Woods Canyon - Rogue Javelinas on the Rampage

It was a beautiful Saturday for seven NATRA runners to head down to Sedona. Today we added a fantastic trail that is sure to become part of our repertoire - Woods Canyon. The trail takes off right out of the south end of the Sedona Ranger District compound. After crossing over a couple of irrigation ditches we made our way east.

The Woods Canyon trail follows the course of a not so Dry Beaver Creek. Yup, we were treated to the raging waters melting off the Mogollon Rim. Due to the above normal temperatures, Dry Beaver Creek looked as though it should during the spring melt. We could pretty much hear the creek the entire run, but it wasn't until about three miles in where we encountered the raging emerald green waters.

At some point, a pack of rampaging javelinas nearly took out our lead runners - David and Bruce. After about 3.5 miles we stopped and enjoyed listening to the rushing waters before heading back to the District Ranger station. On the way home we drove across the head waters of Woods Canyon near Fox Ranch Road and thought about sometime running the entire 22 mile course of the canyon - perhaps doing a key exchange with an adventurous group - but not today!

For more information and maps visit arizonahiking.com.