Happenin’
Places › Arizona › Sedona Red Rock Country
Sedona Red Rock Country

Photo: Tedsan64 / CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

🏜️ Canyons & deserts

Sedona Red Rock Country

Sedona, AZ · Verde Valley and Red Rock Country, Northern Arizona

About

Cathedral Rock is the shape everyone recognizes, a cluster of red sandstone fins standing over Oak Creek and glowing hardest an hour before sunset. The Forest Service rates the trail to the saddle strenuous: 1.1 miles round trip, 669 feet of gain on bare slickrock, with toeholds chipped into the steepest pitches and no shade or water on it. Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte and the Airport Mesa loop offer the same red rock with less scrambling. Trailhead parking takes a Red Rock Pass ($5 daily, $15 weekly, $20 annual) or an America the Beautiful pass. Thursday through Sunday year round the Cathedral Rock lot is closed and the free Sedona Shuttle from the North SR 179 park and ride is the only way in. The Pocket Fire closure order has Devils Bridge, Soldier Pass and Fay Canyon shut through September 30, 2026, and summer highs top 100, so start at dawn and check the forest closure list before you drive.

Highlights

Red Rock Pass required at trailheads ($5 day, $15 week, $20 year) or America the Beautiful passCathedral Rock lot closed Thu to Sun year round; free Sedona Shuttle Route 15 from the North SR 179 park and ride is the only accessCathedral Rock 1.1 mi round trip, 669 ft gain, Forest Service rates it strenuousSteep slickrock scramble with chipped toeholds, hands neededDevils Bridge, Soldier Pass and Fay Canyon closed by the Pocket Fire order through Sept 30, 2026No shade or water and summer highs over 100, so hike at dawn

Getting there

Related places

Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park Canyons & deserts

Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park

Gainesville, FL · North Central Florida

Devil's Millhopper is a 120-foot-deep, 500-foot-wide sinkhole near Gainesville that hides a miniature rainforest where Florida almost never has one. A boardwalk and 132 steps descend past fern-draped limestone walls and trickling cascades to the cool, shaded bowl at the bottom. The seepage waterfalls run strongest in late winter and early spring, when the streams are at their fullest.

Grand Canyon National Park Canyons & deserts

Grand Canyon National Park

Tusayan, AZ · Grand Canyon

One of the world's great natural wonders, the Grand Canyon is a mile deep, up to 18 miles wide, and 277 river miles long, carved by the Colorado River over millions of years. The South Rim is open year round and packs the most accessible viewpoints, lodges, and trailheads, making it the side most visitors choose for a first trip. Sunrise and sunset set the layered red rock walls ablaze, and the sheer scale rewards anyone willing to make the journey.

Zion National Park Canyons & deserts

Zion National Park

Springdale, UT · Southern Utah

Zion National Park is a canyon wonderland in southwest Utah where the Virgin River has carved a deep gorge through towering walls of cream, pink, and red Navajo sandstone. Soaring cliffs, hanging gardens, and slot canyons make it one of the most dramatic and accessible parks in the country, with a free shuttle that carries visitors deep into Zion Canyon. It rewards both casual sightseers and serious adventurers, so it is well worth the trip for almost any traveler.

Part of these collections

Curated guides that feature Sedona Red Rock Country.

Best Slot Canyons and Red Rock in the US15 places

Best Slot Canyons and Red Rock in the US

The sandstone country of the Colorado Plateau and its edges: corridors sanded smooth by flood water, arches by the thousand, hoodoo amphitheaters and thousand-foot buttes. Fifteen places, honest about which ones need a permit, a Navajo guide, or a high-clearance truck, and which you can simply walk into.