Picture Canyon Trail in Flagstaff is a not to miss hike. The length can be as long or as short as you want, with a waterfall just half a mile down the trail! We’ve been here a couple times, and it’s definitely one of our favorite family friendly hiking trails in Phoenix.
Option 1: park, and walk 0.2 miles to a beautiful meadow and trail plaques with information about the area and wildlife. Jogging strollers would do ok. Look for a small pond just past the plaques! We saw ducks here.
Option 2: walk 0.5 miles (take a right at the fork on the Tom Moody Loop Trail) and after a jaunt through the meadow, the trail goes slightly uphill. Look for a side trail to the left and enjoy a beautiful waterfall!
Option 3: continue past the waterfall on part of the Arizona Trail; the trail goes downhill and meanders through a forest, and you’ll reach a picturesque wooden bridge and a creek with lots of crawdads! This length is just over 1 mile, one way. This is the route we did, and while our July visit was a bit warm (Arizona was in a heat wave), it was lovely and worth the hike.
Option 4: see all of this and more as you hike the entire Tom Moody Loop, which is about 2.8 miles. The trail loops back to the other side of the waterfall, and meets back to the meadow mentioned in Option 1. This route is on our return list! We saw several families do this route.
There is free, limited parking at Picture Canyon Trail in Flagstaff and port-a-potties for bathrooms. Address is 3920 N El Paso Flagstaff Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86004 . More information can be found here.
If you’re looking for other great hiking trails in Flagstaff, we’ve got you covered!
