Hike Loy Butte and Loy Ruins Coconino National Forest, AZ

May 06, 2019 — Loy Butte is a fantastic little peak in Sedona, featuring ruins, fun route-finding, and small sections of nice scrambling. Plus the views are pleasant with the lush greenery against the red sandstone. Starting from the Loy Canyon Trailhead, we headed up the Loy Canyon Trail, looking for a social trail leading off to the left once we were parallel to Loy Butte. We noted the ruins up on Loy Butte's northeastern ridge, but I certianly would have missed them were I not looking for them specifically. Cliffs blocked easy access, but a cairned route led up with some0 short Class 2+ sections. The ruins (marked Ruins 1 on the map) were situated in a nice alcove, where the depression in the rock served as the roof.

After enjoying the first, and most impressive, set of ruins, we continued west, passing a Class 3 slit before the terrain became flat and we followed a social trail leading around a canyon separating Loy Butte's north and south high points. We took a wrong turn in an attempt to get up to Loy Butte's summit, heading over the ridge. We noticed on this quick detour that there were ruins on the west side of Loy Butte, so we checked them out (the spot marked Ruins 2 on the map). They were just a crumbling wall of stacked rocks, likely not ancient in any way. Back on the social trail, we continued to Ruins 3, which hugged a sheer wall behind large manzanitas. We found petroglyphs that likely weren't made by Native Americans, and very old corn on the cob pieces, which could be from back then? I don't know.

After seeing the third set of ruins, we began the ascent to Loy Butte. There is likely a slightly longer and less interesting slope to the south that we didn't take, instead opting to follow cairns that zig-zagged up the east face (Class 2+). Three series of sandstone ledges got us to higher ground, where we bushehacked to the north ridge of Loy Butte. A class 3 move got us to the summit.