Sedona · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Free trailhead shuttles and free forest camping offset a town with almost no cheap beds.
Camp in the Coconino forest
Oak Creek Canyon campgrounds sit under sycamores north of town; dispersed camping on Forest Road 525 west of Sedona is free, red-dirt and busy on weekends.
What a day costs
About $50–95 a day: free forest camping or a $28ish campsite, groceries from the Whole Foods or the Village of Oak Creek market, and fuel.
Red Rock Pass
Parking at most trailheads requires a pass — roughly $5 a day or $15 a week from machines and stores. An America the Beautiful pass covers it too.
Free Sedona Shuttle
Free buses run from park-and-rides to the trailheads that fill first — Cathedral Rock, Soldier Pass, Dry Creek — on weekends and busy periods. Otherwise parking is hopeless.
Where travellers meet
Tlaquepaque's courtyards for shade and shops, the Oak Creek Brewery taproom for evenings, and the Airport Mesa car park for the sunset scrum.