Trip 05 — from Phoenix
Phoenix to Sedona
Driven and priced September 1, 2026. 115 miles one way, about 2h00 without traffic.
Two hours north and four thousand feet up, into red rock, and twenty-five degrees cooler than Phoenix in summer.
Black Canyon City
45
Camp Verde
90
Sedona
115
Interstate 17 north, then State Route 179 through the Village of Oak Creek.
The money
What this weekend costs
Two people, two nights, Phoenix to Sedona
- Gas, 230 miles round trip at $3.45 a gallon
- $28
- Lodging, 2 nights, Sedona or Cottonwood
- $340
- Food, 2 people, 2 days
- $170
- Red Rock Pass and activities
- $50
- Parking
- $15
- Total for two
- $603
Gas is calculated at 28 miles per U.S. gallon and at the regional pump price stated on each trip, observed September 1, 2026. Fuel prices move weekly and vary by more than a dollar a gallon between states, so substitute your own number: the mileage is the part that does not change. Lodging is a mid-range shoulder-season range and excludes state and local lodging taxes, which are added at checkout and vary by city. Observed September 1, 2026.
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The drive
Interstate 17 north out of the valley, climbing steadily from 1,100 feet to over 4,000 by Camp Verde, then State Route 179 north through the Village of Oak Creek. Come in on 179 rather than 89A: the red rock opens up in front of you for the whole last fifteen minutes, and there are pullouts built for exactly that.
Friday. Two hours up Interstate 17. Leave Phoenix at 5:00 PM and you are at dinner in Sedona by 7:30. The temperature drop on the way is the best part of the drive in July.
Saturday
Devil's Bridge or Cathedral Rock early, before the lots fill, which in spring means before 7:00 AM. Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock in the afternoon.
Sunday, and the leave-by time
The Verde Valley wineries at Page Springs, or Jerome on the hill, then home. Sunday afternoon southbound on I-17 is slow; leave by 2:00 PM.
Every trip on this site states a time to leave, and it is the single piece of advice here most worth following. Weekend trips are rarely spoiled at the start. They are spoiled at the end, by one more stop, followed by the metro at the wrong hour, followed by a Monday spent recovering from your weekend.
What to actually do
Cathedral Rock is a short, steep scramble with the best payoff per mile in the area and a trailhead lot that fills absurdly early. Devil's Bridge is the photograph everyone has seen and involves either a long walk or a high-clearance vehicle on a rough road. Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon charges per vehicle, fills by mid-morning in summer, and is the best swimming in central Arizona. If the trailheads defeat you, drive Schnebly Hill Road to the first viewpoint or go to the Verde Valley wineries at Page Springs instead, which almost nobody plans for and almost everybody enjoys.
Practicalities
Four things decide whether the logistics of this trip work: tolls, fuel, signal and parking. They are set out below rather than buried in the narrative, because they are what you will want at seven o'clock on a Friday evening.
The climb
Interstate 17 gains three thousand feet in about forty miles, and the northbound grade out of Black Canyon City is long enough that older cars and anything towing will overheat on a summer afternoon. Southbound on a Sunday, the descent backs up. Both directions have runaway truck ramps, which tells you what you need to know.
Gas
Fill up in north Phoenix. There is fuel at Black Canyon City and Camp Verde and both are expensive. Sedona is worse.
Cell service
Fine on the interstate, patchy in Oak Creek Canyon north of town, and unreliable at several trailheads.
Parking
This is the problem with Sedona. Most Forest Service trailheads require a Red Rock Pass, sold daily or annually, and the popular lots fill before sunrise on spring weekends. The city runs a free shuttle to the busiest trailheads from park-and-ride lots, which is genuinely the right way to do it and removes the entire problem.
Where to sleep
The ranges below are what a mid-range double room actually costs here outside peak weekends, which is the number the cost sheet uses. Peak weekends in the season noted further down run considerably higher, and in several of these towns the good rooms are gone months in advance. Lodging taxes are added at checkout and vary by city and county.
| Where | What it is | Per night |
|---|---|---|
| Uptown Sedona | Hotels and resorts, walk to the shops, the most expensive option | $260–$550 |
| West Sedona | Motels and mid-range hotels along 89A, much better value, need the car | $170–$300 |
| Village of Oak Creek | Ten minutes south, cheapest in the area, closest to Bell Rock and Cathedral | $140–$260 |
| Cottonwood | Twenty-five minutes southwest, ordinary town prices, near the wineries | $110–$200 |
When to go
The same weekend in two different months is two different trips, and in several cases two different prices. Here is the honest version of each season, including the ones we would avoid.
March and April
Perfect weather and the worst crowds of the year. Trailheads full by 7:00 AM and 179 backed up through the roundabouts.
Summer
Ninety-five degrees at midday, which is twenty cooler than Phoenix. Hike at dawn, swim at Slide Rock, sit out the afternoon.
Late September to November
The best combination on the calendar: warm days, cool nights, cottonwoods turning in Oak Creek Canyon.
Winter
Cold mornings, occasional snow on the red rock, which is worth seeing, and the lowest lodging prices of the year.
What we would tell a friend
Sedona has a parking problem that the town openly describes as a crisis. Trailhead lots fill before sunrise on spring weekends, a Red Rock Pass is required at most of them, and there is a free shuttle for the busiest trails that is genuinely the right way to do it.
Before you go
Check the road, the weather and the opening hours on the morning you leave rather than the week before. Attraction hours, seasonal closures, shuttle schedules, day-use fees and permit requirements all change, often with only a few days' notice, and the operator's own website is the only source worth trusting on the day. If a number on this page disagrees with the number on the official site, the official site is right, and we would like to hear about it at [email protected].
Everything on this page was driven, paid for and timed by us, in the season described. Nothing here was written from a press release, and no part of this trip was hosted, comped or discounted. The full method is on the Editorial Policy page.