Rough Riders Hike Wilson North Trail

March 20, 2026

Hikers tell stories of grizzly bears and hunters

After a week of rain and a drop in temperatures in late November, Leaders Shaun Symond and I bundled up on November 22, 2025, to meet any enthusiastic Rough Rider brave enough to hike the Wilson North trail. A hike that would be cold, windy, and muddy. We were optimistic that there would be a window of sunshine timed just right for our lunch break as well as to remind us the warmth of autumn is not over. Wilson Mountain is the highest mountain in the Sedona area, our group of Rough Riders and Scouts of the Sedona Westerners hiking club climbed 2,312 feet and completed the nine mile “in and out” hike in five and a half hours. It is a trail that starts with many, many switchbacks, and with each new turn, you feel the increased elevation burn in your legs. Breathing becomes more labored as you continue higher and higher. We passed through a section of maple trees where they were reminding us it was indeed the last days of autumn. What a wonderful reason (or excuse) to stop and snap a photo…and catch our breath!! The bright red leaves were desperately hanging on for dear life after all the recent winds.

We could not help but feel hemmed in by the cliffs to the right, towering above us as we climbed. A fellow Scout made us aware that we would be able to see a lava dyke as we finished this portion of the climb. So, what is a lava dyke?

“It is a sheet-like body of solidified magma that cuts vertically or at an angle across existing rock layers, forming when magma rises into an existing fracture, or creates a new crack by forcing its way through existing rock in the Earth’s crust, and then cools, solidifying within the fissure, becoming igneous rock,” according to the volcanoes page on USGS.gov.

We did indeed find it, and I could not help but think how mind-boggling it is to imagine how this formed. As we continued on, we maneuvered our way through yuccas, grasses, scrubby junipers, all the while trying to avoid the hidden prickly pear and hedgehog cacti. Our final stretch before lunch was a meadow area of a partially burnt forest from wildfires of years past. At Wilson Canyon Overlook, we not only enjoyed our lunch but also enjoyed the unobstructed views of Sterling Pass, Vultee Arch and the newly snowcapped San Francisco Peaks.

Wilson Mountain is named to commemorate Richard Wilson, a local bear hunter. The legend goes that in 1885 Richard Wilson, an avid bear hunter, was asked by his friend Jim Thompson to check in on his family while he tended to business in Prescott. Richard hiked on over nightly to the Thompson cabin to watch over Jim’s family. On one such trek across the mountain to the cabin, Richard happened upon some grizzly bear tracks. He thought, only armed with a small caliber rifle because his rifle was getting repaired, he would come back in search of the bear another day. Of course, how could he resist when he saw the huge grizzly on his next trek over to the Thompsons’. It did not matter that he did not have his hunting rifle. When it came to hunting bears, he was fearless. Wilson tracked the bear and only wounded the ginormous bruin as it ran off. Determined, Wilson followed the bear up the canyon. The now angry bear, not impressed at all, charged at Wilson. The legend goes that when Wilson tried to climb a tree to escape the clutches of that ol’ grizzly, the bear pulled him down by his foot, swiped his face and then went on his way. Wilson was able to crawl to the canyon waters only to pass out, face down, drowning in the water. Is the irony of this story that the grizzly bear killed the hunter in what is now known as Wilson Canyon, or is it that the hunter was overly fearless, overly zealous and ill-prepared to hunt that day? It is said that fifteen years after the death of Wison the skeleton of a monstrous, old grizzly was found at the top of Wilson Mountain. Locals say that Richard Wilson did indeed kill his grizzly bruin! He just would never know of his success.