And you’ll be treated to some petroglyphs too! Montezuma Castle National Monument This is an easy, 1.5-mile out-and-back trail to a green oasis along the creek. There’s not much in the way of services or infrastructure here, but if you’re enjoying the high desert landscape and want to stretch your legs, you can hop off the highway on Exit 256 for Badger Springs Road.ĭrive about a mile on a gravel road to the Badger Springs Trailhead. Just north of Sunset Point is Agua Fria National Monument. Image from Flickr by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Arizona Plus, it never hurts to use the restroom. While you may not need a rest stop on such a short drive, it’s worth hopping off the road for a few minutes for the magnificent view. Halfway through the trip, about an hour north of downtown Phoenix, is a rest stop called Sunset Point. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some interesting stops along the way. The drive between Phoenix and Sedona is, for the most part, empty but beautiful desert mountains. Sunset Point Rest Stop / Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Unique Stops on the Phoenix to Sedona Drive, AZ RELATED: The Ultimate Sedona, AZ Travel Guide If you continue to Flagstaff in winter, you might be shocked to start your drive with cacti and end it with snowy pine forests! But, in Sedona, you’re unlikely to find much snow, though a magical dusting over the red rocks is a possibility in the winter months. And of course, the temperatures cool as the elevation increases, which is a plus. This means that you’ll say goodbye to the low-lying Saguaro cacti pretty quickly, and the landscape shifts to desert plains and mountains. Compare that to Sedona’s, which is 4,350 feet, or about 1300 meters above sea level. To give you an idea, Phoenix’s average elevation is about 1,000 feet, or about 300 meters, above sea level. But, as I-17 heads north, it’s almost continuously gaining in elevation all the way to Flagstaff. Terry Donaghe from Scottsdale, AZ, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commonsĭriving on the large interstate highway I-17, it takes some time to escape Phoenix’s suburban sprawl, but eventually, the neighborhoods and retail developments give way to a Saguaro-filled desert. RELATED: The Best Airport for Sedona, AZ: Flying to Sedona What is the Drive from Phoenix to Sedona Like?

This detour only takes a few minutes longer, but you’ll enter Sedona through the back door, so to speak, side-skirting the long line of traffic getting into town. From here, you’ll take AZ-260 north through the pleasant city of Cottonwood and then head north on AZ-89A toward Sedona. One alternative is to take I-17 north but exit at AZ-260 by the city of Camp Verde. Going this way may add another 30 minutes to an hour of drive time, so if you want to come this way, plan to leave early to avoid traffic. Therefore, traffic can really back up for miles as people from Phoenix try to sneak into town for a day or weekend trip. This is the most beautiful way to enter Sedona, but everyone knows this.

This road becomes the Red Rock Scenic Byway as it snakes north into Sedona. The most direct route to Sedona is taking I-17, a wide, well-maintained interstate highway, all the way to AZ-179. It’s about the same distance and travel time from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which is where most people fly into when they visit Arizona. With normal traffic, it takes about two hours to travel the 117 miles between Downtown Phoenix and the center of Sedona. The journey from Phoenix to Sedona is not very long. How Long is the Trip From Phoenix to Sedona?ĭPPed, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A two-hour drive through a drastically changing desert landscape, Sedona is a perfect day or weekend trip from Phoenix and easily doable on any budget. The Phoenix to Sedona drive is truly an epic road trip.

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