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If you’re looking for a less crowded trail system in Sedona, look no further than Fay Canyon Sedona! This area of Sedona hasn’t become as popular as other places, and it’s actually our all-time favorite canyon in Sedona.
While the main Fay Canyon trail is one of the easiest hikes in Sedona, there are a handful of social trails peeling off from the main trail leading to secret arches, cliff dwellings, and caves!
So while we certainly recommend the easy Fay Canyon out and back, if you’re up for a bit of an adventure, check out these extra social trails in Sedona’s Fay Canyon!
Making The Most Of This Guide
Pinnable Maps | In all of our Sedona travel guides, we include coordinates for things like parking, points of interest, and important places on trails for navigating.
We include coordinates so you can copy the coordinates and pin them on a map like maps.me, take notes, and then have your own little pocket guide when visiting Sedona!
Trail Etiquette | When hiking on these trails, remember they are social trails. That means while a trail is there, it’s super faint. Please do your part in not creating more unnecessary impacts on the plants in the area. Stick to the faint social trails as best you can!
Preserving Archeological Sites | All archeological sites in Sedona are protected areas. Do not write on, carve into, move, or take any of the rocks and artifacts at these sites.
I always told my kindergarteners, “Look with your eyes, not with your hands” and it’s best to follow that same idea at these sites as well!
5 Hikes in Sedona’s Fay Canyon
All of the following hikes start at the Fay Canyon Trailhead. This trailhead has one pit toilet, and a small trash can right at the bathroom.
While the trailhead has free parking, when we were there last in 2025, it looked like they were putting in a parking kiosk.
It’s important to note, the Fay Canyon Trailhead is actually across the street from the parking lot!
Fay Canyon Trail
- Difficulty | easy
- Duration | 1 hour
- Coordinates For Leaving Main Trail | none
- Ending Coordinates | 34.913047, -111.867902
The Fay Canyon trail is one of our favorite easy trails in Sedona! It’s pretty flat, wide, and sandy, and right from the start you are immersed in the red rock canyon!
In fact, that’s my favorite part of this hike. Right from the get go, you’re inside the canyon, lost in nature, without the road noises, construction, or jeep tours blazing by you!
This hike is a simple out-and-back hike, but at the end, you can climb up the red rock to get an amazing view down the canyon and into the valley below! We recommend these men’s shorts as they have extra stretchiness, and these women’s shorts are super comfortable for hiking too!
With the exception of the arch trail, all the extra hikes in Fay Canyon spider off from the end of the official Fay Canyon trail, so be sure to check the hikes below to see if you’d like to add to this hike!
Fay Canyon Arch
- Difficulty | moderate due to steep and rocky climb to arch
- Duration | 1 hour
- Coordinates For Leaving Main Trail | 34.908473, -111.862826
- Arch Coordinates | 34.90968, -111.861328
- Trail Guide | How To Get To Fay Canyon Arch is 5 Easy Steps
From the Fay Canyon trailhead to standing under the arch, the hike is exactly one mile. The first .8 miles of the hike are along the main, sandy Fay Canyon trail. Then you turn off the trail and have a rocky, loose climb for .2 miles uphill to get to the arch.
The Fay Canyon arch trail is becoming a more and more popular hike, so it’s pretty easy to find the trail and/or hear other people up along the way. But you should also be able to see the arch as you hike up towards it.
This hike is a great option for those not totally comfortable with trail finding, but can step up high over rocks and loose gravel.
Fay Canyon Kiva Cave Ruins
- Difficulty | moderate with trail finding
- Duration | 2 hours
- Important Coordinates | The Wash | 34.913014, -111.86746
- Kiva Ruins Coordinates | 34.916467, -111.868352
The Kiva Cave Ruins in Fay Canyon are easy to reach ruins in Sedona, though there is some trail finding involved.
To get to the Kiva Cave Ruins, hike to the end of the regular Fay Canyon trail and then go up the wash to the right until you see a faint social trail going up along the left side of the wash.
Follow the social trail until it “t’s” with the wash. At this point, you’ll cross over the wash and start hiking up the trail on the right side of the wash.
Hike up the wash until you see the big pine tree.. That sounds like a crazy thing to watch for, but trust me, it’s obvious!
After the pine tree, you will weave up and down between the wash and the red rock canyon wall on the right. At some points, the brush is so thick, that you’ll be hiking right along the base of the red rock.
There are a couple of different faint social trails weaving throughout this area. Just continue on the path most traveled towards the Kiva coordinates listed above.
If you get to the big slanted rock, you can choose to go up to the million dollar lunch spot (listed next), or head down towards the wash and then continue up the trail to the right directly towards the Kiva.
There are some lighter rocks up to the right that you can actually climb on top of and get a better top down view of the Kiva. This will also give you a better idea of the final part of the trail.
Keep your eyes open for rock climbers repelling down the dry waterfall here (the black parts in the rock).
Million Dollar View Lunch Spot
- Difficulty | difficult with rock climbing and trail finding
- Duration | 2 hours
- Important Coordinates | The Slanted Rock | 34.915812, -111.867945
- Lookout Coordinates | 34.916186, -111.867972
We found this amazing lunch spot totally on accident when we were hiking up to the Kiva. We saw the slanted rock mentioned above, and then a faint trail going up from there, so we took it.
And, low and behold, it led us right to one of the best views we found in all of Sedona… maybe even better than the views from the Sedona loop in Boynton Canyon.
