Sedona 3 Day Itinerary – Hiking in Arizona

So, you’re heading to Sedona for three days, ready to soak in the red rock views, snap some Instagram-worthy photos, and sweat your body weight off on the sunny trails. Good choice. Sedona isn’t just pretty; it’s jaw-droppingly pretty. But with about 3,000 trails (okay, maybe fewer, but it feels like that), where do you even start? Fear not. I’ve got you covered with this no-nonsense, boots-on-the-ground hiking itinerary.

But I’ll re-iterate this again — this Sedona 3 day itinerary heavily focuses on hiking. And I know it works because I did this itinerary myself with three full days in Sedona. Let’s begin!

Sedona 3 Day Itinerary – Day 1:

Morning:
Get up early, enjoy a quick breakfast at your hotel, and head out to tackle your first hike, Boynton Canyon and the Subway Cave (that sounds kind of like a rock band, doesn’t it?!) I recommend doing this hike in the morning for a few reasons — there is no shuttle service to this trail head and the parking lot fills up quickly. If you save this hike for later in the day, you might be out of luck. Second, I absolutely love the photos I took inside the Subway Cave in the morning. You are shooting into the sun, but by the time I reached the cave (9am), the sun was in a great spot where I was able to get the pretty sunflare coming into the cave.

Boynton Canyon + Subway Cave + Vista Point: About 5 miles round trip if you just go to the Subway Cave and back. It’s about 7 miles if you do the entire Boynton Canyon to the end, Subway Cave and the vista point. I didn’t bother going all the way to the end of Boynton Canyon, as I really just wanted to go to the Subway Cave.

Afternoon:
The most iconic of all Sedona hikes is waiting for you — Devil’s Bridge! I see a lot of people who scoff at this hike, saying ‘omg too touristy’ but it’s popular for a reason! It’s very cool! And completely worth it! The hike to the Devils Bridge is fun and at the end, it’ll get your heart rate up and feel like a workout.

Late Afternoon: If you still have energy, you can tackle the Cathedral Rock trail on this same day too! Now, I admit, this is a lot of hiking and when I was in Sedona, chatting with other people on the shuttle bus, they thought my plan was quite ambitious — but it can be done! I did this in late December — so limited daylight hours — and didn’t feel rushed at all.

If you still have energy after tackling Devils Bridge, the Birthing Cave trailhead is located in the same parking lot / shuttle pick-up point. I chose not do this this, but it’s right there if you’re looking for more!

Cathedral Rock is 1.2 miles round trip and most times, requires use of the shuttle bus, even in the off-season.

If you want to take things at a more relaxing pace, you can definitely chop off one of these hikes from your day. It’s a VERY busy day, I’ll admit, and I didn’t bother stopping for lunch.

Sedona 3-Day Itinerary – Day 2:

Morning: Time to hit up another iconic Sedona hike with the Brins Mesa / Soldier Pass loop hike. This hike will be the longest (it’s a little over 6 miles round trip) and most strenuous hike of your time in Sedona, and you’ll pass by two iconic Sedona photo spots — Devils Kettle and 7 Sacred Pools. You can make use of the shuttle or you can park at the “Jim Thompson Trailhead” on Google Maps – just be aware that there is a very bumpy portion of the road through the neighborhood to get here — when I was there, it had very deep potholes, broken concrete, but any vehicle should be able to make it.

Afternoon: After hiking Brins Mesa, you’ll probably want to rest your legs. You can stop for lunch or you can hit up Tlaquepaque Arts and Shopping Village for a few hours (I like to shop but I didn’t buy anything there…it’s all quite expensive but it’s a fun place to walk around for an hour or so).

Late Afternoon: Time for another hike! For this hike, I suggest Little Horse to Chicken Point. You may need to use the shuttle bus (take the Little Horse Trailhead shuttle) to do this hike, or you might luck out at this time of day, like I did, and score a spot in the parking lot. This hike takes you to Chicken Point, a spot where all those Pink Jeep tours take people (so if you’re doing a Pink Jeep tour, you might want to skip this hike and switch out this time for something else). Additionally, along this trail, you can take a side trail to the Chapel of the Holy Cross and see it without having to deal with the insane crowds and horrible parking situation.

