Simple, useful travel guides
SEDONA
Things to Do
Most Sedona lists are phone books — 102 attractions, no opinion. This one is ranked, priced and updated for 2026: the icons, the drives, the tours worth paying for, and the logistics (a free shuttle, a parking pass, one famous swimming hole with rules) that decide whether your day works.
Sedona is small — two main roads, one famous skyline — and still manages to confuse first-timers, because the difference between a great Sedona day and a frustrating one is rarely *what* you do. It’s *when* and *how*: which trailheads close to cars, which pass the ranger actually wants, which tour sells out three weeks early. So this is a ranking with the working details attached. Short on time? Start with the five below; they are, in order, the Sedona that people come for.
1. Hike Cathedral Rock at sunrise or sunset. 2. Stand inside the Chapel of the Holy Cross. 3. Take the Pink Jeep Broken Arrow tour — the one paid experience that earns it. 4. Swim Slide Rock in summer, walk West Fork in fall. 5. Watch the light go at Airport Mesa.
The shuttle: the free Sedona Shuttle runs Thursday–Sunday (about 7:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.) to the busiest trailheads — and on those days the Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass lots are closed to cars. Don’t drive there and hope; park at a shuttle lot. The pass: most trailhead parking needs a Red Rock Pass ($5/day, $15/week, $20/year) or America the Beautiful pass — but it does not cover Slide Rock or Red Rock State Park (state fees) or West Fork (its own fee). The water: Slide Rock is vehicle-entry only and the lot closes when full on summer weekends. The season: March–May and September–November are prime; see our month-by-month best time to visit Sedona guide.
The signature formation and Sedona’s essential short hike — about 1.2 miles round trip, a hands-on scramble up slickrock to a saddle between the spires with the best view in town. Sunrise and sunset beat the crowds and the heat. Thursday–Sunday, arrive by shuttle (see the box above). Our full trail notes are in the best hikes in Sedona guide. Verdict: the #1 thing in Sedona, full stop.
A 1956 chapel built directly into the red rock, its great cross framed by glass — the most-reviewed attraction in Sedona and the rare one that exceeds the photos. Free, open daily roughly 9–5. The upper parking lot is tiny; go before 10 a.m. or take the shuttle/cart from the lower lot. Verdict: 30 minutes, zero cost, unforgettable.
The largest natural sandstone arch in the area, reached by an easy desert walk that ends in a short climb — and, at the top, a line of people waiting to walk out onto the bridge for the photo. Go at sunrise and the line is five people; at noon it’s fifty. Verdict: worth it, timed right.
The drive-in welcome sign on SR-179: a bell-shaped butte you can circle on an easy pathway or scramble partway up, no commitment required. The best first hour in town — it teaches you the geography everything else hangs on. Verdict: everyone’s first stop, correctly.
An 80-foot natural rock chute in Oak Creek, on a historic apple homestead — Arizona’s beloved swimming hole. State-park pricing: $30/vehicle in summer (May–Sep), $20 October–April. Vehicle entry only (no walk-ins or drop-offs), pets banned in summer, and the gates close when the lot fills, which on July Saturdays is early. Verdict: a summer sacrament; a winter photo stop.
The counterpoint to all that red rock: a shaded canyon trail crossing the creek 13 times under maples and oaks. In late October it’s the best fall color in Arizona. The trailhead charges its own fee — your Red Rock Pass does not cover it. Verdict: go in fall; go early any season.
The arrival itself: eight miles past Bell Rock, Cathedral viewpoints and Little Horse, with a pullout every half mile. Drive it once slowly before you do anything else. Verdict: the front door of Sedona.
North on 89A the desert becomes a pine canyon — Slide Rock, West Fork, swimming holes, then switchbacks climbing to Oak Creek Vista. In fall this is Arizona’s color drive. Verdict: pair it with West Fork and lunch in Flagstaff.
The default sunset: a short climb to a viewpoint facing Cathedral Rock as the whole skyline lights up. The small lot fills well before sunset in season — arrive 45 minutes early, or walk the 3.5-mile Airport Loop for the same view with a tenth of the people. Verdict: the sunset, with a crowd strategy.
Cathedral Rock reflected in Oak Creek — the most famous photograph in Sedona, taken from a grassy picnic area ($12/vehicle). Late afternoon, when the rock glows and the creek goes still. Verdict: photographers first, picnickers second, everyone happy.
The quiet back-road loop beneath Cathedral Rock that tour buses skip — ranches, creek access, and Lover’s Knoll, a pullout with the classic framed view. Best in late afternoon. Verdict: the Sedona locals show their favorite visitors.
The full ranked list lives in our best hikes in Sedona guide; these two belong on any top-25.
Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole, the Seven Sacred Pools and a hidden cave arch in one moderate loop — the most features per mile in Sedona. Trailhead lot is shuttle-only Thursday–Sunday. Verdict: the connoisseur’s Cathedral alternative.
A box canyon of red walls and pine shade, part vortex site, part resort valley (Enchantment/Mii amo sit at its mouth — hikers and spa guests share the first mile amicably). The Vista spur is the famous energy spot. Verdict: Sedona’s most peaceful big hike.
Airport Mesa, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock/Red Rock Crossing and Boynton Canyon are said to swirl with earth energy. Believe, don’t believe — the sites are four of the most beautiful places in town, and the twisted juniper trees at each are genuinely strange. Verdict: visit them as beauty spots; take the energy as a bonus.
A 36-foot Buddhist stupa beneath Thunder Mountain, prayer flags in the pines, open dawn to dusk, free (donations welcome). The quietest 45 minutes available in Sedona. Verdict: the reset button.
Sedona’s luxury signature. Mii amo, in Boynton Canyon, is the destination-spa legend; L’Auberge de Sedona’s creekside L’Apothecary is the bookable day option. Either is the correct answer to a rainy day or a romantic weekend. Verdict: book ahead; day access is limited.
[AFFILIATE: spa hotels in Sedona] · See also our where to stay in Sedona guide
The canonical Sedona tour: two hours climbing slickrock and descending the famous “Road of No Return” in an open Jeep, with a guide who actually explains the geology. In spring and fall it books out two to three weeks ahead — reserve before you arrive. Verdict: the one tour to buy.
Narrated hop-on tours through town and out Boynton Canyon — the no-hiking, no-driving overview for a first afternoon, and a smart way to scout what deserves your day two. Verdict: first-timers and grandparents, approved.
Sedona is an International Dark Sky Community — on a moonless night the Milky Way is a plan, not a hope. Telescope tours (and yes, UFO tours) run nightly; DIY, the Cultural Park and FR 525 pullouts are the local spots. Our Arizona dark skies guide has the statewide picture. Verdict: schedule it for the darkest night of your stay.
Drifting over the red rocks as the light turns them on — the splurge that justifies itself in the first ten minutes. Flights leave at dawn and are weather-dependent; book early in your stay so a windy morning can roll to the next day. Verdict: anniversaries, proposals, big birthdays.
Twenty-five minutes away in Clarkdale, a four-hour train ride through a roadless river canyon — open-air cars, eagles in winter, the Verde River below. It’s the easiest “wow” to add to a Sedona stay. Verdict: the rainy-week, low-energy, high-payoff day.
[AFFILIATE: Sedona tours on GetYourGuide] · [AFFILIATE: Pink Jeep Broken Arrow tour]
Fifty-plus galleries and shops in a walled Mexican-village setting on Oak Creek — sycamores, courtyards, fountains. Daily 10–6, free to wander. It’s shopping, yes, but it’s also Sedona’s prettiest hour between activities. Verdict: late afternoon, then dinner.
Uptown’s gallery row (Exposures International is the cathedral of the genre) plus the Arts Center, running classes and exhibits since 1958. For the story underneath, the Heritage Museum — a pioneer homestead with Sedona’s “Little Hollywood” film history — is open daily 11–3 for about $10. Verdict: the culture half-day.
Sinagua cliff dwellings and pictographs from 1100–1400 AD, out graded dirt roads west of town. Palatki is reservation-managed (book on Recreation.gov) and also needs the Red Rock Pass; Honanki is the rougher, quieter drive. Verdict: history that predates everything else on this list by centuries.
Fifteen minutes from the red rocks, a creekside wine road: Page Springs Cellars (the consensus favorite), Oak Creek Vineyards and Javelina Leap, tied together by the Verde Valley Wine Trail. Finish in Old Town Cottonwood — Arizona Stronghold and Merkin tasting rooms on a historic Main Street — for the crowd-escape dinner run. Verdict: Sedona’s best half-day escape.
Jerome — a ghost town turned art colony on Cleopatra Hill, 30 minutes: Douglas Mansion state park, the Gold King Mine, haunted hotels. Montezuma Castle — a five-story Sinagua cliff dwelling in a limestone wall, 25 minutes south, pairs perfectly with the wine loop. Out of Africa Wildlife Park (Camp Verde) — the answer when the kids are done hiking. And Sedona makes a natural base for our Grand Canyon in one day run.
However long you have, decide where you’re sleeping first — Sedona’s neighborhoods change the trip. Our where to stay in Sedona guide breaks down Uptown vs West Sedona vs the Village of Oak Creek, and our Sedona photography guide covers the shots. Get the plan by email: we send one seasonal Arizona letter — what’s on, what’s booking out, when to go.
TRVL Guide is a travel resource site. Some links on this site may be affiliate links — if you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep the guides free.