Time Of the Year Visited: August 2020
Days Visited: 3. We suggest you visit for at least 5 days as there’s so many beautiful sights! Sedona is an outdoor junkie’s dream. If you love hiking and exploring this is the place for you.
How To Get Here
During these times, a lot of people are avoiding travel by plane. Our group is used to road trips, so we decided to drive instead of flying. Sedona is an easy 7 hour road trip from Los Angeles CA. If you plan on flying, you can fly into Phoenix, rent a car and drive up 1.5 hours.
Safety During COVID19
We wanted to get out on this trip to escape from our four walls and reconnect with nature while still maintaining social distance. A lot of people in Arizona did wear masks while walking on the street but not everyone. To a lot of people, it seemed like the pandemic was a thing of the past. Businesses do require you wear a mask to gain access. However, while hiking , we did encounter many people not wearing a mask in situations in which social distancing was not possible. We took ours, so we were able to put ours on when we encountered that crowd. We hiked before 8am every day, so fortunately we did not experience large crowds.
Lodging
There are multiple options to choose from depending on what you are looking for. We wanted to be relatively close to the “main strip” where the shops and restaurants are located but also close to hiking trails. We went with this awesome Airbnb (get up to $35 off your first Airbnb booking with this link). The place was very clean, the check in was super easy, it had all the basic necessities, the host was very easy to communicate with and they even left us a “Thank You” card and a bottle of wine. I would definitely stay there again!
Another good area for you to look into lodging options is pictured below. If you are leaning more on the hotel side, Amara Resort and El Portal Hotel would be two nice options to look into with a pool and good views.
What To Do: Our trip consisted of a lot of outdoor activities, which in my opinion, it’s what a trip to Sedona should be like! Below i share just a couple options.
Have a picnic at Crescent Moon Park. Great place to come and spend the day, do a picnic, and come for a little swim in the creek. Don’t be surprised if you see bats flying around during sunset.
Hike Cathedral Rock. It’s a relatively easy hike to the base with other challenging options to select from. The views are beautiful!
Hike up to Devil’s Bridge. The hike up to the bridge and back is about 5 miles, depending which trail you take. The more challenging part is when you are getting closer to the bridge. Come early to ensure you find parking on the street, the parking lot by the trail is pretty small. We came before 8am and it was already full but we found parking on the main road. Hiking shoes for this trail help but a good pair of sneakers would get the job done.
Other arches you can visit and are less crowded (for those who can’t get up early): Vultee Arch and Fay Canyon Arch.
Mountain bike or hike the Little Horse Trail (about 4 miles, moderate in terms of difficulty)
Swing by the Chapel of the Holy Cross, built on the red rocks. The views are beautiful. When you are here look for the red rock formation to the east that looks like the Madonna and child, surrounded by rock figures that some people say look like praying nuns.
Go swimming at Grasshopper Point Picnic Area. Come early in the morning, bring a blanket, snacks and drinks. Parking is limited so you will have to park on the main road if the lot is full and walk down. To walk in, the entrance fee is $2/per person. Once you get to the bottom you will see beautiful clear blue water. This area can get crowded which can be problematic during the pandemic. If you take a left and walk up a little you, will find a more secluded area with less people, where you can swim in. People often jump from the rocks but it isn’t recommended as many have gotten hurt.
Go for a hot air balloon ride over Sedona.
Catch the Sunset near Sky Ranch Lodge on Airport Road. You can park across the street for about $5.
Visit the natural slide at Slide Rock State Park. You can come swimming, camping or hiking in this area! Entrance fee is $5/person to walk in or $20/per car (more during holiday weekends). There’s monuments, a well, crater and a couple forests around this area to explore.
Where to Eat
For those who have been following my guides, you know my guide format always includes pictures of where to eat as well. Because we really wanted to avoid crowded spaces, we did take-out only. Because of this, i did not take any pictures but below are the places we checked out and recommend.
*Creek Side Sedona (Breakfast, Brunch or Lunch)
*Coffee Pot Restaurant (Breakfast or Brunch)
*Elote (Brunch or Dinner)
*The Vault (Cocktails)
*Mariposa Grill (Dinner)
*Javelina Cantina (Dinner)
*Tortas de Fuego ( Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner)
We hope this inspires you to visit this beautiful masterpiece! If you visit, don’t forget to tag us on your your pictures!
