red mountain trail

This is always a fun walk if you're willing to drive out there. It is almost always quiet when we go out there. The kids love climbing on the cinder piles and sliding down. They also love climbing all over the rocks back in the canyon. We always have a fun time exploring out there with the kiddos (7& 8). It isn't a particularly long walk, but a fun one to explore on a quick out and back.

visited here for the pumpkin patch. Mm.. The hay ride was what made it worth it. More for very small children.

This hike is unlike anything I've ever seen. To walk into a collapsed volcano is a very unique experience. It's a pretty easy hike, there is one small ladder that needs to be climbed, but it's open & flat for the most part. The inside of the volcano is fun to boulder through & if you boulder to the top, the views are amazing.

I'm an avid hiker in the Pacific NW, so maybe I expect too much of trails. The hike had little to offer along the way. Once you got to the back, things got interesting. The colors and texture of the cliffs look like something from a different planet. The hike itself was somewhat boring, but it was worth it in the end.

I was clued in to this hike by a nifty book, BOOTS & BURGERS: AN ARIZONA HANDBOOK FOR HUNGRY HIKERS, by Roger Naylor. It combines my two favorite things in the world, hiking and eating at diners after hiking – what a natural! So I went through the book with a fine-tooth comb and started marking hikes I want to do, along with their accompanying diner suggestions. The first hike that tempted me was the Red Mountain trail, just north of Flagstaff on HWY 180, the same road that will take you to the Grand Canyon if you don't want to take HWY 89. There's nothing wrong with HWY 89 of course – after all, it takes you past Wupatki and Sunset Crater. But HWY 180 may be the road less traveled, unless you're really into skiing at Snow Bowl, or you can't resist the observatory or the museums – or . . .Okay, maybe it's NOT the road less traveled. But on the Thursday we went looking for Red Mountain, there weren't a lot of people sharing the highway with us. The book warned us to watch for the mile marker after the Red Mountain sign, and this proved to be completely accurate. We turned left onto a forest road, drove past the sign warning us not to park in undesignated parking areas – you need to go to the end, where it loops, and THEN you can improvise a parking spot. Just try not to block the road. Not that anyone showed up while we were there – probably because everyone else knew that if you want to see the magnificent formations inside that partially-collapsed cinder cone, you need to show up in the morning, when light will ignite the full glory of those fantastical shapes.The trail leads through a forest of junipers, ponderosas, and scrub – you see glimpses of the rock formations looming over it all, further down the trail. This is when you're saying to yourself, Dang! I wish we had gotten here before noon! Because those volcanic-tuff hoodoos are in shadow in the afternoon. They are mere shadows of themselves.What's cool is that eventually you reach the cone, and you have to climb a short ladder to get up among the hoodoos. Somehow it all reminds me of scenes from The Lord of the Rings, when the company of friends travel into lands long abandoned to find half-ruined statues of ancient heroes. The formations are fantastical even in the half-light, and you will be busy snapping pictures of them. By the way – please don't be a jerk and climb on them.On the way back down, I tested Roger's claim that Ponderosas smell like vanilla – and it's true. Put your nose right up next to them and breathe deep. The scent is amazing. And it only took me 56 years to find that out.We had already located Mama Burgers on the way down – it's right on the elbow part of the bend that become HWY 180. It's a little place, and many of the employees are teenagers. I was tempted to try one of the shakes – I hear they're amazing, so I'll do that come summer – but I stuck to a burger and fries. My husband did the same, but he picked the Mamaburger, while I had the one with bacon and avocado.They were EXCELLENT.So five stars for the Red Mountain hike and the Mama Burger joint. Now – time to pick the next hike from BOOTS & BURGERS . . .

