
Trailblazers at the Bell trail. [photo by Tom]
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One reason for hiking is exploring.
The Bell Trail in Sedona is one of my favorite hikes and I
recently led an Arizona Trailblazers hike here. My fellow hikers
were ecstatic with this hike because they had been on it
before but they had not seen the parts I took them to see.
The Bell Trail is best known for the area called The Crack
which is a diving area that college kids love to go to on spring
break. This is a great place for lunch and snacks; it is well
worth seeing for West Clear Creek and the rock formations
they jump from.

No divers today. [photo by Ron]
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No one walking the plank today. [photo by Ron]
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Wet Beaver creek. [photo by Tom]
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But there are other places that are less traveled that are
worth seeing. About three quarters of a mile in, you can make
your way down to West Clear Creek where the creek is as
wide as a river and you can hear the gushing cascading water
while you sit among large cottonwoods and sycamores.
About 2.5 miles in you come to the wilderness sign and
this is where the Bell Trail starts to climb.

Bigtooth maple. [photo by Tom]
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Swimming pool by the Crack. [photo by Ron]
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Hanging out by the creek. [photo by Tom]
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The Weir Trail is off
to the right and this is a short trail that is well worth taking as it
leads to a mini dam and the USGS has a water monitoring
station here. This is a place that most don’t get to and you can
find serenity here with great places to sit and enjoy the creek.
Just a little further down Weir Trail, you fight through
some of the brush to get to the creek and you can see a
spring that feeds the water. I’ve seen people wade through
the water and with empty water bottles to get to the spring
because they believe it’s so clean.

Free flowing creek. [photo by Ron]
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Time for a rest. [photo by Ron]
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One of the springs on Wet Beaver creek. [photo by Ron]
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Water level monitoring station just above the weir. [photo by Tom]
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