Is it possible to be eating your burrito bowl or sipping on a Starbucks and getting views like these, unobstructed? If you are in Sedona, the answer is YES!

This red rock heaven is a perfect little paradise blessed with a constant backdrop of the towering red rock mountains, warm weather, golden sunsets, and most importantly (for me)  – it’s a hiker’s paradise!

We spent 3 days in mid-May, when the sun was a little forgiving and winter had already left the party, leaving behind the perfect late-Spring weather. Our trip was a lil-bit-a-everything – some hiking, lots of chilling in quiet cafes, walking around town, and eating every meal to the warm Sedona breeze and nature’s red rock show. Here’s how we planned/spent our 3 days –

We flew into Phoenix mid-week, spent the night at one of the airport hotels and started the drive to Sedona at around 8:30am, after breakfast. It’s only a 2 hour drive, so you can get there by lunch, unless you make a stop for the Montezuma Castle Monument, which I hear is a good piece of history, if you have some time to spend there. We did not venture there and headed straight into town and had lunch at hidden Italian place, which was aptly named ‘Hideaway House’ – great food, views and cocktails. We weren’t even too hungry when we got there, but licked off their Pizza (topped with goat cheese and dates) within mins. The views like from every restaurant/cafe in Sedona, were gorgeous.

Post lunch, we drove to the Coconino Forest Visitor center and collected the area map to get an idea of trails in the Oak Creek Canyons.

Day 1, hike 1 – West Fork Oak Creek Canyon trail – We had about 3-4 hours mid-afternoon and wanted a covered hike. So we decided to do the West Fork Oak Creek trail, which is a 7 mile (out and back) trail with 13 stream crossings. The best part about the hike, apart from the obvious stream crossings, is that the trail is fully shaded, with lush greens everywhere. You’ll forget that you’re in the middle of a rocky/desert-y landscape. I mean, look at this -:

The river/stream flow wasn’t too strong in May, so the waters were only ankle deep at most crossings, except for one place where you could cool yourself off in this cool little swimhole!

After 13 crossings, the marked trail ends at the base of the canyon with the beautiful river to cool your tired feet at.

Few things to note – Parking is limited and $10 per car (even if you have a National Park pass), so plan to be there early or late afternoon, when the early hikers start leaving. Also, carry enough cash, as almost every hiking base/tourist attraction in Sedona WILL charge you around $10 for parking, which isn’t even valid for a day (when in most places, these passes work for a week), which was a disappointment.

It took us about 2.5 hrs to do the 7 mile trail (w/ stops for pictures and hanging out in the swimholes). A 20mins drive later, we were back in Sedona eating dinner at a Thai food place, before heading to Airport Mesa for one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen. Please note that the sunset vista point gets very crowded and it’ll be hard to crop those floating heads out of pictures later, so get there 15-20 mins early and grab a good spot. Another thing to note – like everywhere else in Sedona, they’ll charge you 5$ for parking here.

Day 2 – Devil’s Bridge

We decided to conquer the trail which reserves it’s best views for last. It’s only 4.4 miles and there are 3 options to get to Devil’s bridge – all leading to the base of the ‘stairs’ leading to the bridge. The ‘easy’ trail is kinda boring( in my opinion), as there are no views and no shade, until you get to the last 1.8 miles where the stairs to the bridge begin. The ‘moderate’ trail begins at the Mescal trailhead (so make sure you park there, not at the Dry Creek Trailhead parking  lot). The ‘difficult’ trail starts at the Dry Creek trailhead and isn’t too difficult if you are even moderately fit. We are in our early 30s and not in our best shapes, but could easily do the ‘difficult’ route. So, unless you are with very young kids or don’t hike at all, I’d recommend taking the moderate/difficult, as those routes are far more interesting, than the ‘easy’ route.  Just like any other place in Sedona, parking here is tight and paid, so be prepared for battling it.
Carrying a cap/hat/sunscreen/water are must when doing this hike, as the trails aren’t fully shaded, so dehydration will tire you, if not the the trail length/difficulty. We completed the hike in 3 hrs, with about 45 mins spent at the top for pictures and resting. Now, technical/logistical details aside, I must say the end to this trail, i.e. bridge, was the highlight of our entire trip and a makes it a must-do hike when in Sedona! I’ll let the pictures here do the talking 🙂

We would’ve loved a foot massage or some Spa time after completing this hike, but instead relaxed at a nice Asian restaurant and then strolled around in uptown Sedona. In the evening, we drove to the Crescent moon picnic area to watch the sun set on the Cathedral Rock. We saw the colors change from a bright yellow to a beautiful blood orange and caught it’s reflections in the river, at the foot of Cathedral rock. This vista point was only a 2-3 min walk from the Crescent moon picnic area’s parking lot (not to mention, there’s a 10$ parking fee, which isn’t valid for multiple days).

Day 3 – Cathedral Rock

I love the kind of mountains/trails that give you the most bang for your buck by being challenging to climb/tread, gain elevations quickly and don’t take up all day to give you the most rewarding views that it can! The Cathedral rock hike checks almost all of the boxes of my ideal hike 🙂 Even if you are remotely tickled by the idea of rock-scrambling, this is an absolute must-do when in Sedona. The best part is the hike is only about 1.2 miles (from the Back-o-beyond parking lot) and gains 500 ft very quickly. It took 25 mins to get to the top and 20 mins down, with 20 mins at the top taking in the views (and pictures, of course) 🙂  The rock scrambling is a tonne of fun and  was very therapeutic to my scramble-loving soul. We did this hike in the morning, but a lot of blogs/pages recommend doing it in late-afternoon/evening as the sun is behind the rock, making the trail fully shaded. Also, the sunset views from the top are one of the best in Sedona, and something one must witness. Here are some pictures from our morning hike –

Since we had 3 days, we got ample time to relax and unwind and do only one hike each day. But if you’re going for a shorter duration, I’d recommend doing at least the Devil’s Bridge trail, the Cathedral rock trail and catching the sunset from Airport mesa. Or if you are simply stopping over enroute Grand Canyons, just take a patio table on one of their uptown cafe/restaurant, and let the the majestic red rocks mesmerize you with it’s dance of lights and shadows at sunset; you won’t regret it!