Rough Riders Summit Thunder Mountain

February 21, 2025

On a cold, beautiful Saturday morning in mid-January, the Rough Riders group of the Sedona Westerners hiked up Capitol Butte, commonly known as Thunder Mountain. This was a significant challenge, since the trails to reach the summit have an elevation gain of 2,000 feet in just two and one-half miles. To avoid the congestion at the Dry Creek trailhead, we decided to start at the Andante trailhead instead. We broke into two groups of eleven. Our hike leaders Paul and Anna mapped out a network of trails to reach the top of Thunder Mountain.

I had last hiked up Thunder Mountain with the Rough Riders about five years ago. The Westerners normally schedule this hike once a year, in January or February. This year I wanted to challenge myself once again, and to see those stunning, panoramic views at the summit.

We took the Andante trail initially and then used the Upper Chimney Rock trail to get past Chimney Rock and closer to Thunder Mountain. From there, we took a cutoff for the Lizardhead trail, which took us from the south side of the Mountain to the north side, where we connected with the Thunder Mountain summit trail. The Thunder Mountain summit trail involved a lot of rock scrambling, as well as hiking. This was illustrated by my Garmin GPS showing the trail as the “Capitol Butte Scramble Route,” as compared to the usual trail designation.

Our two small groups initially hiked up to Lizardhead, a rock feature on the west side of Thunder Mountain that is clearly visible from Dry Creek Road. We took our snack break there to admire the views. We weren’t done climbing yet though. We got on the Thunder Mountain summit trail and began hiking and rock scrambling our way to the summit. Two and one-half hours after we began, we reached the summit at 6,342 feet.

We took a well-deserved lunch break sitting on a huge slab of Coconino sandstone, which dominated the actual summit. Most of us took many pictures. The 360-degree, panoramic views were as stunning as I remembered. From this vantage point, we could clearly see all of the major red rock formations in the Sedona area.

After enjoying our lunch at one of the highest points in the Sedona area, we began our descent. We retraced our steps carefully, due to all the loose rock and soil. Our two experienced hike co-leaders guided us carefully down the trails. Well-placed cairns along the trail helped to keep us on the right path.

It was a challenging descent, but after two hours, we arrived back at the Andante trailhead. We were all satisfied that we had met the challenge and felt suitably tired and sore. We had hiked a total of five miles with a cumulative elevation gain of 2,200 feet. Before departing, we thanked our hike leaders for a great hike. 

Before I departed the trailhead, a friend of mine approached me and commented that a few of us participating in the day’s hike had also been done the Thunder Mountain exactly five years ago. Then he proceeded to show us summit pictures on his iPhone from January 18, 2020. Sure enough, he and I, as well as a few of the others present, were in the summit pictures from exactly five years ago.

So, if you are looking for a hiking challenge (the Rough Riders normally hike 8-10 miles with significant elevation gain), I recommend that you hike with the Rough Riders. The Rough Riders meet every Saturday during the season and usually hike most of the day. If you decide to take this challenge, I’ll see you on the trail!

If you are interested in joining the hiking club, please visit the Sedona Westerners website at www.sedonawesterners.org/membership. Our detailed hike calendar provides information about all of our upcoming hikes. The hike descriptions contain letters that describe the hike. By referencing the Legend above the hiking calendar, you can find information about the difficulties of each hike. For instance, the Rough Riders will be hiking in the Village of Oak Creek this weekend. The Legend lists: D, S, L, R. These stand for difficult, steep, ledges, and rock scramble.  At 6.2 miles with an elevation gain of 1,800 feet, The None will be another challenging hike. Thursday’s Mustang hike, Up Periscope and More, will offer its own challenge covering 6.1 miles and an elevation gain of 1,000 feet. If you’re looking for a more moderate hike, The Drovers and Dogies will hike in the Village of Oak Creek and the Cibola trail. The Rustlers will hike Cemetery Ridge via the Hog Trails and the Amblers will go down the Huckaby Trail. Our newest group and easiest group, the Drifters, will hike a Baldwin / Templeton Lollipop trail near the Village of Oak Creek on Wednesday.