The Red Rock Ranger District contains more than 400 miles of trail with over 300 of those miles in close proximity to the city of Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek. With more than 3 million visitors on theses trails annual, the trail crew’s work is vital to the recreational experience of all the different trail users. For many local residents and visitors, the trail system is reason we’re here. The Forest Service works with numerous volunteers, non-profit groups, and local governments to maintaining and enhancing trails throughout the district in a sustainable and safe manner that is uniquely tailored to the Sedona and Verde Valley area.
Below: Friends of the Forest trail maintenance and construction crew building retaining walls along Easy Breezy to reinforce trails from monsoon floods
Left: Volunteers reconstructing a drainage crossing on Stirrup trail
Summary of Accomplishments
During the Fall 2021-Spring 2022 trail season, a combination of workers from the Forest Service, Conservation Legacy (Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps), Friends of the Forest, Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition, Summit to Sea Trails Specialist LLC, and many other individual volunteers completed extensive maintenance improvements of non-motorized trails in the Red Rock Ranger District.
- 411 total miles of trail on the Red Rock Ranger District
- 284 miles in the Sedona/Village of Oak
- 275 miles of trail maintenance completed during the 2022 field season
- 3440 ft. of retaining walls built and armoring.
- 122 rock stairs installed.
- 3.7 miles of social trail naturalized.
- 1788 drainage structures newly constructed and/or maintained.
- 115 trail signs and junction maps installed.
- 2 kiosks installed
- 36 new kiosk maps, section maps, and Trail Keepers signs posted at trailheads
- 37 new cairns constructed
- 74 old style cairns removed
- 2000 feet of fencing constructed
- 550 volunteers (Friends of the Forest and public)
- 3,400 total volunteer hours donated to district trail work.
- 3,100 volunteer hours in the Sedona/VOC area dedicated to trail maintenance and construction.
- $98,600 total value of labor provided by volunteers during the trail season
- 49 public trail work events with an average of 10-15 volunteers attending each event.
Crews rebuilt this retaining wall adjacent to the culverts on Bell Rock Pathway, this damage was from monsoon storms summer 2021 (Above-Before, Below-After)
Youth Conservation Corps (ACE, AZCC, ALC) Youth Conservation Corps make up an important workforce for the district by preforming trail maintenance and heavy construction. All of these crews are funded out of grants that the district and its partners have put together or through Great American Outdoors Act funding. This year’s focus area was heavy maintenance and reconstruction on the Cathedral Rock trail with Ancestral Lands Corps (ALC). Total crew times consisted of 4 weeks of an 8 person ALC crew. The crews built over 2000 feet of new fencing to delineate the trail, 300 ft. of rock armored stairs, and 6 rock armored drainage dips and rehabbed 3000 feet of social trails. A total of 12 youth workers assisted the trail crew during the season as part of the Corps skills training and education program.
Friends of the Forest (FOF) The FOF Trail Maintenance and Construction crew (TM&C) has a cadre of over 85 volunteers that work almost every Friday of the year. Average attendance every Friday of the season was 16 participants that provided 2,235 hours of volunteer work on over 35 workdays dedicated to trail projects throughout the district. This year’s accomplishments include the installation of 56 cairns, 158 miles of trails maintained, 32 signs replaced, and 52 trees cleared.
Volunteer Workday Crews Volunteer work events consist of local residents, members of local organizations including the Verde Valley Cycling Coalition (VVCC), Sedona Westerners, Sedona Chamber of Commerce, and the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund. The District also receives sponsorships through local biking and hiking shops. This year we hosted over 15 public volunteer works events usually held on Thursday and Saturdays. The average attendance at the volunteer events was at least 10-15 and totaled over 1200 volunteer hours. The sponsors usually provide lunch after the workday concludes.
2021-2022 Trail Crew: Front Row: Kyle Robb, Scott Leonard, Nick Kowall, Kevin Kuhl. Middle Row: Ren Bernas, Mary Inovejas, Ben Raiche, Mary Kelley. Back Row: Matt Barnes, Kelly Anderson, Leslie Geiss, Brett Newcomer, Kenny Quillan.
