What You Will Do
Turn your phone into your personal tour guide and explore Sedona with an audio tour on your drive. Explore at your own pace as you learn all about Sedona's natural history, culture, and legends from the app's audio.
Sedona is a great place for scenic drives, and the Shaka Guide's Sedona Arizona Driving Tour helps you explore its beautiful landscapes.
Along with stunning views and nice trails, the tour takes you to state parks, historic towns, and local markets. You'll learn about the town's history too. With 20 stops to choose from, this tour makes it easy for you to enjoy your visit to Sedona.
The narration plays automatically based on your GPS location and provides you with history, directions, stories, and music that connect you to the places you visit.
*Download the Shaka Guide app to access your purchased tours.*
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Itinerary
Meeting Point
The tour starts in Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village. It is found along Highway 179 near Renee Taylor Gallery. There is a free parking spot in the area.
1
Chapel of the Holy Cross
15 minutes
This striking mid-century modern chapel sits atop a perch with a stunning view of the surrounding red rocks, from both within the sanctuary and outside. If you do go inside, please give the building the reverence you would a cathedral and maintain the silence.
Outside, the parking lot is steep and often crowded, so coming early to grab a good parking spot is ideal. The walk up the ramp to the building entrance is also steep. There are three parking lots—in the middle lot is the trailhead for Chapel Trail, a highly suggested but optional hike past the red rocks.
Open 9am-5pm daily, but check the website for mass and service times.
2
Yavapai County Courthouse Square
15 minutes
Two vista points–Yavapai and Courthouse–are near to each other on opposite sides of the Red Rock Scenic Byway. There are hiking trails leading from both, but Courthouse Vista’s trails surrounding Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte are superior.
Visitors looking for a meditative experience will also want to seek out the alleged vortex on Bell Rock, so you may find people doing yoga or enjoying a moment of peace. Whichever vista point you choose, both offer splendid views of the buttes and the surrounding red rock scenery. Parking may be slightly easier at Yavapai, for what it’s worth!
3
Courthouse Loop South Trailhead
15 minutes
Get another look at Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte from this trailhead and parking lot right off the Red Rock Scenic Byway.
4
Red Rock Ranger District Visitor Center
15 minutes
This well-kept visitor center has displays on the area's geology and ecology, as well as clean restrooms and a water re-fill station. Outside the main entrance is a decent scenic overlook facing Sedona's Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock.
Open daily 9am-4:30pm, Wednesdays 12pm-4:30pm (bathrooms still open).
5
Historic Old Town Cottonwood
30 minutes
This small historic district is a great place to grab a bite while Sedona’s parking lots fill up. The cafes, restaurants, and taverns on this strip are generally cheaper than their peers in Sedona too.
6
Tuzigoot National Monument
30 minutes
Built by the Sinagua people over 1,000 years ago, the remnants of this 110-room pueblo sit on a hill in the Verde Valley. A small museum in the visitor center includes artifacts discovered during the excavation.
7
Audrey Headframe Park
15 minutes
Home of the Audrey Shaft, which was a large part of an ore mine that put the region on the map.
8
Jerome State Historic Park
30 minutes
Check out this historic museum & park to learn a little bit more about the history of the area around you!
9
Jerome, Az
1 hour
A historic Arizona town, once full of miners, bootleggers, and gamblers, are now full of shops, tourist attractions, and restaurants.
10
Red Rock State Park
Red Rock State Park's trails take hikers through desert brush and low forest surrounded by a red rock backdrop. Most hikes require some moderate elevation gain, but the stepladder orientation of the trails mean you can hike as big or as small of a loop as you'd like.
11
Crescent Moon Picnic Site
Photographers try to get just the right shot of Cathedral Rock looming over the reflective waters of Oak Creek. This picnic area features open lawns and plenty of picnic benches. To get to the best photography spots, walk to the far end of the open fields and follow the path along the creek until you reach a wide riverbank of red rock.
Even further than that is Buddha Beach, a small swimming hole directly underneath Cathedral Rock. It's possible to hike to this picnic area from the Secret Slickrock trail, or vice versa.
12
Secret Slickrock Trailhead
15 minutes
This easy, flat trail is within sight of Cathedral Rock for its entire length, about 0.7 miles out and back. If you can walk down hill for about 30 steps, the trail ends on a wide ledge with a stunning, unobstructed view of Cathedral Rock ahead and the Crescent Moon Picnic Site below.
If you wish to continue hiking to Crescent Moon, go to the opposite side of the ledge from where you entered to pick up what's labeled on some maps as the Ridge Trail. Follow the rock cairns along the edge of the hill to the left as the path heads downhill. The trail dead ends behind some electric boxes off Red Rock Crossing Rd. Turn left and the entrance to Crescent Moon is right there. Going this far, the hike is roughly 20 minutes one way.
13
Lover's Knoll
15 minutes
Check out this easy-to-access viewpoint that gives you a gorgeous panoramic view of the best of Sedona.
14
Amitabha Stupa & Peace Park
15 minutes
Visit this Buddhist site with the historic and sacred Amitabha Stupa, meant for all to come and reflect.
15
Sedona Airport Overlook
15 minutes
This lookout atop airport mesa is one of the most popular places to catch a sunset, with an unobstructed view of northern and western Sedona. Other than a few large rocks, there is no seating so bring a lawn chair if you have one.
16
Midgley Bridge Picnic Area
30 minutes
Sitting at the mouth of Oak Creek canyon, here you get a view of Midgley Bridge, which is a fascinating historic bridge. Enjoy lunch here, or just rest your feet and take in the view!
17
Native American Craft Shop
30 minutes
Support local artists from Arizona’s native tribes and shop for souvenir crafts, art, and jewelry. Approved vendors have direct relationships with the artists.
18
Slide Rock State Park
30 minutes
This is a must visit for families! Though much of this park preserves an old pioneer homestead and apple orchard, the highlight is a swimming hole along Oak Creek Canyon with a natural water slide. The red rocks surrounding this portion of the creek are also fun to climb around. One brief hiking trail skims the ledge above the creek for wider views.
19
West Fork Oak Creek Trail
30 minutes
The parking lot for this popular trail fills up fast, so get here early if you can! The entire trail, which follows the west fork of Oak Creek as it meanders through a forested gorge, is 6.5 miles out and back, rated as easy to moderate, and will take roughly three hours. Though the trail remains relatively flat, there are 13 creek crossings over logs and stepping stones, so you won't get far if you're not up for a creek crossing.
Still, the trailhead is beautiful and the ruins of the old Mayhew Lodge before the trail goes into the gorge are fun to explore. You can always give it a shot and turn around when the trail becomes too difficult. With over 100 species of birds found here, this is also a popular birding site.
20
Oak Creek Vista Overlook
15 minutes
Stop at this vista at the northernmost tip of Oak Creek Canyon for a birds-eye view of the scenery. Vendors of the Native American Crafts Market set up booths on the walkway between the parking lot and the overlook daily.
Some arrive as early as the vista opens and stick around as late as it closes, but midday is the best time to catch the most vendors, who sell handiworks from local native artists.
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