This June, I visited Sedona, Arizona for a girls’ weekend! Sedona was super fun and we had a great long weekend full of hiking, visiting vortexes, and wow-ing over the red rock mountains. I didn’t find that there was tons to do in Sedona beyond hiking, but if you’re looking for a spot for a quiet nature weekend, it’s a great location!
Tips for Sedona
- Buy the America the Beautiful National Parks Pass. I get this pass every year anyway but it was particularly worthwhile in Sedona. It’s $80/year and gives you access to national parks, national monuments, and parking in most national forests. In Sedona, it works in lieu of the Red Rock Pass, which is required for parking at most of the trailheads. As a note, it doesn’t work at state parks, so you still need to pay admission to get into Slide Rock State Park.
- Check out some vortexes! Vortexes are places where the energy supposedly either flows upwards out of the earth or down into the earth. There are several scattered across Sedona and they often correspond with some really spectacular views, so I’d definitely recommend checking some out!
- Lots of sunscreen and water (and morning hikes). Sedona is cooler than Phoenix but still gets pretty hot, especially in the afternoons, so try to plan your schedules accordingly.
Day 1: Arrival in Phoenix
We flew into Phoenix on Thursday for the start of our long weekend and immediately doubted our choice of Arizona. Phoenix in June is HOT and we were greeted by a toasty 104F.
As we drove the 2 hours north to Sedona, the landscape gradually changed from flat desert to scrubby brush and saguaro cacti and finally to mountains and the beautiful town of Sedona, nestled in a valley between red rock mountain ranges.
I wouldn’t say that there was much to do on the way to Sedona (we bypassed Jerome, a historic mining town, and Montezuma Castle National Monument, a set of Native-American cliff dwellings). We did stop briefly at Rock Springs Cafe in Black Canyon City, AZ (1 hour north of Phoenix, 1 hour south of Sedona) for some food and some amazing deals on rocks. Seriously, if you’re in the market for crystals, I’d recommend Rockshop in the same parking lot.
We didn’t do much after getting into our Sedona Airbnb but I did grab some pizza at Pisa Lisa, which has several locations around Sedona and was great!
Day 2: Boynton Canyon and Exploring Sedona
We kicked off our day bright and early and hit the Boynton Canyon trailhead by 7:30AM. Boynton Canyon was probably my favorite hike of the trip! It was a little over 8 miles (minimal elevation change) with the slight detour of going to the vortex at the beginning and Subway Canyon.
Subway Canyon was really cool in itself; it’s a bit of a scramble to get up to but has a killer view! The trail off to it is unmarked, so it helps to have a GPS. The end of the Boynton Canyon trail isn’t really anything, so I’d recommend just hiking to Subway Cave and turning back.
After our early morning hike, we tooled around the town for the afternoon and checked out Center For The New Age, Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village, and grabbed some food at Pump House Station Urban Eatery and Market. I thought the shopping was skippable but we had some great sandwiches at Pump House and they had a beautiful outdoor space!
Day 3: Devils Bridge and lots of food
We had another early start with a 7:30AM trailhead start at Devils Bridge (4 miles, minimal elevation change). Like Boynton Canyon, the trailhead was very crowded, even at 7:30AM and, as a word of caution, Google Maps will suggest you go another 1 mile past where the trailhead parking actually is. This would be where you might be able to park if you had a VERY high clearance vehicle. I would recommend walking along the “road” on the way to the real trailhead, otherwise you’ll tack on several miles to an already very exposed and hot hike.
I liked Devils Bridge OK but it was very crowded, very exposed, and the line to take pictures at the bridge was long, so we ended up passing on it. I think it could be a trail you easily passed on, especially if you’re not a fan of crowded hikes.
After the hike, we got treats at Sedonuts and Karen’s Gluten Free Bakeshop and ended up joining up briefly with a Women’s Rights March!
We tried to go to Slide Rock State Park but their lot was full (and tried parking along the road and walking in but were turned away) so we ended up grabbing drinks at Indian Gardens Cafe & Market (which was awesome!) and finding another swimming area also along Oak Creek.
After some late afternoon chilling, we grabbed yet more food at Hideaway House. I loved Hideaway House! It was maybe my favorite spot for food on the whole trip and we got a killer peach pizza and they have a multi-level outdoor deck for seating with a great view of the mountains.
Day 4: Grand Canyon and Flagstaff
Sunday was our Grand Canyon day and we started the day again around 7AM for our 2 hour drive to the Grand Canyon from Sedona.
The drive was beautiful (it felt very northern California forest) and we stopped in Flagstaff for some great coffee at Macy’s European Coffeehouse & Bakery.
We did some brief hiking around the Grand Canyon (0.75 miles down the Bright Angel Trail, which goes from the rim down to the Colorado River) and the weather was starting to turn, so we headed back to Flagstaff.
Back in Flagstaff, we grabbed some food at Red Curry Vegan Kitchen, went to Bright Side Bookshop (which might be my new favorite bookstore?), and did some light thrifting at the local Savers.
Day 5: Cathedral Rock, Slide Rock, and Airport Mesa
Continuing with our early morning hike trend, we started at the Cathedral Rock trailhead at 7:30AM. This was another popular hike but afforded some great views and was short (2 miles roundtrip) but was also a steep, hot climb. You get some spectacular views and it’s another vortex spot!
After our hike, we hit Slide Rock State Park around 9AM, which meant that we actually got parking this time, and spent a fun few hours either dipping into the freezing water, sliding around on the natural waterslides, and sunning ourselves on rocks. It was lovely and definitely worth the visit!
We then grabbed some more food and drinks at Indian Gardens Cafe & Market (we liked it so much the first time), had a rest, and then went back out to the Airport Mesa to watch the sunset! We went to a paid parking area, which was a fine place to bring some food and watch the sunset but we should have watched it from the Airport Mesa Vortex, which is where we went after the sunset and has an even nicer view (with free but limited parking).
We wrapped up our night (and trip) with a bit of stargazing outside of our airbnb! Arizona really is a great place for stargazing with super clear skies and it was a new moon as well, so we got to see a lot!
Bonus – Day 6: Flying out of Phoenix
As a quick last note about our last day, we stopped at Black Potion Sedona to grab some coffee on our way out of town and it was so cute! A perfect ending to our witchy Sedona weekend.
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