Hiked this today with my wife, my 5 year old daughter and my 9 month old daughter in her hike a poose. I had read about it a year or so ago in Arizona Highways. I was a little worried about the 5 year old, but the whining never started with an easy pace and lots of stops for learning. She gathered quite the colorful bouquet of wildflowers and I showed her how to harvest pinõn nuts. From highway 180 it looks almost like any other cinder pit, but the closer you get the more majestic it appears. It is really quite amazing. There is a lot of exploring to do right in the crater area, today we were limited by the questionable sure footedness of the 5 year old, but I plan on coming back sans kiddos to do that. It is pretty isolated so bring what you need. At the end of the hike we threw out our camp chairs at the trailhead and fed the baby. Awesome day.

Was a very fun hike, even with the rattle snake on the trail. That did lower my wife's enthusiasm a little. The end of the hike is what makes it all worthwhile - but I will not ruin that for you. Well worth doing and not at all difficult for families.

The trail is completely flat until you reach a short ladder to get into the cone. Once in, the scenery is amazing. It honestly looks like another planet entirely. There are trees and bushes, but the ground is made up of black, red, purple, and crimson lava rocks. The walls of the cone are made of thousand foot cliffs, rolling hills, and inverted cones. The whole area is dotted with holes and caves- you really have to see it. My small dog managed to get up the ladder on his own, but I ended up carrying him down.

This was a fun and unique trip - easy to find - many other reviews cover directions.There is a parking lot at the trail head, but no restrooms (just fyi).Easy trail to hike to get to the volcano, no elevation changes - about 1.5 miles each way- be sure to take water with you.Very neat to see the different formations outside of the volcano and inside as well. Different colors, formations, shapes. And some sizeable pine trees provide shade right in the middle of it. Great place for lunch/snacks/refreshments.Glad we visited.

Following generic map instructions we got lost. Fortunately I had copied an article on the trail, which had good instructions.Take Hwy 180 north out of Flagstaff and look for mile marker 247. There is a sign in that vicinity pointing south saying Red Mountain Trail, but the entrance is about 100 yards further on the left. Drive about 1/4 mile to the parking area at the trail head. The trail is very wide for most of the way, until you enter a wash, and then you just follow the wash to the end of the trail. Very gentle slope. 3 mile round trip. Take water and take rain gear in the monsoon season.

Really neat hike about a little over 3 miles round trip and very scenic and not strenuous. As you get to the end a good place to have a snack or lunch and large natural amphitheater.

This is a great little half-day hike just north of Flagstaff. It's easy to find (left at milepost 247 on Highway 180 north of Flagstaff). The scenery changes as you hike in and the photos we got were excellent - great shots of hoodoos, cinder cone remnants and red rocks. The terrain north of Flagstaff is lovely, as is the drive to get there. Take some water and a nutrition bar and you should be fine. The hike is partly through a wash, so I wouldn't recommend it if it recently rained or if weather is threatening. We will go again, I am sure.

Awesome day hike into the crater of a million year old volcano. The terrain is easy to traverse, though my little toy dog preferred riding in my backpack over walking due to all the dust we were kicking up. During the rainy season the weather can change fast, so it's wise to pay attention to the sky and make sure you're outfitted for changing conditions when relevant. It's about 1.4 miles to the lip of the crater, so you're looking at maybe 30 minutes each way, plus the time you spend exploring the trails and scrambling on the rock formation within the crater itself. No overnight camping is allowed.

I just hiked Red Mountain Trail with group of friends and kids (5-12 years old) and dogs. Hike is worth the stop: is short, easy and rewarding. No major obstacles, besides short ladder, close to the end. The ladder may be a challenge if you have a dog: you can overcome it by going around the rock on your right hand. But be careful: path is steep and slippery. Trail ends in the beautiful spot, great place for lunch or just spending some time.

This was a stop on our way to the Grand Canyon. We were traveling with three kids ages 7-11 and were looking for a reasonable hike, this fit the bill nicely. The hike to the cinder cone was not too challenging and filled with visual interest. Once we reached the cinder cone the topography changed and treated us to a completely different visual experience. It really looks like a different world with the different rock sediment and formations.The kids got their second wind when we arrived. They loved exploring and climbing on the rocks. There were plenty of different spots and even some shade to enjoy our picnic lunch before heading back.