How to Get to Sedona from Phoenix and Flagstaff: Drive, Shuttle or Day Tour

Nearly everyone arrives in Sedona by road, and most of them come up from Phoenix. From Phoenix it is 113.4 miles, an estimated 2 hours, by I-17 north and then SR-179, according to the directions published by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau. From Flagstaff you come in from the north on SR-89A, down the hairpin turns and the length of Oak Creek Canyon, one of the most scenic short drives in Arizona.

Without a car you have two realistic options: a scheduled shuttle from Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, or a day tour from Phoenix. Once you are in Sedona, a free city shuttle runs to the busiest trailheads from Thursday to Sunday and an on-demand shuttle covers town. This guide covers each route, what it costs, and the details that catch first-time visitors.

The short version

From	Distance	Time	Route
Phoenix	113.4 miles	about 2 hours	I-17 north to exit 298, then SR-179
Phoenix, to West Sedona			I-17 to exit 287, then SR-260 and SR-89A
Flagstaff	24.4 miles of SR-89A from the I-17 junction		SR-89A south through Oak Creek Canyon
Grand Canyon South Rim	114.3 miles	about 2 hours	SR-64, I-40, I-17 and SR-89A
Las Vegas	278.0 miles	about 5 hours	US-93, I-40, I-17, SR-89A
Los Angeles	482 miles	about 7 hours 30 minutes	I-10 and I-17

Distances and times are the Sedona Chamber’s. Check current highway conditions at ADOT511.gov before you set off; the Arizona Department of Transportation posts closures and roadwork there.

From Phoenix by car: the SR-179 route

The standard route is simple. Take I-17 north toward Flagstaff for 98.4 miles and leave at exit 298. Turn left onto SR-179 and stay on it for 14.2 miles into Sedona, where you turn right onto SR-89A.

That last stretch is the reason to take this route. SR-179 is designated an All American Road by the Federal Highway Administration for its scenic, natural and recreational qualities. It runs past the Village of Oak Creek and then between Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte, the first big red rock formations most visitors see. Several of the most popular trailheads are right on the road: Bell Rock Pathway, Little Horse, and the turn for Cathedral Rock.

Two things to know:

Expect roundabouts. The Chamber publishes a short guide to driving them alongside its directions. Yield to traffic already in the circle.
Stopping to look costs nothing; parking to walk does. A stop of about 15 minutes or less for a photograph needs no pass. Leave the car to hike at Bell Rock or Little Horse, and you need a Red Rock Pass or an America the Beautiful pass. Our Red Rock Pass and parking guide covers the rules.

From Phoenix by car: the SR-260 route to West Sedona

The alternative leaves I-17 earlier. At exit 287, turn left onto AZ-260 west toward 89A, through Camp Verde and Cottonwood, then turn right on AZ-89A and continue into Sedona.

The Chamber recommends it if your hotel is in West Sedona, and notes that SR-260 is often less busy than SR-179. It also passes close to Clarkdale, home of the Verde Canyon Railroad, which makes it the natural way in if the train is on your list. What you give up is the arrival past Bell Rock.

A good plan for a round trip from Phoenix is to use both: come in one way and leave the other.

From Flagstaff: down Oak Creek Canyon

From the north, SR-89A drops off the Colorado Plateau into Oak Creek Canyon, one of Arizona’s designated Scenic Byways; the last stretch into town is designated the Sedona-Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Road. The highway enters the canyon at its north end down a series of hairpin turns, then follows the canyon floor for about 13 miles beside Oak Creek until it reaches Sedona. In the Chamber’s directions, the run from the I-17 junction at Flagstaff to Sedona is 24.4 miles of SR-89A.

It is a slow, twisting drive and a beautiful one. Along the way:

Slide Rock State Park, a 43-acre historic apple farm with a natural water slide in Oak Creek. It charges its own entrance fee: $20.00 per vehicle for 1-4 people from August 22, 2026 to April 2027, plus $5.00 for each extra person; $30.00 per vehicle from May to August 21 in 2026. There are no reservations and no walk-ins, and visitors may not queue on the highway when the lot is full.
Call of the Canyon and the West Fork trail, 9.5 miles north of Sedona and 17.5 miles south of Flagstaff, one of the most popular hikes on the forest. It is a concessionaire site with its own fee, $15 per vehicle for up to 5 people, and neither the Red Rock Pass nor the America the Beautiful pass is accepted. The paved lot fills quickly, and in busy summer months the queue to get in can back up onto SR-89A; vehicles over 24 ft are not allowed. A forest order closed the West Fork trail from September 26 through October 31, 2026, because of rockfall and flood debris after rain in the area burned by the Pocket Fire; check whether it has been extended before you plan around it.
Grasshopper Point, a swimming and picnic area with the same $15 daily fee, and Midgley Bridge, where you need a Red Rock Pass to park.

