How local volunteers and the Red Rock Ranger District are collaborating to care for Sedona’s trails.
With approximately 400 miles of trails across the Red Rock Ranger District, keeping Sedona’s trail system safe, sustainable, and enjoyable is no small task. Erosion, storm damage, deteriorating trail tread, and drainage problems create a constant demand for maintenance. With a significant backlog of work, the need for additional resources and volunteer support continues to grow.
Fortunately, Sedona has something special: a community of passionate trail users who aren’t just enjoying the trails. They’re helping care for them.
Recently, 12 members of the Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition (VVCC) Mountain Bike Advocacy Committee met with Kevin and Sam from the Red Rock Ranger District’s Red Rock Trail Crew (RRTC) to plan the upcoming volunteer trail maintenance season.
The result? A collaborative maintenance plan that combines professional trail crew expertise with the firsthand knowledge and commitment of local volunteers.
Local Knowledge Helps Set Maintenance Priorities
Nobody knows the trails quite like the people who use them regularly. Local mountain bikers ride these trails week after week, noticing when drainage fails, technical features deteriorate, trail tread erodes, or signage needs attention.
Through the VVCC MTB Advocacy Committee, riders identify maintenance needs and document specific locations using CalTopo, a shared mapping tool. That firsthand knowledge gives the RRTC additional eyes on the ground across a vast trail system. During the meeting, committee members worked alongside the RRTC to prioritize projects and schedule VVCC and public volunteer workdays from November through January, complementing the Friends of the Forest workdays already established.
The discussion covered trails throughout Sedona, including Third Rock, Templeton, Slim Shady, Hiline, Deadman’s Pass, Rodeo, Western Gateway, and Turkey Creek.
From Trail Observations to Boots on the Ground
What makes this partnership especially effective is how local observations become completed trail work.
When a VVCC member advocates for maintenance on a trail, that commitment goes beyond identifying the problem. The volunteer documents proposed projects in CalTopo, then joins Kevin, Sam, or other RRTC staff to scout the trail. Together, they evaluate conditions and develop a work plan for the upcoming volunteer day. The member who advocated for the trail also commits to participating in that workday.
The RRTC gains knowledgeable volunteers invested in the outcome, while VVCC members gain a deeper understanding of sustainable trail maintenance practices. It’s a partnership that turns local knowledge into meaningful action.
Ready to Get Your Hands Dirty?
You don’t need to be a trail expert to make a difference! Whether you’re a seasoned volunteer or joining your first trail workday, there’s a place for you.
Click here to Explore the Volunteer Trail Work Calendar and find an upcoming opportunity to give back to the trails you love.
Taking Maintenance Further Into the Backcountry
This season, the partnership is taking an exciting step forward with a new volunteer maintenance pilot on Llama Trail.
Some of Sedona’s trails receive less frequent maintenance simply because they’re difficult to reach. When volunteers must travel several miles carrying tools, valuable work time is lost before maintenance even begins. To help address this challenge, the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund has invested in four Trail Boss backpack tool kits. These portable tools allow volunteers to hike or bike into more remote locations, expanding opportunities to maintain trails that are less practical for traditional volunteer workdays.
Llama Trail will be the first test of this approach.
With Red Rock Ranger District oversight, Pam and Al will coordinate VVCC’s regular R2T2 volunteer team to assess Llama from end to end, documenting maintenance needs in CalTopo.
The RRTC will scout the trail, review proposed projects, and approve the work before volunteers begin. The volunteer team will then coordinate maintenance sessions, with the RRTC reviewing completed work and evaluating the pilot’s success.
The goal isn’t to replace professional trail crews. It’s to extend their reach.
If successful, this approach could become a model for maintaining other remote trails throughout the district.
Building Capacity Through Training
Expanding volunteer maintenance also means investing in the people doing the work.
The Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund has secured funding to develop online volunteer training covering essential maintenance techniques, including drainage, rock armoring, retaining walls, and tread construction. These short training modules will help volunteers arrive better prepared and establish consistent practices across volunteer groups. Additional funding is being pursued for advanced classroom and hands-on field training.
Together, these initiatives will help build a more skilled, capable volunteer community.
More Than Volunteer Days. A Community Investment.
Sedona’s trails are one of our community’s greatest assets. But trails don’t maintain themselves.
The partnership between the Red Rock Ranger District, VVCC, Friends of the Forest, the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund, and dedicated volunteers demonstrates what’s possible when organizations work toward a shared goal. The RRTC brings professional expertise and oversight. Volunteers contribute local knowledge, energy, and countless hours of labor. And the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund helps provide the funding, equipment, and training to make that work possible.
Together, we’re stretching limited resources, addressing a growing maintenance backlog, and caring for more miles of trail.
Because maintaining 400 miles of trails takes more than a trail crew. It takes a community.
Help Us Care for 400 Miles of Trails
Sedona’s trails give us so much. Keeping them in great shape takes all of us.
The Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund invests in the tools, training, and resources that help professional crews and volunteers accomplish more across our trail system. From portable tools that make remote maintenance possible to training that builds a stronger volunteer workforce, your donations directly support the people and programs caring for our trails.
With a significant maintenance backlog and 400 miles of trails to care for, every contribution makes a difference.
Click here to Donate to Support Sedona’s Trails
Love our trails? Help us take care of them.