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Field Notes / Sedona
Sedona Hiking for First-Timers: Trails, Timing and Guided Options
The short version
- Sedona trails are short, beautiful and crowded. Start by 7 am or go after 3 pm, and use the free Sedona Shuttle for Cathedral Rock, Dry Creek (Devil’s Bridge) and Soldier Pass; those trailheads are closed to cars at peak times.
- Best first hikes: Bell Rock Pathway (easy), Fay Canyon (easy), Doe Mountain (moderate, best view for effort), Cathedral Rock (short, steep scramble), West Fork of Oak Creek (shady, water, long).
- Buy a Red Rock Pass ($5 per day) or use an America the Beautiful pass at most trailheads.
- Want red rock without the crowds? Sycamore Canyon, 30 minutes west, is our guides’ answer.
Before you set off
- Parking is the hard part. The Cathedral Rock, Dry Creek Vista (Devil’s Bridge) and Soldier Pass trailheads are served by the free Sedona Shuttle from park-and-ride lots (Thursday to Sunday for most of the year, more days in spring), and are closed to private vehicles on shuttle days. Check sedonashuttle.com. Other trailheads fill by 8 am in spring and autumn.
- Red Rock Pass. $5 a day or $15 a week at trailhead machines; an America the Beautiful pass also works at most sites.
- Heat and exposure. Sedona is 4,300 ft, hotter than Flagstaff, with little shade on the slickrock. Summer hikes are dawn hikes.
- Cairns, not trails. Several routes cross bare rock and are marked only by rock cairns or painted blazes. If you have not seen a cairn for 5 minutes, go back to the last one.
The hikes, in order of difficulty
| Trail | Distance | Elevation | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Rock Pathway and Courthouse Butte Loop | 4 mi loop (or as short as you like) | 300 ft | 1.5 to 2.5 h | Easy, wide, big views of Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte; large lot off SR-179 |
| Fay Canyon | 2.4 mi out and back | 200 ft | 1 to 1.5 h | Gentle box canyon with a natural arch side trip; good with children |
| Doe Mountain | 1.5 mi out and back | 400 ft | 1.5 h | Short switchbacks to a flat mesa top with a 360° view; the best effort-to-view ratio in Sedona |
| Airport Loop | 3.3 mi loop | 400 ft | 1.5 to 2 h | Wraps the mesa above town; sunset views; parking is tiny |
| Cathedral Rock | 1.2 mi out and back | 740 ft | 1 to 2 h | A steep slickrock scramble to the saddle; the most photographed view in Sedona; shuttle only at peak |
| Devil’s Bridge via Dry Creek / Mescal | 4 to 6 mi out and back | 400 to 600 ft | 2 to 3.5 h | A natural sandstone arch you can walk out on; expect a queue for the photo |
| Soldier Pass | 4.5 mi out and back | 600 ft | 2.5 to 3 h | Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole, the Seven Sacred Pools and the arch caves; shuttle only at peak |
| West Fork of Oak Creek | Up to 7 mi out and back | 300 ft | 3 to 4 h | Shady canyon with a dozen creek crossings and 1,000-ft walls; 10 miles north of town on 89A; paid lot; glorious in October |
| Bear Mountain | 5 mi out and back | 1,900 ft | 4 to 5 h | The hard one: steep, exposed, enormous views to the San Francisco Peaks; strong hikers only |
If you want red rock without the Sedona crowds
Thirty minutes west of Sedona, past Cottonwood and Clarkdale, Sycamore Canyon's Parsons Trail follows a spring-fed creek between red walls as high as anything in Sedona, with a fraction of the people. In autumn the cottonwoods along Oak Creek and in Sycamore Canyon turn gold; our fall colour post has timing.
Guided hiking in Sedona
Sedona's famous tours are mostly vehicle tours, which are a different thing from hiking. If you would like a guide on foot, for the trail finding, the geology (these are the same rock layers you see at the Grand Canyon, just the top of the stack), the wildlife and the safety on exposed sections, we build private guided days from Flagstaff that can start in Sedona or Oak Creek Canyon and finish at a viewpoint for sunset. Tell us your group's fitness and we will suggest a route.
Pickup: hotel and vacation-rental pickup is included within Flagstaff city limits (and the Williams area on our Williams tour). We can often arrange other pickup points for an extra fee. Ask us before you book.
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Small groups, no more than 10 guests, park fees and lunch included on our day tours. Book online or ask us anything.