To get to this million-dollar lunch view, you’ll hike the same way to the Kiva as listed above, but once you hit the slanted rock, at the following coordinates, 34.915812, -111.867945, you will go up around the rock, and up the rock scurry.
You’ll soon be greeted with a short rock climbing section that Jay lept up easily. However, I had to use the tree next to the rock to assist with me getting up to the ledge. (This rock climbing section is exactly two-miles in, easily tracked on a watch like this).
There are cliff dwellings to the right, but the best view is to the left.
I’m afraid of heights in Sedona, and was totally fine doing this part of the trail. Hike through the trees to the left, skirting around the ledge, and then catch your jaw as it drops to the floor with the incredible scenery before you!
We suggest packing a lunch in a day pack, and then enjoying it here as you look around the cliffside for hidden ancient cliff dwellings all throughout the red rock.
Fay Canyon Lookout Ruins
- Difficulty | dangerous and difficult with rock climbing and trail finding
- Duration | 3 hours
- Important Coordinates | Where to go to the left at end of trail | 34.913047, -111.867902
- Lookout Coordinates | 34.913259, -111.868601
Holy smokes!! This hike and these views.. both are just incredible! We didn’t do this hike until our fifth time in Sedona, and it was the perfect hike for our first day back into our favorite canyon!
The end of the official Fay Canyon Trail is directly below you when standing at this viewpoint, and it’s a magical place to be, knowing you’re basically alone up high when there are hundreds of people directly below you.
This is a very dangerous and challenging trail, and should only be attempted by those with climbing experience and who are extremely comfortable with trail finding and somewhat sketchy ledges!
To get to the Fay Canyon Lookout Ruins, at the end of the official Fay Canyon trail, climb up the red rocks, then continue up the base of the red rock cliff to the left.
You’ll hike through what’s referred to as Half Moon Cove, crossing slick red rock, before you meet back up with a social trail on the other side of the red rock.
This is a great place for fun photos with great views.
From there, if you stay high along the base of the red rock, you’ll soon run into an area where you can rock climb up a small crevasse. There’s also a makeshift ladder here.. either route you choose, you basically just need to get to the next ledge.
We ended up taking the ladder up and then climbing down the crevasse on the way down, and honestly, the crevasse was much easier! If we had seen it first, I would have taken it up as well.
Once you get to the next level, you then have to climb up yet again, this time with the help of a tree.. it’s up and to the left a bit.
These are great examples of the climbing that will continue to occur to get to the lookout. If you get uncomfortable at this point, you should turn around now.
From the next level, you’ll hike to the right, and continue going up where you can, and traversing further when you can’t.
The trail isn’t obvious, but there are also not many ways to get up, so in that sense, it’s not difficult to find the way.
You’ll soon pass over a dry waterfall/wash, and then have one more rock climb before the trail opens up and you’re not on the ledge, but instead on a big flat area.
Follow the social trail across the rocks, being careful to not step on plants, and the canyon will open up to incredible views and a nice ancient cliff dwelling too.
Arriving to this viewpoint, we both just looked at each other and were in total awe. The cliff dwelling, the canyon walls all around us, and the serenity of being alone with only faint hints of voices below was all just magical.
Remember, you have to go down the same way you came up, and in some ways going down the steep ledges can be even more difficult.
Our Favorite Fay Canyon Sedona Hike
The normal Fay Canyon Trail is a trail that I tell everyone visiting Sedona to do. It’s way better than the other popular trails in Sedona, offering incredible views, even just on the normal route.
With that said, if you’re an experienced hiker looking for an adventure, I would suggest hiking to the million-dollar lunch view. It’s a close call if that one or the Fay Canyon Lookout is my favorite.. but I think the million-dollar lunch view hike is better because the canyon walls are so close to you, and you can see so many other ruins around.
If you do any of these hikes, shoot us a message on social media @arboursabroad and let us know what you thought!
Parking For Fay Canyon
- Fay Canyon Parking Lot Coordinates | 34.901928, -111.857348
The first few times we were in Sedona, there were no signs of paid for parking at Fay Canyon. However, after our most recent visit, it looked like a kiosk was going in.
If you have a National Park pass, this covers your parking. Alternatively, check out the options for the Red Rock Pass at the kiosk — if it’s there!
What To Pack For Hiking In Sedona
Packing List for Sedona | Our complete packing list for Sedona includes the best hiking shoes for Sedona, what you need on the trails, and a couple extra tips you may be surprised about!
Sun Protection | While these hikes all go in and out of the shade, the sun is strong in Sedona! Consider a lightweight sunshirt to protect your skin!
Backpack for Hands-Free Hiking | Hiking in Sedona often requires scrambling with your hands. And these extra hikes in Fay Canyon definitely require hands-free hiking. We loved hiking with our water bladder inside a hiking day pack so we could use our hands for scrambling!
More Sedona Travel Guides
We’ve spent countless hours on the trails in Sedona. Hiking many of the trails multiple times, finding social trails leading to arches, secret caves, and ancient cliff dwellings.
If you liked this Sedona travel guide, we think you’ll probably like the ones below too!
Ruins In Sedona | Guides to both the paid for heritage sites and free ruins in Sedona
5 Boynton Canyon Caves and Cliff Dwellings | We’ll be the first to say Boynton Canyon isn’t our favorite.. but these cave hikes add a bit of fun!
5 Things To Know About Visiting Sedona | From parking to shuttles and even how to mentally prepare for the chaos!
7 Sunset Hikes in Sedona | Knocked down from our list of 31 sunset locations in town!
