Sedona, Arizona is an enchanting place to visit. If you’re tight on time and money, a three day getaway will allow you to see most of the popular hot spots in Sedona. Sedona is known for its nickname, “Red Rock Country” simply because the rocks are red and most beautiful at sunrise and sunset. The colors are amazing, so pack a camera and a large SD card because you’ll need it. We spent 2-3 days in Sedona and felt we had plenty of time to hit most of the highlights, though I can always find more hiking to be done! I thought it would be helpful to comprise a short list of things to do in Sedona AZ for those that haven’t traveled there before. Bear in mind, this list is geared for avid hikers and people that like to get out of the car and explore. Also a good word of advice, purchase a Red Rock Parking Pass which can be found nearly anywhere in town or at most of the hiking trailheads. It is required to have a pass to park in the designated areas.
Devil’s Bridge Hike
This was our first hike in Sedona. We actually stayed in Flagstaff because the rates were cheaper, but we didn’t mind getting up early and doing 30-40 mins worth of driving either, so it worked out. We woke up around 4am, ate some breakfast and headed into Sedona before sunrise. A general rule of thumb is that people don’t like to get up extremely early, so we took advantage of that as well as the cooler temperatures! The cool thing about Sedona is that all the hiking surrounds the town, so you don’t have to drive very far to be in the middle of nowhere, fast. To access the Devil’s Bridge trail head, just find Dry Creek Road on your favorite mapping tool. You’ll come to a pull off a few miles down the road that looks like a dirt road on your right. It is indeed a dirt road, and a bumpy one at that. Yes, an SUV will cost a bit more to rent – but I highly recommend driving something with high clearance (unlike we did). Just take my word for it because we walked down that same dirt road an extra mile before we hit the trail due to me trying to save money by driving a Ford Focus (yikes). Anyway, follow the dirt road for nearly a mile and you’ll see a parking area and a sign that says “Devil’s Bridge”. Expect an uphill hike for nearly a mile. About 3/4 mi into the hike, there is a split where you can go below Devil’s Bridge or above it. I recommend doing both just so you can get an idea of the size of the arch. The hike back down is very easy and you can expect to sink about 2 hours round trip, maybe more if you wanna explore a bit more. It’s a great hike with a big pay off.
Honanki Ruins
If you did the Devil’s Bridge hike in the morning, pack a lunch and stay on Dry Creek Road and head down to the Honanki Ruins site. It’s a very cool ruin site that dates back to around 1300 AD. The walls the indians built along with rock art are still able to be seen. You will drive about 6-7 miles on a dirt road, though it’s not as rough as the one leading to Devil’s Bridge, you should probably still consider driving an SUV or truck. Honanki is one of the two ruin sites in the Sedona area and from what I’ve read, the least crowded. Once you arrive at the visitor’s center you’ll be asked to sign in. There’s a looped path that carries you under the butte where the indian ruins are located. It’s quite shaded, so it’s nice if you are doing this in the afternoon because of how hot the weather can get in Sedona. This is my first time seeing any sort of rock art or petroglyphs so it was a neat experience and best of all, it’s free!
Cathedral Rock Hike
This was probably my favorite hike in Sedona. You’ve probably seen this structure all over magazines, tv and even in the movies. Cathedral Rock is really the center piece of Sedona and what most people associate with it. It’s located off Back O’Beyond Road – again, just pull up Google Maps to find it – it’s very easy. You can expect this hike to be a bit more crowded just because the road is paved to the parking area. It’s much more accessible, but in my opinion a much more difficult hike than Devil’s Bridge. Once again, we arrived before the sun came up so we could beat the crowds and see the sun come up over Sedona. At first the trail starts out with a bit of an uphill incline about 1/4 mi into the hike. You will see quickly you will start somewhat of a rock climb near the middle of the hike up. Grippy shoes with ankle support should be worn for this. One slip on those rocks and you’ll leave some DNA behind. If you are new to hiking, it’s considered a strenuous one by park standards. If I can do it, most anyone can though and it’s well worth the few nail biting scenarios on the way up. The hike less than two miles round trip. Once you reach the top, you’ll be staggered by the beauty.
Other Attractions
We did manage to do another hike that is less frequented called Little Horse Trail – which leads to a rock called Chicken Point. It’s a very hot hike in the afternoon, so pack lots of water because there’s little to no shade on the trail. You can also access Chicken Point by taking one of the gazillion jeep tours in the area. If you have the extra time, it’s probably worth it to do the tour just to get all the history and get down on some roads that aren’t accessible by a Ford Focus haha. There are tons of hiking trails to other random vistas, but we felt with the time we had, the ones we did were the best payoff for us and didn’t leave us feeling rushed.
We didn’t get a chance to check out any of the local restaurants in the area, but we did stroll through some of the shops. If you have extra time, go downtown and check all that out and support their local vendors. I did purchase my official “Red Dirt Shirt” which is colored directly from the red rocks in the area. Pretty cool huh?
To see more, I’ve posted pictures on my Flickr Photostream and have a Sedona playlist series on my YouTube Channel which will show you first hand our hiking experiences!
