When researching and planning our trip to Sedona in late 2021, it instantly became clear to us that the Subway Cave was one of its Instagram-famous star attractions. So we fully expected the cave to be swarming with hikers by the time we arrived at around 9:30 AM on a cool but sunny morning in mid-December. We weren’t the only car in the parking lot, and we did see a few other hikers on Boynton Canyon Trail – but we ended up having the Subway Cave entirely to ourselves for the full 30 minutes we were inside.
That morning we’d already hiked up to Doe Mountain to watch a spectacular sunrise, before arriving to Boynton Canyon Trailhead at 8:30 AM ready to see the famous Subway Cave. It took us the best part of an hour to hike into the canyon, find the not-so-obvious spur trail turnoff, and climb up to the cave. We found the hike surprisingly easy, but climbing into the cave was tricky. After leaving the Subway Cave, we decided to finish the full Boynton Canyon Trail for box-canyon views, and we stopped at the “vortex site” at the end.
Hi, we’re Mark and Kristen Morgan. We left our scientific careers in 2018 to become travel writers and photographers, and since then our expert guides have helped millions of travel planners take better trips. Read more about us.
Why trust us with your Subway Cave hike? We hiked more than 20 trails in Sedona, we did the full Boynton Canyon Trail, and we had the Subway Cave to ourselves. As always, every photo in this guide is ours.
The thing that worried us most was not being able to figure out where to turn off Boynton Canyon and onto the Subway Cave Trail. But we’d downloaded an offline Gaia GPS map which showed our live location so we could tell when we reached the spur, and we didn’t have any problems. We basically kept walking until reaching a massive burnt-gray juniper tree and turned right into the vegetation (heading northeast) to pick up the cave trail.
To access the cave we climbed a steep bank and skirted a ledge with drop-offs. It sounds worse than it was – we’d say it’s perfectly doable for most people. In this guide we explain everything you need to know about hiking the popular Subway Cave Trail in Sedona, based on our own experience. Let’s dive in!
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Trail Map & Hiking Stats
Map Key
- Red line: Boynton Canyon Trail
- Purple line: Spur trail to Subway Cave
- Black line: Spur to Boynton vortex site
- Blue dots: Connector path to Fay Canyon (backup parking)
- Orange arrow: Direction of views from cave
Hiking Statistics (Subway Cave only)
- Distance: 5 miles round trip
- Elevation Gain: 600 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Time: 2.5-3 hours
- Trailhead: Boynton Canyon
We hiked to six of Sedona’s secret caves during our 8-day trip, and all things considered we thought the Subway Cave was the second hardest trail. Only Keyhole Cave was harder (by a lot). We’d say Soldier Pass Cave was easier to find than the Subway Cave because the spur turnoff was more obvious and the overall hike was shorter.
We actually hiked the full Boynton Canyon Trail to the Subway Cave, end of trail sign at the end of the box canyon, and the short spur trail to the Boynton Canyon vortex site. We clocked in at close to 7.5 miles total, with around 1,250 feet elevation gain. Boynton Canyon Trail to the Subway Cave is relatively flat, but after the cave spur trail it gets steeper until reaching a dead-end.
At the time of our most recent update to this guide, the Subway Cave Trail scores 4.9 / 5 on AllTrails. We can’t argue with that. At 5 miles round trip, it’s a long-ish hike for Sedona, but the payoff at the end is massive. The only reason we could see for people leaving lower ratings is heavy crowds inside the cave during peak times.
AllTrails also has the difficulty listed as moderate. The truth is, 90% of the trail is super easy, but accessing the cave is pretty sketchy. We don’t think frequent hikers will have any issues at all – the bank climb is unmaintained and the ledge walk did have drop-offs but it never felt too narrow to us. We just took extra care with our foot placements.
Our Trail Walkthrough
Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of our hike with photos we took along the route:
Parking At Boynton Canyon Trailhead
We arrived at Boynton Canyon Trailhead parking lot around 8:30 AM. There were maybe 7 other cars parked, and we counted around 35 total spaces. The much bigger Fay Canyon parking lot was our backup if Boynton Canyon was full. But that would have added on an extra mile each way connecting on Eerie Trail, so we’re glad we arrived early enough.
We displayed our America the Beautiful Pass in our car at the parking area. If we didn’t have one, we’d have bought a 7-day Red Rock Pass in advance at recreation.gov, or at a kiosk in the Boynton Canyon parking lot on the day.
Mark’s parking tip: If we visited Sedona during a busier month than December, we’d aim to arrive at Boynton Canyon parking lot as early as possible to make sure we got a parking spot. The Subway Cave is a hugely popular trail and 35 spaces isn’t a lot. There’s no spillover lot either, the nearest backup parking is Fay Canyon.
Beginning The Hike
After leaving the parking lot, we turned right onto Boynton Canyon Trail and quickly came to a fork – right was to Deadman’s Pass so we avoided that and turned left instead to stay on Boynton Canyon. A few minutes later we passed a right spur that led up to Boynton vortex site, but we decided to save that for the end so we could get to the Subway Cave before too many more hikers arrived.