If you are prone to carsickness, the hairpins at the top of the canyon are the hard part. Going north out of Sedona you climb them; coming south you descend them.

Without a car, the airport shuttle also lists Flagstaff among its stops; check the operator’s schedule for that leg.

From the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Los Angeles

Sedona sits just over 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon, and many visitors combine the two:

Grand Canyon South Rim: 114.3 miles, about 2 hours. From Sedona the Chamber’s route is SR-89A north for 24.4 miles, a short run on I-17, then I-40 west from exit 340B for 29.6 miles. Leave at exit 165 and follow SR-64 north for the last 57 miles to the park.
Las Vegas: 278.0 miles, about 5 hours. US-93 for 78.8 miles into Arizona, I-40 for 145.6 miles to Flagstaff, then exit 195 onto I-17 and SR-89A, with the last stretch down Oak Creek Canyon.
Los Angeles: 482 miles, about 7 hours 30 minutes, almost all of it on I-10 (368.0 miles) and then I-17 north from Phoenix.

Coming from Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon, you arrive from the north, so the Oak Creek Canyon drive is part of the trip whether you plan it or not. Coming from Los Angeles, you pass through Phoenix and can choose either of the two I-17 routes described above.

A popular loop for a first visit to Arizona is Phoenix, Sedona and the Grand Canyon over three or four days: up I-17 to Sedona, north through Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff and the South Rim, and back to Phoenix on I-17. Sedona then sits in the middle of the loop rather than at the end of a long day trip.

Without a car: the airport shuttle from Phoenix

A scheduled shuttle runs between Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) and Sedona, with stops in Cottonwood, the Village of Oak Creek and Camp Verde, and service year-round with multiple daily trips. How it works, from the operator’s own Sedona page:

Book ahead. The operator recommends at least 24 hours’ notice; it will try to fit in walk-up passengers but cannot guarantee a seat.
Check in 15 minutes before departure, at every stop.
At the airport, shuttles leave Terminal 3 at the scheduled time and then pick up at Terminal 4.
Stops. Many Sedona hotels and resorts are listed as stops, by reservation only; the operator’s office in Cottonwood is the exception.
Home pickup in Sedona can be added if you book it by 12:00 pm the day before you travel.
Fares vary with the date and time; since May 5, 2026 a $2.00 per passenger fuel surcharge has been included in the total at checkout.

The shuttle makes most sense if you plan to spend several days in Sedona and use tours, the city shuttle and your feet once there. If you want to hike widely or reach places like Palatki, Honanki or the far end of Oak Creek Canyon, a car is still easier.

Without a car: a day tour from Phoenix

If you are staying in Phoenix and want to see Sedona without driving, a day tour does the work. The day trip from Phoenix on our tours page:

11 hours, with pickup and drop-off at select Phoenix hotels, in a small-group van of up to 13 people.
Montezuma Castle on the way, a cliff dwelling built into a limestone cliff, for some Native American history before the red rocks.
The Chapel of the Holy Cross and Bell Rock for photos and views.
About 2-3 hours in Uptown Sedona to walk, browse the galleries and shops, and eat. Food is not included, and there is no restroom on the van, though comfort stops are made.

That is a good first look at Sedona with the driving taken care of. With roughly 2 hours on the road each way, though, any day trip, guided or not, leaves only a few hours in town. If Sedona is the main reason for your trip, a night or two there changes everything: sunrise on the red rocks, a stargazing tour, and the trails before the crowds. Our tours compared guide sets the day trip against the tours you can take once you are in town.

Getting around Sedona without a car

Sedona is smaller than it looks on a map. The city limits are roughly 6 miles long by 3 miles wide, Gallery Row is about a 15-minute walk from Uptown, and most of West Sedona’s attractions sit along a 2-mile stretch of SR-89A. Beyond your feet:

Sedona Shuttle Connect. An on-demand, curb-to-curb service within its zone for $2 per ride, Thursdays to Sundays from 6:30 AM to 8:30 PM. Pickup points are signed at shopping hubs such as Hillside and Uptown.
Sedona Shuttle Trailhead Routes. Free shuttles from three park-and-ride lots to the Cathedral Rock, Soldier Pass and Dry Creek Road trailheads, Thursdays to Sundays between 7:00 AM and 5:30 PM. They are the easiest way to reach the busiest trailheads without fighting for a parking space.
Verde Shuttle. A local shuttle between Sedona and Cottonwood for $2 per ride, with twelve stops along SR-89A and SR-179 within Sedona for $1 per ride.
Bikes and e-bikes. Rental shops are spread through town, and the Sedona Trails and Pathways System of shared-use paths keeps growing.
Tours with pickup. Many jeep, vortex and stargazing tours collect guests from Sedona hotels.

