FAQ
The short version of everything in the guides — what people actually ask before they go.
You need one, or an America the Beautiful pass, to leave your car at most Coconino National Forest trailheads and picnic sites around Sedona. On the forest's list it costs $5 a day, $15 a week or $20 a year and covers everyone in the vehicle. A stop of about 15 minutes or less for a photo needs no pass. Our Red Rock Pass and parking guide lists the sites.
Five creekside sites run by a concessionaire charge their own fee and accept neither the Red Rock Pass nor the America the Beautiful pass: Call of the Canyon and West Fork, Crescent Moon and Grasshopper Point ($15 a day each), Beaver Creek ($14) and Lower Lake Mary ($12). Slide Rock and Red Rock state parks charge their own state park entrance fee.
From Phoenix it is 113.4 miles, about 2 hours: I-17 north for 98.4 miles to exit 298, then 14.2 miles on SR-179. From Flagstaff, take SR-89A south down Oak Creek Canyon, 24.4 miles from the I-17 junction. Without a car, a scheduled shuttle links Phoenix Sky Harbor with Sedona, best booked at least 24 hours ahead; see our guide to getting to Sedona.
Driving yourself, a day from Phoenix works, but with about 2 hours on the road each way it leaves a few hours in town; the 11-hour day tour from Phoenix leaves about 2-3 hours in Uptown Sedona. Two or three nights let you add a hike, a 2-hour jeep tour and an evening under the dark sky. The Cathedral Rock trail alone takes about 1.5 hours round trip, and the Verde Canyon Railroad 3.5 to 4 hours; our tours compared guide has the lengths of every tour.
Cathedral Rock Trailhead needs a Red Rock Pass or an America the Beautiful pass, and the Forest Service itself suggests the free Sedona Shuttle instead. From Thursday to Sunday it runs from three park-and-ride lots to the Cathedral Rock, Soldier Pass and Dry Creek Road trailheads between 7:00 AM and 5:30 PM, which saves the search for a space.
On operators' own price lists, 2-hour jeep tours start at $104.95 a person and 2-hour night tours for stargazing from $159.95. The paid jeep roads are what the tour buys you; the tours page compares jeep, van and stargazing tours.
It is a different day from a jeep tour: a 40-mile round trip from Clarkdale to Perkinsville and back that lasts 3.5 to 4 hours, with open-air cars and a 734-foot tunnel. A 2026 ticket is $139.00 for anyone from 1 year old. Our tours compared guide sets it against the other tours.
With a car you can reach the trailheads and the four best-known vortex sites yourself, as long as you pay for parking. A tour earns its price on the rough jeep roads, after dark when the sky is the draw (Sedona has been a Dark Sky Community since 2014), or as a day from Phoenix if you would rather not drive. The tours page compares them.