Sedona
THE AMERICAS · DESERT · RED ROCK
Red sandstone buttes rising out of pine forest at 1,300m, an hour and a half from Phoenix and two from the Grand Canyon. Sedona has built a whole industry on the idea of energy vortexes, which you can take or leave, but the hiking and the Jeep tracks are genuinely superb and the rock at sunset does something no photograph gets right.
The plan
Cathedral Rock at sunset
A short, steep scramble to a saddle between the spires, and the most photographed view in Arizona. Go 90 minutes before dark.
Devil's Bridge
A 6km round trip to a natural sandstone arch you can walk across. Start early — the car park fills by eight.
Pink Jeep tour on Broken Arrow
The one that made Sedona's 4x4 reputation, down slickrock most people wouldn't drive themselves.
Chapel of the Holy Cross
A 1956 modernist chapel built into the rock, free to enter, with the whole valley below it.
Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock
Twenty minutes north to a natural sandstone water chute in a creek, under maples that turn in October.
Book before you fly
Pink Jeep tours
The Broken Arrow route books days ahead in spring and autumn.
Trailhead shuttles
Free weekend shuttles to Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass — the car parks are closed to cars on those days.
Devil's Bridge
No booking, but the car park fills by eight; the shuttle is the sane option.
Getting there
Fly Phoenix (PHX)
Two hours south, the closest big airport with cheap fares. Shuttle services run door to door for about $60.
Fly Flagstaff (FLG)
Forty-five minutes north via the switchbacks of Oak Creek Canyon, with connections through Phoenix and Dallas.
Getting around
You need a car. Trailhead parking is the town's main frustration — there's a free shuttle to the busiest ones at weekends.
When to go
Best time to go
March to May and September to November — 24°C, dry, and the hiking at its best.
Cheapest months
January and February, when it's cold at night, occasionally snowy on the red rock, and rooms are cheapest.
Priciest & busiest
July and August, when it's 37°C, and any holiday weekend, when trailhead parking becomes impossible.
If you've got one day
Morning
Devil's Bridge
Late morning
Pink Jeep tour on Broken Arrow
Lunch
Cress on Oak Creek
Afternoon
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Sunset
Cathedral Rock at sunset
Evening
Dinner at Elote Café, then Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock
If you've got a week
Day 1
Arrive, settle in around Enchantment Resort, and take it slowly — Cress on Oak Creek for dinner.
Day 2
Cathedral Rock at sunset.
Day 3
Devil's Bridge. Dinner at Elote Café.
Day 4
Day trip — Grand Canyon →.
Day 5
Pink Jeep tour on Broken Arrow. Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill at some point.
Day 6
Chapel of the Holy Cross.
Day 7
Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock. Finish with Indian Gardens Café.
Staying longer?
Nearby & day trips
Two hours north.
Flagstaff
Forty-five minutes north up Oak Creek Canyon, at 2,100m, with pine forest and a good old town.
Jerome
Forty minutes southwest, a former mining town clinging to a hillside, now full of galleries.
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