Broken Arrow

Sedona — Red Rock Country · nearest town Sedona, AZ

Will your rig make it?

This route calls for 4LO, 30″ tires or larger, lockers recommended, skid plates recommended, and a wheelbase under 120″. Verdicts are computed from the base-trim stock tire and wheelbase on file for each platform against this trail's requirements — the same inputs every time, no opinions mixed in.

Stock-capable: base trim clears the requirements. Needs work first: the listed items before you go. Long for this route: the wheelbase is past what the breakover tolerates; it can be done, with contact. Not for this rig stock: the route wants a built rig. Your lift, tires and lockers change the answer — the table assumes stock.

The Forest Service sign at the trailhead calls for modified high-clearance vehicles with short wheelbases and skid plates and says it is not for stock vehicles. Field reports put stock four-door Wranglers and stock 4Runners through with skid-plate contact at The Steps. Read both as true: a stock rig with real clearance and a driver who places tires gets through and touches down; a stock rig on 28s with an exposed oil pan should not try it.

The trail

Broken Arrow is the trail the pink tour Jeeps run all day, which tells you two things. The route is short, scenic and well worn, and you will share it with commercial traffic that drives it like a commute. Give the tours the right of way on the one-way sections and expect to wait at Chicken Point for a photo.

From the Morgan Road trailhead the route climbs onto slickrock almost at once. The first mile is ledges and sandstone shelves with sand between them — a place to read tire placement before anything matters. Submarine Rock is a spur to the left; the ledges on the way in are a preview of the main loop. Chicken Point is the overlook most people turn around at. Past it, the loop runs one-way down The Steps, a stack of slickrock ledges that is the only part of Broken Arrow that earns the Forest Service's warning. Breakover and ground clearance decide it, not horsepower. Walk it first. Pick the line the tour drivers use; the rock is polished where they go for a reason.

The Forest Service posts the trail as very challenging and not for stock vehicles. Guidebooks split: FunTreks rates it Difficult, onX a 5 of 10. The difference is The Steps. Everything else on the route is a Moderate trail with views.

This is Coconino National Forest, Red Rock Ranger District, on Forest Road 179F. Stay on the numbered route — the Forest Service has spent years on Broken Arrow's user-created spurs and the neighborhood at the trailhead has had enough of idling traffic on Morgan Road. A Red Rock Pass or America the Beautiful pass covers the trailhead parking. There is no trail permit. The trailhead itself was redesigned under a decision signed in March 2025 (turnaround parking, OHV staging, a restroom), so older write-ups describe a lot that no longer looks the same.

Named obstacles

• The Steps (Devil's Staircase) — One-way descent of stacked slickrock ledges near the end of the loop. The hardest spot on the trail; the limiting obstacle for ground clearance and breakover.
• Devil's Dining Room — Sinkhole viewpoint off the main route. Stop, look, do not drive near the edge.
• Chicken Point — Slickrock overlook that doubles as the turnaround and the place the tour Jeeps park for photos.
• Submarine Rock — Spur to a long sandstone fin. Ledges on the way in.

How the sources rate it

FunTreks rates it Difficult and the land manager posts it as very challenging; onX calls the same route a 5 of 10 because the ledges are manageable with tire placement and only The Steps demands serious clearance. Land-manager wording outranks a guidebook here, and the one hard obstacle is one you cannot bypass on the way out, so Difficult (3), not Moderate.

Trail Manual scale: 1 Mild — graded dirt or mild two-track. 2 Moderate — rocks, ruts, mild ledges; stock 4x4 with clearance and 4LO. 3 Difficult — ledges, slickrock steps, off-camber; clearance, tires and skid protection matter. 4 Extreme — built rigs only.

What this trail stresses — and what to check

Pack against the list in the Trail tool kit builder.

Ledges and step-ups

Guide: Lift & tire fitment — the clearance you can measure

Before:

• Know your lowest point before you need to: oil pan, transfer-case skid, rear diff.
• Air down. Low-20s psi puts more tread on the step.

After:

• Look under every skid plate for fresh scrapes and rolled edges.
• Check rocker panels and sliders; check the rear diff cover for dents.

Slickrock

Guide: Tire pressure & air-down

Before:

• Air down for grip; slickrock rewards contact patch, not speed.

After:

• Check sidewalls for cuts and chunking — sandstone edges eat them.

Off-camber

Before:

• Load low and strapped. Fuel and water on the floor, not the roof.

After:

• Check that the roof rack and recovery gear mounts did not shift.

Shared and one-way traffic

Before:

• Commercial tours and the uphill rig have the right of way. GMRS or CB helps at the one-way sections.

Desert heat

Guide: Fuel range planner

Before:

• A gallon of water per person per day is the Forest Service minimum. Check the coolant level and fan clutch before summer runs.

After:

• Watch the temperature gauge on the drive home; a weak fan clutch shows up in traffic, not on the trail.

Before you go

• Land manager: Coconino National Forest — Red Rock Ranger District · 928-203-2900
• Route: FR 179F (spur FR 179E). Stay on the numbered route; everything else is closed to motor vehicles.
• Status page: fs.usda.gov
• Pass / permit: Red Rock Pass or America the Beautiful pass to leave a vehicle at the Morgan Road trailhead. No permit for the route itself — unlike Soldier Pass next door, which needs a Recreation.gov permit 72 hours ahead.
• Length: 4 mi — about 4 miles round trip; 3.5–4 depending on which spurs you take
• Season: Open year-round. Best in fall and spring. Summer afternoons bring heat and monsoon storms that make the slickrock slick in fact as well as in name.
• Cell coverage: unknown

Verification

Confidence: High — 7 independent source domains, land-manager or state-agency source on file, last verified 1 day ago.

• 2026-10-29 — open · source — Red Rock Ranger District table lists FR 179F (Broken Arrow) as Open; page last updated 2026-10-22.

Sources

1. Coconino National Forest — Sedona Area OHV Routes (land manager page; district contact) (land-manager, retrieved 2026-10-29)
2. Coconino National Forest — Forest Roads Status (FR 179F row) (land-manager, retrieved 2026-10-29)
3. Coconino National Forest — Broken Arrow Trailhead Re-design, decision signed 2025-03-28 (land-manager, retrieved 2026-10-29)
4. Arizona State Parks & Trails — Northern AZ OHV Trailheads (land manager, FR 179F & 179E, 4 mi, 'Very challenging, skilled drivers recommended') (state-agency, retrieved 2026-10-29)
5. Coconino National Forest — Red Rock & Coconino Passes Program (land-manager, retrieved 2026-10-29)
6. onX Offroad — Broken Arrow (3.9 mi, technical rating 5, 'The Steps' require very high ground clearance) (guide, retrieved 2026-10-29)
7. Trails Offroad — Broken Arrow (official name 179F, out & back, 4,592 ft, typically open year-round) (guide, retrieved 2026-10-29)
8. FunTreks — Broken Arrow, rated Difficult (guide, retrieved 2026-10-29)
9. 4Low Magazine — Trail Report: Broken Arrow (quotes the Forest Service trailhead sign) (field-report, retrieved 2026-10-29)
10. We're the Russos — stock JKU on Broken Arrow, skid-plate contact (field-report, retrieved 2026-10-29)

Written and maintained by an AZ wheeler and driveway wrencher. How we source guides. Trail facts come from the land manager and the sources listed; conditions change. You are responsible for your rig, your line and your recovery.