Sunset: If you’re still up for more and want to see a good sunset, head to Airport Mesa. There’s also a loop trail here that you can do – I haven’t done it myself yet, but Airport Mesa itself is the most popular spot in Sedona to catch a sunset. You will have to pay a small fee to park, and it can get very crowded up here during busy times, so you might want to head up here early.

Sedona Arizona Itinerary – Day 3:

Morning: Head out to the Doe Mountain trailhead, which is located in West Sedona. Doe Mountain is only 1.5 miles round trip and leads you to a beautiful mesa overlooking Sedona.

Mid-Morning: Doe Mountain won’t take that long, so if you’re up for more, you can hike the nearby Fay Canyon. I wasn’t impressed with this hike at all, but it’s really close to Doe Mountain, it’s completely flat, and makes for a nice 2.5 mile walk in the woods, basically.

Afternoon: Bell Rock Courthouse Butte Loop Trail (3.6 miles rt) or climb Bell Rock (as far as you’re comfortable). I did the Bell Rock Courthouse Butte Loop Trail and really enjoyed it, but I haven’t climbed Bell Rock. Either one of these would be a great afternoon hike.

Sunset: Drive to the Crescent Moon Picnic Site in Oak Creek Canyon and get that iconic photograph of Cathedral Rock with a reflection in the creek. There is a fee ( $12 as of 2025) to park here and National Park Passes / Red Rock passes are NOT accepted — everyone needs to pay. I thought it was unnecessarily expensive but I loved the peaceful setting here.

Other things to do in Sedona Arizona (that aren’t hiking)

As you can see, this itinerary is geared toward an avid hiker who wants to tackle as many trails as possible with three full days. But there are other things to do in Sedona that don’t involve hiking. You could substitute any of the hikes above for these activities:

Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park: A secluded park with prayer flags, stupas and budha – just like what you’d see somewhere in Asia.

Tlaquepaque Arts and Shopping Village: Expensive shopping (you probably won’t buy anything tbh), but it’s fun to walk around. There are also a few restaurants and cafes inside here.

Shopping: You can stroll along the streets of Sedona, popping in and out of gift shops and galleries. Personally, I thought the gift shops in Sedona weren’t all that great (and I love me some gift shops). And I don’t like art galleries either so this wasn’t really for me.

Pink Jeep Tours: These are extremely popular and the marketing they do around this area is crazy — they make it seem like you have to do a Pink Jeep Tour if you go do Sedona. This isn’t really my thing — it’s very expensive, and the most popular tour takes you to Chicken Point (a hike mentioned above). But for those who don’t want to hike/can’t hike, these tours are a great way to see the red rock scenery, beyond the highway pullouts.

Day Trip to the Grand Canyon: Yep, if you want to skip a day of hikes, you could head to the Grand Canyon for a day trip. It’s going to be a long day, but it’s definitely doable. You won’t have time to do any major hiking, but you definitely have time to see the Grand Canyon, maybe do a quick hike, and stop for lunch.

Tuzigoot National Monument / Jerome Arizona:
Tuzigoot National Monument is about a 45 minute drive from Sedona and features ancient ruins of Sinaguan Indians. You could also tack on a visit to nearby Jerome, Arizona, which is a former copper mining town.

Sedona Hiker Shuttle Service:

Chances are, no matter what time of year you visit Sedona, you’re probably going to find yourself on one of the hiking shuttle buses. Popular hikes on the Sedona shuttle bus route:

• Mescal / Dry Creek Trailhead Shuttle: Devils Bridge, Birthing Cave, Chuckwagon Trail, Dry Creek Trail
• Soldier Pass Trailhead Shuttle: Soldier Pass/Brins Mesa Loop, Devil’s Kitchen, Seven Sacred Pools
• Cathedral Rock / Little Horse Trailhead: Cathedral Rock, Little Horse/Chicken Point, Bell Rock

The shuttle typically runs Thursday – Sunday.

For exact routes and updated time tables, please visit the official site.

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