Passing A Residential Area
The next part of the trail surprised us. It kind of twisted and turned through vegetation and trees on a narrow and rocky path, with some sections curving around tall cliffs. The going was uneven, there were some rocky steps, and we even walked very close to a residential area with typical adobe flat-roof houses. We actually found it pretty strange, it was the only trail we hiked that went close to any homes.
Entering Boynton Canyon
Pretty much straight after the residential area, we passed into what we considered Boynton Canyon proper. Suddenly, red rock formations were bursting into life all around us, and the narrow trail began to undulate gently as we passed by lots of desert vegetation. The standout memory we have of this part of the hike was making sure we didn’t get confused by all the potential turn off points, thinking each one might be the Subway Cave spur.
Walking Through Light Forest
Before long the dirt trail narrowed even more and became heavily flanked by dense vegetation. The tall red canyon walls all around us seemed to close in, so it felt like we were walking through a bowl filled with trees and bushes. Then we entered a lightly forested area – or at least it seemed light to us because the trees had no leaves when we hiked in December. In late spring, summer and fall it would probably feel like a thicker forest section.
Finding The Spur Trail Turnoff
After entering the forested area, our spur trail radars were on full alert. And it didn’t take long before we arrived at what we’d been waiting to find: A huge burnt-gray looking alligator juniper tree. During our research, we’d read other hikers mentioning this tree as the turnoff point from Boynton Canyon, and it was exactly right. The tree was on our left side, and just a few steps later we took a right turn. Recent hikers had formed a pretty clear path with a pointing arrow made out of fallen branches, and we appreciated the confirmation against our live Gaia GPS map location.
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Following The Subway Cave Trail
Now we were on the short spur trail leading to the Subway Cave, and we relaxed a bit knowing that we didn’t miss it. The trail turned very narrow with tons of shoot-offs, tree roots, and coarse vegetation. We basically just kept following what seemed like the most obvious path with the least resistance, and we knew that had done the trick when we got our first glimpse of the cave from below.
Kristen’s important tip: The Subway Cave spur trail is unmaintained and in a delicate wilderness area, so it is vital to remember the principles of leave no trace. We always ensure we leave these areas exactly as we found them.
Climbing The Steep Bank
Okay this is where the hike got a bit more interesting. We arrived to a point underneath the cave, and realized we had two choices: Climb a steep bank and walk around a curving rock ledge, or climb an even steeper slick rock chute. Mark had a quick go at scrambling up the chute but quickly decided it wasn’t worth risking a fall. So we slowly climbed up the very short but steep bank, and you know what? It turned out to be way easier than it looked from the bottom.
Walking Around The Curving Ledge
After carefully climbing the bank, we arrived at a tall cliff wall with a path running left to right at the base. Left was to a small ancient ruin with petroglyphs (which we saw after the cave), so we took a right turn and found ourselves walking on a long curving rocky ledge. There was a drop-off to our right side, but we hugged tightly to the inner cliff wall and the drop felt far enough away that it wasn’t concerning. That said, if we were hiking the Subway Cave with younger kids, we’d pick them up and carry them for this part just to be safe.
At the end of the curving ledge we arrived at a left turn that sharply curved 180-degrees straight into the Subway Cave, a bit like doing a U-turn in a car. The ledge was narrow and the drop was quite significant, so we took our time and carefully hopped inside. It sounds worse than it was, we know lots of kids and families with older members who have done the hike without issue. The main thing to consider here is that we had nobody else around at all, but we imagine at peak times there’d be a line of hikers waiting to get in and out.
Enjoying The Unique Subway Cave
The second we stepped inside the Subway Cave we instantly knew why it was so desirable for Instagram and TikTok feeds. We walked straight to the back, turned around, and started capturing photos of the awesome tunnel-shaped formation. It really did look like we’d hopped onto a natural subway track. Anyway, we expected other people to turn up any second so we snapped a ton of photos as quickly as we could, but nobody else arrived. So after our photo frenzy, we just sat there, put the cameras down, and appreciated what nature, erosion and geological process can do.
Seeing The Small Ruins
About half an hour later we decided to crack on with our day. So we exited the cave the same way, walked around the ledge in reverse, and then went to see the small ruins with a bricked entrance and lightly carved petroglyphs including a turtle. When writing up this guide we read that people had moved parts of the ruin and etched things into the wall – that’s not okay, don’t do that.
Getting Back On Boynton Canyon Trail
From the ruin we took the steep bank and narrow trail back to the main Boynton Canyon Trail. At this point we could have turned back to the trailhead, but we’d already hiked over half the full trail so we decided to finish it. It didn’t take long before the gradual incline turned into a steeper gradient with lots of steps, and the forest became denser as we climbed.
Steep Climb To The End Of Trail Sign
After working up a bit of a sweat, we reached an even steeper section of trail with narrow, twisting and irregular stone steps. Once we’d summited these steps, we were welcomed by an “end of trail” sign and elevated views over Boynton Canyon. Was it worth it? Probably not to be honest. The view was lovely, but the climb up was a lot of effort and we thought there were far better views from other hikes in Sedona.
Ending At Boynton Canyon Vortex Site
Then we had to hike all the way back to the trailhead, which was a fair distance. Right near the end, we took the short spur trail leading up to Boynton vortex site, which is said to be one of the four most powerful vortex sites in Sedona. Again, we had it to ourselves, and the views were excellent. We never felt any special energy forces in specific parts of Sedona, we just loved every minute of our trip instead.
Our Pros And Cons
Pros ✅
- Incredibly photogenic cave
- Big reward for moderate effort
- Has “wow factor”
- Feels adventurous
- Good trail condition
- Excellent hikes nearby
Cons ❌
- Limited trailhead parking
- Cave access is steep
- Can be heavily overcrowded
- No signage or trail markers
- Rest of hike isn’t as good
- Big time commitment
- Must be in reasonable shape
Important Things To Know
Best lighting: The Subway Cave is almost exactly east facing. We arrived into the cave at 9:30 AM in mid-December, and by then the sun was low in the sky to the southeast, so the left side of the cave near the entrance was glowing under bright sunlight. Ideally we would have arrived at dawn so there were no contrasts between shadows and highlights, and to see the sunrise from behind tall red cliffs looking directly through the cave. Later in the day once the sun was further south and west, the cave would be totally in shadow. So we’d rather wait until closer to sunset when the light was softer in general.
When to hike: If we hiked Subway Cave again, we’d do it for sunrise. Not just for the light, but also to beat the massive crowds that are usually there. We got lucky having it to ourselves, but it was a weekday morning in mid-December 2021, in-between Thanksgiving and the Christmas rush. A lot of people weren’t traveling back then due to covid too, so that probably helped us. If not at sunrise, we’d skip the 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM rush, and do it for sunset instead (and pack our headlamps for the hike back).
Shoes: We wore our proper hiking shoes for all cave hikes in Sedona, and we were glad to have them for climbing up to the Subway Cave. It wasn’t a wild scramble, but the rocks were loose and slippery.
Cell service: We were nervous about missing the cave spur trail and having no cell service, so we didn’t risk it and downloaded an offline map on our Gaia GPS Premium app. And it’s a good job we did because we had no cell service in Boynton Canyon.
Kachina Cave: One of our big regrets from our Sedona trip was not knowing about Kachina Cave. It’s also located at the end of a spur trail from Boynton Canyon, which begins closer to the residential area. We don’t know where, but next time we’ll 100% go find it.
Not preparing: The amount of times we met people (including families with young kids) on the way back to the trailhead who asked us if we knew where the cave was blew us away. It felt like nobody had prepared at all. If we didn’t help them, they could have ended up getting lost or wandering around for hours trying to find the spur trail. Reading this guide is a great start, but we also recommend downloading an offline map on Gaia GPS or AllTrails. Being able to see our live location and the spur trail gave us massive peace of mind.
Was Subway Cave Worth The Hype?
Yes, based on the amazing experience we had, the Subway Cave more than lived up to its hype. But we have to caveat that by saying we had no issues with parking and we had the cave entirely to ourselves. We realize that others might not have such a positive review if the parking lot was full or the cave was crammed with other hikers.
What we can tell you after hiking every popular trail during our 8-day Sedona trip is that the Subway Cave is one of few truly unmissable natural formations to see. But we don’t think hiking the rest of Boynton Canyon is worth it when compared to other trails in the area like Cathedral Rock, Doe Mountain and Little Sugarloaf which have bigger payoffs for less effort.
Overall, we’d say Subway Cave was one of our favorite cave hikes in Sedona. And we’d include it if we only had one day to hike in Sedona, along with Doe Mountain for sunrise, Fay Canyon and the Birthing Cave – those four are close enough for an efficient day on the trails.
Next Steps
We hope our Subway Cave Trail guide helps with planning your trip to Sedona.
Don’t forget you can book a travel planning video call with us if you’d like our expert help organizing your trip to Sedona. We can answer any questions you have or walk through a personalized itinerary to make the most of your time.
Still researching for your trip?
- Here’s our Sedona travel guide
- These are the best things to see in Sedona
- Here are the best places to stay in Sedona
- These are the top hiking trails in Sedona
- Here’s our short Sedona itinerary
- This our one week Sedona itinerary
Finally, if you’ll be visiting more places on the same trip, we recommend reading our Arizona travel guide for more helpful tips and advice.
Happy Travels,
Mark and Kristen
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Mark and Kristen spent 6 years traveling the world, visiting over 40 countries across 4 continents and more than 30 US states. They created Where Are Those Morgans in 2018 to help others plan the best possible vacations by writing authentic travel and hiking guides based on their real experiences.
Since the arrival of baby Maya in late 2024, Mark and Kristen’s extensive travels have slowed down but they still take plenty of trips. Where Are Those Morgans now helps millions of travelers each year to visit new places and hike new trails through information-packed blog posts and expert travel guidebooks. Read more about Mark and Kristen.