’s a large parking lot at the Mescal Trailhead, but that tends to fill up rather quickly for people hiking to Devil’s Bridge.
However, if you can snag a spot there, it adds about a mile to your hike, but has bathrooms, trash, and picnic areas!
There are also multiple small pull-offs along the road around the Long Canyon Trailhead, just take care with how large of a drop it is from the pavement to dirt.
What To Pack For Sedona Hikes
Aside from the camera gear listed above, we recommend packing/wearing the following things.
Sun Protection | There’s not much shade on this trail, and the sun is strong in Sedona! Consider a lightweight sunshirt to protect your skin!
Backpack for Hands Free Hiking | Even though this trail is short, you should still bring water! We loved hiking with our water bladder inside a hiking day pack so we could use our hands for scrambling!
Other Cave Hikes In Sedona
While we have an entire page dedicated to Sedona travel, created to help make the most of your Sedona adventure, we think you’d specifically like these other cave hiking guides for Sedona.
The 5 Step Guide To Subway Cave | Another very popular cave in Sedona, that’s not as hard to reach as people think.
5 Caves on Mescal Trail | A trailhead near Birthing Cave.. making a great full day of exploring caves for you! And, Altar Cave is one of our favorite sunset locations too!
How To Find Keyhole Cave in Sedona | Keyhole Cave left me in tears.. it’s kind of a scary hike, but the views are incredible!
