The Red Rock Ranger District added another 3.3 miles of trail following the completion of the Del Sol Trail.
Work took place between early March and late April at the cost of $60,000, most of the funding was provided by the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund nonprofit, which paid for the labor by the Red Rock Trail Crew. Some additional funding came from the city of Sedona and the Great American Outdoors Act, passed in 2020.
Additionally, there were several work events by the Friends of the Forest and the Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition to help carry out the construction.
The newly constructed 3.3-mile Del Sol Trail starts at the recently adopted Transept Trailhead on Verde Valley School Road and terminates at the eastern end of the Turkey Creek trail system, Forest Service recreation management specialist Kevin Kuhl wrote in an email.
“This trail will eventually serve as a key artery with 10 planned trail connections in the Verde Valley School Road area. … We are currently working on adding this trail to our database and a map will be available at a later date.“
Construction of the non-motorized Del Sol Trail, which Kuhl considers to be of intermediate difficulty due to its 445-foot elevation change, included digging trail tread, building rock retaining walls, armoring drainage crossings, clearing vegetation, installing signage, painting white blazes on slick rock and obliterating social trails.
“This trail utilized large sections of existing unofficial user-created [social] trails. Some sections needed to be rerouted to mitigate resource damage concerns and improve user experience while prioritizing sustainable trail design and construction techniques,” Kuhl wrote.
The Del Sol Trail is the first of the Phase II projects of the USFS’s Red Rock Trail Access Plan, that was split into two phases to address resident concerns with the original Turkey Creek proposal. Phase I is nearly complete.
With the completion of the new trail on top of Doe Mountain in mid-April, most Phase I projects are now finished. These include the Hardline Trail, Singletrack Bypass Trail, Rector Connector Bypass Trail and Schuerman Mountain Bypass Trail.
The last project in Phase I is a nearly 3 mile trail system aimed at mountain biking near Oak Creek School in Cornville, slated to begin construction this winter.
Phase II is the larger portion of the plan and the remainder is planned to be completed between 2026 and 2028. Phase II will have more than 21 miles of new non-motorized trails, rerouting nearly two miles of existing trails, adopting 10 miles of user-created paths and closing 10 miles of ad-hoc social trails.
A new main trailhead and parking lot for up to 25 vehicles and five horse trailers is planned, though the timeline has not been finalized as the USFS works with Yavapai County to design the vehicle entrance on Verde Valley School Road.
The projected cost for the Phase II projects is $700,000 and SRRTF is fundraising to help cover costs, however, the estimate does not include the new trailheads along Verde Valley School Road. The anticipated total cost including the Phase I projects has not yet been determined, according to Kuhl.
Large portions of the project depend on contributions from partners.
“With respect to government funding, it is expected that fiscal year 2026 will have less funding than 2025,” SRRTF wrote in a press release discussing its fundraising. “No relief is predicted for the staff hiring freeze that has been in place since 2023 or the suspension of hiring seasonal workers implemented in September 2024. In coming months, further staff reductions are likely. With more than 410 miles of non-motorized heavily used recreational trails, the Red Rock Ranger District’s heavy reliance on cash funding from the nonprofit Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund and volunteer workers from the Sedona Friends of the Forest has escalated.”
Currently, no public land pass, like The Red Rock Pass or America the Beautiful Pass, is needed to access the Transept or Turkey Creek Trailheads. However, a pass is required at the nearby Baldwin Trailhead.
“While new trails are being added or constructed, new signage and reassurance markers are installed to aid in route finding,” Kuhl wrote. “There will still be social trails that intersect with the new official trails during trail system construction; these social trails will eventually be closed or adopted into the system where it makes sense. Users should adhere to the signage and reassurance markers as they learn the new routes.”
