Sedona

History John J. Thompson, the first European-American settler, moved to Oak Creek Canyon in 1876, and the early arrivals were farmers and ranchers who planted peach and apple orchards. Hollywood came next. From 1923 into the 1970s, more than sixty productions filmed here, among them Johnny Guitar, Broken Arrow and the original 3:10 to Yuma, usually with the scenery passed off as Texas or California. Tourism, retirement homes and vacation houses took over from the 1950s, and most of what you see in town was built in the 1980s and 1990s. Fire is part of the recent story too: the Brins Fire burned 4,317 acres in 2006, and the Slide Fire burned 21,227 acres of Oak Creek Canyon in 2014.

What to See Cathedral Rock is the formation most people recognize, whether they climb the short, steep route to its saddle or look up at it from Oak Creek. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, finished in 1956, rises from a red rock outcrop south of town and is a working Catholic chapel. West of town, Red Rock State Park protects 286 acres along Oak Creek with five miles of trails and no swimming. Swimmers go north instead, to Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon, a former apple homestead with an 80-foot natural chute in the creek bed. Both parks were closed after the November 2026 Oak Creek flood, so check Arizona State Parks before you go. For archeology, drive out to Palatki Heritage Site, where a timed ticket gets you a guided tour of a cliff dwelling and rock art.

Passes and Parking A Red Rock Pass, or a federal interagency pass, is required for vehicles at listed day-use sites on the Red Rock Ranger District, including Cathedral Rock, Baldwin, Boynton and Palatki. Visit Sedona lists the price as $5 a day, $15 a week or $20 a year; kiosks at the sites sell it, and you can also buy it through Recreation.gov. Stopping for about 15 minutes or less for a photo doesn't need one. The state parks charge their own fees and don't take the pass. The busiest trailheads fill early, and the city runs a shuttle to some of them. Check the current shuttle schedule with the City of Sedona before you plan a Cathedral Rock hike, because private-vehicle access at that trailhead can be restricted while the shuttle runs.

Getting There From Interstate 17, take exit 298 and follow State Route 179 north through the Village of Oak Creek. By road Sedona is about 120 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and about 30 miles from Flagstaff, down the switchbacks of State Route 89A through Oak Creek Canyon. Flooding on November 1, 2026 closed that stretch of 89A; as of November 7 it was open only from Sedona to Slide Rock State Park, with no reopening date for the rest, so check Arizona 511 before planning the canyon route. Sedona's own airport handles general aviation only; the nearest commercial airports are Flagstaff Pulliam, Prescott Regional and Phoenix. Cottonwood is about 20 miles southwest and Jerome about 27.

The Town Itself Sedona has no single center. Uptown, along State Route 89A at the mouth of the canyon, is the tourist strip. The Gallery District and the Chapel area are also on the Coconino County side, and West Sedona lies across the line in Yavapai County. Parts of the city's visitor economy lean on New Age beliefs about "vortices" at Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock and Boynton Canyon. You will see the signs either way. The trails to those places are worth walking whatever you make of them.