These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
The Broken Arrow is one of the most popular and thrilling offroad trails in Sedona. This trail is very technical. It is rated extremely difficult and only recommended to very skilled drivers. However, if you are up for it, you’ll be rewarded with breathtaking views and a very exciting ride. Some of the main features of this trail are the view from Submarine Rock, Chicken Point, and the exhilarating Jeep route, circling Mushroom Rock before descending a rock, a steep hill called the “Devil’s Staircase”. Once you’ve done it, you’ll know why the Broken Arrow is one of the best 4WD trails in Arizona.
The Broken Arrow Trail is technical and rated extremely difficult. It is not recommended for stock vehicles. You’ll need a modified high-clearance vehicle with a short wheelbase and skid plates. For this trail, we forgo our Jeep and rented an RZR with Sedona ATV. Our RZR handled the Broke Arrow Trail like a champ!
The Broken Arrow OHV Trail is rated extremely difficult. If you’re new to driving 4WD roads, we recommend skipping this one. It is not a good road to practice your driving on. There are easier 4WD roads, such as the Outlaw Trail or the Diamondback Gulch, where you can get more comfortable with driving on these offroad trails. If you want to do the Broken Arrow trail, you can take a tour with Pink Jeep.
We rented our RZR with Sedona ATV, and we were super happy with them. Not only are their prices very reasonable, their customer service is also top-notch. We did an 8-hour rental and really wanted to maximize our time. Sedona ATV got us in and out quickly, so we had tons of time to do the trails we wanted, including the Outlaw & Diamondback Gulch Trail.
Besides their customer service and prices, Sedona ATV changes their vehicles every 6 months due to their contract with Polaris. So, they always have the newest and greatest vehicles for their customers. This made us feel so much better while attempting some of the tricky sections on the Broken Arrow Trail.
Sedona ATV Rental
2740 W State Rte 89A, Sedona, AZ 86336
Phone: 928.204.0000
You’ll need about 2.5 hours for the Broken Arrow Trail. Depending on your skill level, you might need more or less time. If you’re renting an RZR, we recommend doing the 8-hour rental. This way, you can take time on the Broken Arrow Trail after testing your skills at the Outlaw Trail and the Diamondback Gulch Trail.
The Broken Arrow Trail is located on the east side of Sedona, not too far from the Cathedral Rock Trail and Bell Rock Trail. It starts from Morgan Road. You should see a big sign for “Broken Arrow” once turning onto Morgan Road. The paved section of Morgan Road is a quiet zone. This means you should slow down and minimize your noises.
After a short distance, the paved road turns into a dirt road. We soon reached a big sign for the Broken Arrow OHV Trail. If you want to continue on the OHV trail, go right. If you want to park and hike, the parking lot is on the left.
The Broken Arrow OHV Trail is straightforward, with many directional signs. It is very easy to follow unless you’re on the Jeep Playground/Mushroom Rock area. We recommend putting your vehicle in 4-Low at the trailhead. There is a big speed bump, a man-made “obstacle” right at the entrance to prevent vehicles and drivers that are not ready for the trail from entering.
The first 0.2 miles of the Broken Arrow trail are on an easy, sandy road. However, at the 0.2 mile mark, we reached the first obstacle, the Princess Rock, sometimes called the “go-no-go” rock. Here, you’ll have to climb up a ledge onto the slick rock area. If your vehicle has a difficult time clearing this obstacle, we recommend turning around.
After this section, the trail tames down a little with some typical rocky sections. The trail is about one Jeep wide. However, there are pull-outs every 60 yards or so just in case you need to pull over. The Broken Arrow Trail is a very popular trail for offroad vehicles, Pink Jeep tours, hikers, and bikers, so make sure to pay attention.
At about 0.3 miles, there is a short detour to hike to a sinkhole called the Devil’s Dining Room. We skipped this detour because we wanted to get to all the fun stuff. After this detour is the one-way split. This is where the road forks. We followed the white arrow to go right.
About 1 mile in, the Broken Arrow Trail becomes a one-way loop. You’ll need to stay left to continue on the loop toward the Submarine Rock. On the right-hand side, you can see the famous Devil’s Staircase at the end of the loop.
Submarine Rock is a neat detour along the Broken Arrow Trail. There is a small dirt area to park your vehicle at the bottom of the base of the rock. If you’re skilled enough, you can drive up the steep rocky hill. This hill has deep trenches carved into the rocks by all the jeeps that have come through over the years. These rocks are slick and polished from all the traffic. With our 2-seater RZR, our wheels didn’t quite fit in the ruts, which made it difficult to drive up the steep hill. It might have been better in a Jeep. So, we decided to park at the bottom and walk up. If you drive up, there is another parking area in the upper section. The view from the top of Submarine Rock is quite beautiful.
This rock is called Submarine Rock because it looks like a submarine from a higher elevation. From the top of the Submarine Rock, we could see the other side of the one-way loop, including the Mushroom Rock and the staircase.
After leaving Submarine Rock, we continued our drive on the Broken Arrow Trail until we reached a fork. Going left will continue to Chicken Point. Going right will lead to the other side of the one-way loop, to the Jeep Playground and Mushroom Rock. It will take about 10 minutes to get to Chicken Point. Chicken Point is a busy spot with Pink Jeep tours, hikers, and bikers. It is another beautiful spot for a break and tons of photos.
After leaving Chicken Point, we turned back and continued to the other side of the loop. This is the fun section on the Broken Arrow Trail. There are multiple steep rock ledges that you’ll need to crawl up. These ledges were steeper than the Princess Rock. Once we got up a steep ledge, we went to the Mushroom Rock. It was really beautiful up here.
Just past Mushroom Rock, there is a big incline on the left that you can drive up or down. This is known as “The Slide.” You’ll see all the Pink Jeep drive up and down this section as part of their tours. We were there by ourselves so we missed the Slide. We followed the lower road and went up a gentler hill instead. Even though this hill is not as steep as the Slide, it is still pretty steep. We had to throw the RZR in to 4 Low to climb up.
From here, the trail weaves up and down small hills and rock ledges. This section is beautiful and really fun to drive if you know what you’re doing.
The stairs are the most technical section of the Broken Arrow Trail. It is a 165-foot steep hill full of boulders. It is so steep that if you’re in the vehicle at the top of the hill, you can’t even see the road below. We didn’t do the stairs because a Pink Jeep driver advised us not to. In hindsight, we could have done it. But at the time, we were having a great day so far and preferred not to flip our RZR. If you’re not sure about your capabilities, it’s perfectly fine to turn back. After the stairs, turn left onto the main trail to return to the trailhead.
If you’re planning to drive down the stairs, here’s some advice from Sedona ATV:
Even though we didn’t go down the stairs, we had such a blast driving the Broken Arrow Trail. It was such a different experience driving the RZR than the Jeep. Although we love our Jeep and took her on some awesome offroad trails, such as the Yankee Boy Basin or the Pumpkin Patch, we still wouldn’t mind driving a RZR every once in a while! If you’re looking for something to do in Sedona, check out our list of 9 amazing hikes there!
Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to check out the related posts below for more inspiration on your upcoming adventures. While at it, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel! We’ll love you forever!
These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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