Sedona Hiking and Outdoor Exploration

With its diverse selection of hiking trails, Sedona, Arizona is a mecca for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. The area’s strikingly beautiful landscape is etched with trails of varying difficulty that allow hikers to experience the red rock vistas and magnetic sense of peace for which Sedona is internationally known. There are a variety of hikes from gentle rolling walks to intense, elevated hikes. Sedona area hikes offer solitude, serenity, and an opportunity to explore the unspoiled beauty of the countryside (please follow the rule Leave No Trace). Hiking the Sedona area is not only filled with incredible vistas, but there are amazing ruins, pictographs and petroglyphs to see and learn about as well, not to mention the intense spiritual vibes and high concentration of vortexes – sites that are believed to strongly emit energy that promotes healing and meditation!

Antelope Canyon - El Portal Sedona Hotel

Hikes towards Flagstaff, throughout Coconino National Forest and south beyond Cottonwood can usually be done in a day. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the inn, or ask Steve what hike he would personally recommend. Hiking the beautiful red rocks of the Sedona area is unbelievable!

If you want to go farther afield there are tours to Antelope Canyon – one of the most spectacular slot canyons in America! Towering wave-like canyon walls, divine rays of light beams, a multi-faceted eco-system, a sacred monument … all make up Antelope Canyon. It is one of the most photographed/visited slot canyons in the American Southwest. (Slot canyons are tiny canyons formed when water finds its way into a crack or fissure in the bedrock). Divided into the Upper Canyon and Lower Canyon, it is accessible by tour only and is a Navajo Tribal Park.
Here are a few tour operators that will take you on this amazing trip!
Pink Jeep Tours
First Class Charter & Tours

Steve’s Special Hikes!

1.7 mile walk El Portal to uptown back to El Portal.
Go to the free All-Trails map page to see the great hike that Steve made

Sedona Hikes and Resources

Hikes: Adobe Jack | Airport Loop| Bear Mountain | Bell Rock Pathway | Boynton Canyon | Brins Mesa| Broken Arrow| Canyon of Fools | Cathedral Rock | Cibola Pass | Courthouse Butte | Courthouse Butte Loop | Devils Bridge | Doe Mountain Trail | Fay Canyon | Mescal Trail | Sacred Mountain | Soldiers Pass | Sugarloaf Loop Trail | Thunder Mountain | West Fork at Oak Creek | Wilson Mountain Trail
Guided Hikes: Sedona Philosophy
Hiking Gear: The Hike House

Sedona for Family Fun - Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourist Bureau

Photo credit Visit Sedona

Arizona State Parks, Historic Parks & National Monuments

There are beautiful state parks with hiking, sightseeing, and educational “ranger” programs for more outdoor adventures:
Red Rock State ParkArizona State Parks - El Portal Sedona Hotel
Slide Rock State Park
Dead Horse Ranch State Park
Fort Verde Historic State Park
Jerome Historic State Park
Montezuma Castle National Monument
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Tuzigoot National Monument

Birding Adventures

The Sedona area boasts upwards to 350 species of birds. While we are blessed to have a variety of “resident” desert birds year long, we receive an abundance of migratory birds nesting and feeding along the riparian corridors and waterways in the area. Birding Northern Arizona offers a variety of tours, from a few hours to an entire day (with a picnic lunch)! They also have free bird walks every Wednesday from Jay’s Bird Barn here in Sedona.

If you have any questions on hiking trails or other outdoor adventures, please as Steve, Terri, or any other staff member – we are here to make sure you get the most out of your Sedona vacation!