Sycamore Canyon is the second largest

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

in the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

redrock country, after

Oak Creek Canyon Oak Creek Canyon is a river gorge located in northern Arizona between the cities of Flagstaff and Sedona. The canyon is often described as a smaller cousin of the Grand Canyon because of its scenic beauty. State Route 89A enters the canyon on ...

. The long scenic canyon reaches a maximum width of about . It is in

North Central Arizona North Central Arizona is a geographical region of Arizona. Much of it is within the Transition Zone between the Basin and Range Province and the Colorado Plateau, and has some of the most rugged and scenic landscapes in Arizona. As part of the so ...

bordering and below the

Mogollon Rim The Mogollon Rim ( or or ) is a topography, topographical and geological feature cutting across Northern Arizona, the northern half of the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately , starting in northern Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapa ...

, and is located west and northwest of

Sedona Sedona ( ) is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. The city is within the Coconino Nati ...

Yavapai The Yavapai ( ) are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Their Yavapai language belongs to the Upland Yuman branch of the proposed Hokan language family. Today Yavapai people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes: * Fort ...

and Coconino counties.

Description

Sycamore Creek, a tributary of the

Verde River The Verde River ( Yavapai: Haka'he:la) is a major tributary of the Salt River in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is about long and carries a mean flow of at its mouth. It is one of the largest perennial streams in Arizona. Description The ri ...

, flows through the canyon. Sycamore Canyon enters the Verde River canyon north-northwest of Clarkdale. Located within three different U.S. National Forests, the Coconino, Kaibab, and

Prescott National Forest The Prescott National Forest is a 1.25 million-acre (510,000 ha) United States National Forest located in north central Arizona in the vicinity of Prescott. The forest is located in the mountains southwest of Flagstaff and north of Phoenix ...

s, Sycamore Canyon is home to a variety of

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

including black bear,

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

, and

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

. Unlike the nearby and more heavily visited Oak Creek Canyon, much of Sycamore Canyon is protected by the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, located at , and therefore roads and developed campgrounds are nonexistent.

Hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

and

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...

are the only ways to visit the canyon. The most popular access is via the Parsons Spring trail, upriver from

Tuzigoot National Monument Tuzigoot National Monument (, Western Apache: ''Tú Digiz'') preserves a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge just east of Clarkdale, Arizona, above the Verde River floodplain. The Tuzigoot Site is an elong ...

. A high-clearance vehicle is helpful to reach the trailhead. Sycamore Canyon is one of the oldest designated

Wilderness Areas Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...

in Arizona, originally being a Forest Service "Primitive Area" before the Wilderness Act of 1964.

Gallery

File:Sycamore Wilderness (4109374915).jpg, Lower Sycamore Canyon, near the trailhead File:Sycamore Falls, AZ.jpg, Sycamore Falls File:Sycamore Falls - 3 (21277634263).jpg, Columnar basalt in the lower canyon

Additional Reading

* Paradise Forks Rock Climbing by David Bloom

References

External links

{{Commons category, Sycamore Canyon Wilderness
Coconino National Forest: Sycamore Canyon Wilderness

Sycamore Canyon in Pajarito Wilderness, southern Arizona
Canyons and gorges of Arizona Mogollon Rim Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona Wilderness areas of Arizona Landforms of Yavapai County, Arizona Kaibab National Forest Coconino National Forest Prescott National Forest

Description

Gallery

See also

Additional Reading

References

External links