Coming out to Sedona next month, looking for running trails

What kind of distance are you looking for? Almost all of trails have some spots that are steep or technical but there are many that I enjoy running.

Casual hike - I like west fork 187I haven't run these (yet), but no of this site that has a bunchhttp://sedonarunning.com/running_in_sedona.html

I recommend Turkey Tank, it's wider, and relatively flat (emphasis on relatively) for the trails out here. It's five miles, but it's an out and back so you can adjust the length as you like. In addition, there are a number of loops that you can make happen off of it, but they will require adding some rockier, or steeper trails to the mix (you can also make it longer than five miles if you keep going past the tank itself).

My go-to short run (3 miles if you start at the road) is the Baldwin loop, which has a number of hills but none of them are very big (by Sedona standards anyway). However, it does have it's fair share of tourists if you hit it on a weekend or a holiday.

There's a loop around Courthouse Butte that is pretty mellow, but I can't remember the milage. I've only done it twice and I did it differently the second time and I can't remember how long it took me. (This lack of data is soon to be at an end as I recently received a GPS watch for my birthday, so I will no longer have spend agonizing hours on map my run to try to figure out my stats for trail runs, yay!)

My all time favorite run is on a trail called Transept, but it contains one very large steep climb that it sounds like you would not be interested in (and four miles later, another steep descent). However, if you can make it through that climb, the rest of the trail is amazing; a gorgeous ridgeline with stunning views and beautiful (albeit occasionally narrow) trail. It's between 7 and 9 miles depending on how you do it.

If you would like more info on any of those, let me know. There are hundreds of other trails around town, I live 4 miles outside of the Village of Oak Creek, so there are lots of trails that I haven't tried because they're not in my immediate vicinity and there are so many good ones right next to me.

The people over at Sedona Running Company know all of the trails in the area and can also give you great advice. They're super friendly and extremely knowledgeable. They have maps and all kinds of other running gear too. 928-282-6956 (And no, I don't have any sort of business arrangement with them, but they treat their customers -and people who just stop in to say hi- really well and so I try to support them whenever possible.)

Hope that's helpful. :-)

~Gwen

http://www.sedonarunning.com/running_in_sedona.html

This is from the Sedona Running website. Thought you might find it useful.

Thanks everyone!  I will definitely check out some the trails you've suggested and perhaps stop at the local running store mentioned for maps and directions.  Much appreciated

I'll back up Turkey Creek and Baldwin. My wife hikes Turkey all the time. There are lots of loops you can do but it's easy to get lost if you don't know the area. You can also run along the creek on Templeton or combine Templeton and Baldwin. Bell Rock Trail is probably the easiest and joins up with several others (like Courthouse) but it can get packed with tourists so go early. Transept is great but can be hard to find because the trailhead is not well marked. MTB's were recently banned from it so you're less likely to see them there and it's not well known so not busy at all.

One of my favorite loops is Verde Valley School rd -> Transept -> Baldwin -> Templeton -> HT -> Bell Rock Trail -> 179 -> Verde Valle School rd. It's about a 14 mile loop but is great training.

I live in the village so the trails I run are down there. There are also a lot in West Sedona, but they tend to be busier and hillier.

The Sedona Running guys are great (Adam and Lindsay). Very helpful and easy to talk to.

Have fun!

This has nothing to do with the OP, BUT Sedona / Prescott area is so wonderful... I'd love to live there.