For part two of our Arizona Family Adventure series, we move on to Sedona. We first visited back in January 2023 (All About Our 4-Day Family Trip to Arizona) and felt like we didn’t spend enough time there and needed to return. This time around, we squeezed in two separate Sedona adventures on day three and day five of our trip. Rather than make you bounce between a bunch of posts, I’m rolling all the fun, activities, and recommendations into one spot.
Day 3: Sedona – Food, Shopping and Views
We started the day with a lazy morning and then had breakfast at the house before hitting the road. The drive from Prescott to Sedona is about 1 ½ hours, with some amazing views as you drive into the red rocks area. We ended up getting into Sedona just after noon, which was a bummer because we wanted to enjoy some Sedonuts… but they had just closed. Instead, we had a mediocre brunch at a place in the same shopping center and walked over to take a photo with a McDonalds sign.
And not just any McDonald’s sign. This is the only McDonald’s in the entire world with blue arches instead of the classic golden ones. Apparently, when they built it back in the ’90s, the city wasn’t having any of that bright yellow clashing with their gorgeous red rock views — so they made them tone it down with a turquoise color instead. And of course this marketing guru needed to take a photo with it, since I missed it on our last visit!
From there we meant to go do the Bell Rock Loop trail hike, but unbeknownst to me my iphone gps changed my entry to the Red Rock Loop Trailhead and we ended up there. We walked around a bit, but then jumped back in the car to find the correct trail… and got distracted by some nearby viewpoints. It turned out pretty great anyways, even though I can’t tell you where to go to enjoy the same view.
After doing some oohs and aahs at the mountains, we decided to check out the Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village. Last time we visited Sedona, we had a very short amount of time there before it closed, so we wanted to spend a longer time looking at all the local arts and crafts. We spent about 2 hours there, which honestly was plenty of time for us to see everything. We also had an afternoon snack of ice cream and a cactus cupcake.
From there, we decided to hit up a Sedona Goodwill for some thrifting, which is where I found my fabulous secondhand cowboy boots (you can see my full Arizona thrifting post here). From there, we walked across the parking lot and had dinner at Fiesta Mexicana. The food was great and the meals were huge (mine was so big that I shared with Jack). It was a fantastic end to our day!
Day 5: Sedonuts and the Bell Rock Trailhead
On our second day in Sedona, we made sure to leave early enough that we could revisit Sedonuts!
This time, I did a little extra research to figure out the best place to park to access Bell Rock Loop Trail. According to my buddy, ChatGPT, there were a few good options including the Courthouse Vista Parking lot, the Bell Rock Trailhead South, and the Yavapai Vista Point. For any of these three options, you need a Red Rock Pass to park ($5 for one day or $15 for seven consecutive days), or an America the Beautiful pass.
So, we worked our way out there, planning to try the Courthouse Vista first and it was completely full. We got lucky and found a spot at the Yavapai Vista Point parking lot. We have the America the Beautiful pass and you are supposed to put it on your front dashboard. But, we didn’t. Oops. Luckily, we didn’t get a ticket.
From the parking lot, we accessed the entrance for the Kaibab Trail, which connects to Slim Shady and Templeton. We hiked through to an underpass and then turned around to hike back.
Jack thought it was hilarious that there was a trail called Slim Shady… and I thought his ‘rap’ moves were quite hilarious.
Even if you aren’t planning to do any of the bunches of hikes in this area, the Courthouse Vista, Bell Rock Vista and Yavapai Vista are all great places to pull over and enjoy the views. Honestly, you can’t go wrong just driving around and enjoying the Sedona scenery.
After our hikes, we stopped by a couple thrift stores, but honestly nothing great that I would recommend. We did find the Sedona Artist Market and Gallery and loved looking around at the dozens of different artists represented in the space.
From there, we walked over to Pisa Lisa and had some truly yummy wood fired pizza. I got the Margherita pizza with their olive tapenade and it was absolutely delicious. I had the leftovers the following day and… still delicious. So, if you’re in a pizza mood I highly recommend them.
Family Travel Tips for Sedona:
- Go to Sedonuts.
- If your kid isn’t super interested in hiking, it helps to alternate hikes with food or fun stores. That way, they feel a bit more ‘bite sized’ and not ‘here’s our plan for the entire day’. While Travis and I are happy to do much longer hikes, for us a fun family trip is worth the compromise.
- Jack LOVES rock shops and typically they have items at a huge range of prices, so we like to give him a shop budget. For the Sedona Artist Market, I gave him a $15 budget and he happily checked out all the rock shop stores, while Travis and I perused the jewelry and pottery stores.
- Let your kid be your photo director – even if he’s getting bored with a hike, I can usually get him back into it if I give him my iphone and ask him to pose us. And the pictures usually end up ridiculous, which is just our jam.
Stop back tomorrow for Arizona Family Adventure Part 3: Laid-Back Days and Hidden Gems in Prescott!
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing all of the p!aces you visited, and great places to eat. It helps, because no one knows where to go, and are just trying our best, most of the time. Thanks!