Four Day Trips Worth Taking from Sedona (and One That Needs an Honest Warning)

Most people come to Sedona and never leave — which I understand completely. But if you're here for four or five nights and you want to see more of northern Arizona, you're in good shape. Everything on this list is within two hours. Some of it will genuinely surprise you. One of these trips I'll be straight with you about, because the hype has gotten a little out of hand.

Oak Creek Canyon: The One You Can Do Before Lunch

This is the easiest call on the list. Oak Creek Canyon runs north from Sedona along Highway 89A up to Flagstaff, and you can drive the whole scenic stretch in about 25 minutes without stopping. But you should stop.

Slide Rock State Park is the main attraction — a natural rock water slide worn smooth by Oak Creek over millennia. In summer it's cold, crowded, and completely worth it. Arrive before 9am or you'll be fighting for parking. The water temperature hovers around 55°F even on a hot day, so don't expect a leisurely swim. It's more of a controlled plunge.

If crowds aren't your thing, pull over at one of the unmarked trailheads along 89A and walk down to the creek. You'll usually find a stretch of water to yourself. I do this on slow mornings when I want to be outside but not around people.

Distance from Uptown Sedona: about 7 miles to Slide Rock. Plan two to three hours.

Jerome: Small Town, Big Personality

Jerome sits about 35 miles southwest of Sedona on a mountain ridge above the Verde Valley, and it used to be a copper mining boomtown of 15,000 people. Now it's closer to 450. The hillside is littered with historic buildings that are slowly, literally sliding downhill — the old jail has moved about 200 feet from its original foundation.

The town is worth half a day. The Jerome State Historic Park has a good small museum inside the Douglas Mansion. The haunted hotel stories are mostly tourist fodder, but the Jerome Grand Hotel does have a legitimately eerie quality if you go up there in the late afternoon when it's quiet. Caduceus Cellars is Maynard James Keenan's winery — yes, that Maynard — and the tasting room is unpretentious and good.

The drive itself on 89A through Mingus Mountain is one of the better roads in the state. Take it slow.

The Verde Valley stretches out below Jerome — this is the kind of landscape you see coming down the mountain on your way back to Sedona.

Distance from Uptown Sedona: about 50 minutes. Half day is plenty; full day if you want to linger and eat.

Flagstaff: A Real City at 7,000 Feet

Flagstaff is 45 minutes north on 89A through Oak Creek Canyon, and it functions as the big-city exhale for Sedona locals. There's a functioning downtown with bookstores, good coffee, live music, and a university. Macy's European Coffee House on Beaver Street has been there since 1981 and is reliably good. Biff's Bagels is newer and worth the line.

Lowell Observatory sits at the edge of town and is where Pluto was discovered in 1930. Their evening programs are solid if you're interested in astronomy. The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff at night has almost no light pollution once you get above the canyon, and if you time it right you might pull over just to look up.

The stretch between Sedona and Flagstaff on clear nights — this is what the sky looks like away from the canyon's ambient glow.

Flagstaff is also the jumping-off point for Sunset Crater and Wupatki, two volcanic and ancient Pueblo sites that almost nobody visits compared to how significant they are.

Distance from Uptown Sedona: 45 minutes. Easy full day or a relaxed half.

The Grand Canyon: The Honest Part

I'll say this plainly: the Grand Canyon South Rim is about 1 hour 45 minutes from Sedona, and it is one of the most extraordinary geological features on Earth. It is also, in peak season, absolutely overwhelmed with people. The viewpoints near the visitor center can feel like a crowded parking garage with a good view.

If you go — and you might as well, once — here's what actually works: arrive before sunrise, drive to Desert View Watchtower at the east end of the South Rim (most people never make it that far), and walk the Rim Trail away from the main overlooks. The canyon doesn't get less impressive with fewer people around. It gets more so.

Book your parking or shuttle plan before you arrive. Don't try to hike to the river and back in a day. Rangers say this every year; people do it anyway and need to be rescued.

Distance from Uptown Sedona: about 1 hour 45 minutes to the South Rim entrance. Full day minimum, and an early start matters more here than anywhere else on this list.

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If you make it to Jerome on a Wednesday afternoon when it's half-empty, stop into the Jerome Artists Cooperative Gallery on Main Street. It's small, it's locals, and it's exactly the kind of place that doesn't exist in Sedona anymore.