Boynton Canyon

The first stretch skirts the Enchantment Resort

The Forest Service's own trail page describes the route as starting out "by skirting a luxury resort that was recently built here," with parking sitting "just outside the entrance to the Enchantment Resort." That resort is a working hotel, not a trail amenity, and the etiquette that follows is simple: stay on the public trail corridor, don't treat the resort's grounds, pool or private paths as a shortcut, and expect golf carts and guest traffic on the access road near the trailhead. The canyon itself opens up once you're past the resort's immediate footprint, and the crowding thins out with it.

6 miles between walls that close in as you go

Past the resort the trail runs the length of the canyon, gaining 931 feet over its full 6-mile out-and-back and rated Moderately challenging by the Forest Service. The walk is mostly level for its early stretch, with sandstone walls narrowing gradually as the canyon deepens, and the surface is packed dirt with occasional sandy patches rather than the slickrock scrambling of Cathedral Rock or Soldier Pass. The Forest Service states the trail ends at a box canyon, meaning it is a true dead end with no through-connection to another trailhead.

Whatever distance you cover in, you cover again on the way back.

The vortex knoll: a short spur, not a measurement

A short spur off the main trail climbs to a knoll that has, in the Forest Service's own words, "become even more so" known as a site of a spiritual energy vortex, though the agency's page stops there and gives no distance to the spur, no trail number, and no endorsement of the claim itself. No agency measures or certifies a vortex anywhere in Sedona; what the Forest Service manages is the trail corridor and the knoll's physical erosion from foot traffic, not an energy field. Vortex sites covers what people do at Sedona's vortex locations generally and where that belief comes from; this page's job is the trail itself.

Subway Cave: not on the Forest Service's map at all

Subway Cave, the rock feature this trail owns as a key, is not mentioned anywhere on the Forest Service's own trail description for No. 47. What circulates as directions to it online describes an unmarked use trail branching off the maintained route partway into the canyon, reached by scrambling rather than walking a signed path. No official Coconino National Forest page confirms its location, its distance from the trailhead, or states any rule about visiting it, which means this guide can tell you it exists and that people go looking for it, without handing you a mileage the agency itself doesn't publish.

Trail conditions and what to expect underfoot

The surface through most of the canyon is packed dirt with occasional sandy stretches, easier walking than the slickrock scrambles at Cathedral Rock or Soldier Pass, but the trade is length: at 6 miles roundtrip this is one of the longer maintained trails covered on this site, and there is no shortcut back once you've committed to the full distance. Tree cover increases the deeper you go, since the canyon narrows and the walls begin shading the floor by mid-morning, which is a real advantage over fully exposed trails like Doe Mountain or the Devil's Bridge approaches on a hot afternoon. Even so, the first stretch past the resort is open and unshaded, so the same summer heat rules that apply everywhere in Sedona apply here on the way in and out.

The variable here is the resort stretch versus the canyon proper. Anyone pressed for time gets more out of turning around once the walls close in than pushing the full distance for a dead end that looks much the same in its last mile as its third.

Boynton Canyon Trailhead sits on the Forest Service's standard Red Rock Pass fee-site list, which puts it in a different bracket than Soldier Pass or Broken Arrow, neither of which appears on that same list. A Red Rock Pass costs $5 for the day, $15 for the week or $20 for the year, sold online through Recreation.gov, at fee kiosks, or at the Red Rock Ranger Visitor Center on State Route 179. The America the Beautiful Interagency Pass is also accepted here.

Unlike Cathedral Rock, Soldier Pass or the Mescal and Dry Creek Vista approaches to Devil's Bridge, no free Sedona Shuttle route serves Boynton Canyon. The trailhead lot, positioned just outside the Enchantment Resort's own entrance, is the only way in by land, and the Forest Service's fetched page publishes no vehicle-count figure or overflow plan for it. Arrive early on a weekend, since there is no documented backup once it fills.

- This trailhead does need a Red Rock Pass. Unlike Soldier Pass or Broken Arrow, Boynton Canyon Trailhead sits on the Forest Service's standard fee-site list; $5 buys a day [fs.usda.gov Red Rock–Coconino Passes Program, read 2026-09-09]. - The trail is a true dead end. The Forest Service's own page calls it a box canyon. There is no through-trail to another trailhead, so every mile in is a mile back out [fs.usda.gov Boynton Canyon Trail No. 47]. - There is no shuttle backup here. The free Sedona Shuttle serves Cathedral Rock, Soldier Pass and two Devil's Bridge approaches; Boynton Canyon is not on that route list [sedonashuttle.com, checked 2026-09-09]. - The Forest Service never names Subway Cave. The agency's own trail description for No. 47 stops at the resort, the canyon and the vortex reputation, and says nothing about a cave [fs.usda.gov Boynton Canyon Trail No. 47]. - No agency measures or certifies the vortex. The Forest Service's page acknowledges the site's reputation without endorsing the claim, which is the same position this site takes on vortex sites generally [fs.usda.gov Boynton Canyon Trail No. 47].

This is the trail to give a full morning or afternoon, not a quick stop between other sights: 5 hours roundtrip for the complete 6 miles, with no shuttle to fall back on if the small lot near the Enchantment Resort fills. If a shorter day is the goal, walk in past the resort as far as the canyon mouth and the vortex spur, then turn around, or skip the trail entirely and take the trolley tour for the same area's history in under an hour. Doe Mountain sits a short drive away for a shorter second hike in the same Dry Creek district, and Soldier Pass is the trail to pick instead if a Red Rock Pass and a 6-mile commitment aren't what the day calls for. The full hiking trails list ranks everything else in town.