Author: Mare Czinar

The Little Horse Trail is a favorite Sedona, Ariz., hike for lots of reasons: scenery, proximity to Bell Rock and a bonus side trip to Chicken Point.

There’s a lot to see on this hilly but not too tough route to the East Verde River, like mountain views and flowers blooming most of the year.

We didn’t get enough rain to trigger a superbloom, but there are still plenty of flowers in McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Try the Lost Dog Wash Trail.

The park’s 20+ miles of trails wander among lush desert vegetation, scoured washes and scenic high points with excellent valley vistas.

This trail in Queen Creek Canyon reveals mining and ranching history, plus an old tunnel blasted from solid rock. The geology is impressive, too.

There’s a good chance you’ll encounter equestrians on the Stirrup and Saddle Up trails in Sedona. Here’s how to be safe if you meet a horse and rider.

Scorpion Point sits at the core of a vast field of jumbled granite boulders and isolated pinnacles in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale.