Soldier Pass Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Forest Service 9904 Rd, Sedona, AZ 86336. Northern outskirts of Sedona, SR 89A, turn north on Soldier Pass Road parking lot at the end of . Hike 2.2 km along Soldier Pass Trail, turn right on Soldier pass Cave Trail. Ascent 140 m. (34.9007556, -111.7855803)
Open:	no restrictions. [2026]
Fee:	free. [2026]
Classification:	Erosional Cave Doline Karst Cave Natural Bridge Pothole
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	A=1500 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	P.A. Lindberg (2010): Geologic Report of the Devils Kitchen sinkhole, Sedona, Arizona, Arizona Geological Survey Contributed Reports. online
Address:	Red Rock Ranger Visitor Center, 8375 State Route 179, Sedona, AZ 86351, Tel: +1-928-203-2900. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

early 1880s	first collapse, first discovered by Jim James.
1989	second collapse opens the cave.
1990	geologic study of the sinkhole by the United States Forest Service.

Description

Soldier Pass Cave or Soldier’s Pass Cave is located near Soldier Pass, hence the name. The cave is reached on a short hike, 2.2 km long with an ascent of 140 m from Sedona. The trail is quite interesting as there are two more interesting geologic sites along the trail. The trail starts at the northern end of Sedona. There is a parking lot at the trailhead, but for the parking lot is closed. Visitors are advised to use the free Sedona Shuttle bus to get there. Also access is restricted

The first sight at the trail is Devil’s Kitchen, a more or less elliptical sinkhole with vertical walls. The sinkhole collapsed in the 1880s, which means it is quite young. There are two viewpoints, called the lower and the upper viewpoint. It’s not possible to enter the sinkhole without climbing gear. It is 200 m deep, and at the bottom is a cave, which partly collapsed to form the sinkhole, and goes down 50 m more. There are seven large sinkholes around Sedona, which is quite strange as the rocks here are reddish sandstone from the Schnebly Hill Formation, which is not soluble and only allows the formation of small erosional caves. The caves lie below in Pennsylvanian Redwall Limestone, which is karstified.

The next sight is Seven Sacred Pools, a series of rounded holes in the sandstone which are normally filled with muddy water. Actually that erosional form is not unique, there are other such pools along the way, but here is a sort of water hole hotspot. Those holes are locally called tinaja or tenaja and are formed by intermittent streams (arroyos). The water forms whirlpools and the sand and gravel it carries drills holes into the ground. This is scientifically called a Geology pothole.

At the end of the trail is Soldier Pass Cave, which is an erosional cave which seems to be somewhere between arch and cave. Erosional caves differ greatly from karst caves, especially they lack long passages and dark sections. This cave is one of the biggest such caves in the area, and has different passages which are more or less parallel. They are connected by huge sandstone arches. Typical is the fact that there are soft and hard sandstone layers, and the soft ones are eroded much faster. They form the caverns, shelters, overhang, holes of the arches. The hard layers resist and form protruding ledges and flat floors.