Schedules change with the season, so check sedonashuttle.com for the current timetable before you count on the free trailhead routes.

Where to base yourself

Where you sleep decides which road you take in and how much you drive once there:

Uptown Sedona, at the junction of SR-179 and SR-89A, is the walkable center, with shops and restaurants and a Shuttle Connect pickup point. Gallery Row is about a 15-minute walk away. Arriving from Phoenix, it is at the end of the SR-179 route; from Flagstaff, it is the first part of town you reach.
West Sedona stretches along SR-89A, where most of its attractions sit within a 2-mile stretch of the highway. It is closest to the western trailheads and to the road out to Cottonwood and Clarkdale; the SR-260 route from Phoenix brings you in this way.
The Village of Oak Creek, south of town on SR-179, sits near Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte and is a stop on the airport shuttle. The Coconino National Forest’s Red Rock Ranger District Visitor Center, open year-round, is nearby; it gives out a free recreation guide with a map.
Cottonwood and Camp Verde, farther out, are both on the airport shuttle, and Cottonwood is linked to Sedona by the Verde Shuttle at $2 a ride. They put you closer to the Verde Canyon Railroad but add a drive to every trailhead.

Parking once you arrive

Parking in Sedona is a question of where, not just how much:

Trailheads and viewpoints on the national forest need a Red Rock Pass, $5 a day, $15 a week or $20 a year, or an America the Beautiful pass. It covers everyone in the vehicle.
Five creekside picnic and swimming sites run by a concessionaire charge their own daily fees and accept neither pass.
The two state parks, Slide Rock and Red Rock, charge state park entrance fees.

The full list is in our Red Rock Pass and parking guide.

Combining Sedona with the Verde Canyon Railroad

The Verde Canyon Railroad leaves from Clarkdale, west of Sedona past Cottonwood, from a depot at 300 North Broadway with free parking. Trains usually leave at 1 p.m., and you must check in at least 15 minutes before departure, so a morning in Sedona and an afternoon on the train works well, as does a stop on the way in from Phoenix by the SR-260 route. The ride is a 40-mile round trip lasting 3.5 to 4 hours, and a 2026 ticket costs $139.00.

Practical checklist

Fuel and water: fill up before Oak Creek Canyon or the backroads, and carry water for any walk; the Chamber’s hiking advice is to carry more than you think you will need.
Timing: the free trailhead shuttle runs Thursday to Sunday. On those days, use it rather than driving to Cathedral Rock or Soldier Pass.
Fee-free days: the Coconino National Forest waives day-use fees on certain days; in late 2026 that includes October 27, November 11, November 26 and December 25.
Altitude: Sedona sits at 4,360 ft, higher than Phoenix. Expect cooler evenings than the city.
Tours: the tours page lists day trips from Phoenix and the tours that pick up in Sedona.

Frequently asked questions

How far is Sedona from Phoenix?

113.4 miles, about 2 hours by car: I-17 north for 98.4 miles to exit 298, then 14.2 miles on SR-179.

What is the most scenic way to drive to Sedona?

From Phoenix, SR-179 from exit 298, an All American Road that passes Bell Rock. From Flagstaff, SR-89A down Oak Creek Canyon, a designated scenic byway.

Can you get to Sedona without a car?

Yes. A scheduled shuttle runs between Phoenix Sky Harbor and Sedona year-round, best booked at least 24 hours ahead. In town, the Sedona Shuttle Connect costs $2 a ride and the trailhead shuttles are free from Thursday to Sunday.

How far is Sedona from the Grand Canyon?

114.3 miles to the South Rim, about 2 hours, by SR-89A, I-17, I-40 and SR-64.

Is a day trip from Phoenix to Sedona worth it?

Driving yourself, it works for the viewpoints and a short walk, but with about 2 hours on the road each way it leaves little time for hiking. The day tour from Phoenix on our tours page takes 11 hours and leaves about 2-3 hours in Uptown Sedona. A night in Sedona lets you see the red rocks at sunrise and sunset.