Bell Trail Hike to “The Crack” in Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness, Sedona, Arizona
Krista jumping in
Yesterday, Mike and I were looking for a break from biking and decided to check out a local swimming hole that was recommended. The hike to the swimming hole follows the Bell Trail to “The Crack” in the Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness. After parking at the trailhead, it was a very straightforward hike to The Crack. Most of the trail was very exposed to the sun so I’d recommend bringing more water than you think you’ll need on this hike. The first 2 miles were less exciting, but once you start entering the canyon, red sandstone walls start popping up on your left. At around 3.5 miles, we came upon The Crack where there were several other people swimming and hanging out. We put down our stuff and jumped off one of the ledges to cool off. Before jumping off anything in the area, please check the water depth as we did. Some pools were not deep enough to jump into. We hung out and swam for a little while, had a snack, and headed back to the car the same way we came. The hike ended up being around 7 miles with 500-750 ft of vert. It was a nice spot to hang out on a weekday, but we could tell it would be a place we’d want to avoid on the weekend due to crowds - clearly the area got a lot of use.
