Sedona Red Rocks Self-Guided GPS Audio Driving Tour
- 8–10 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Explore Sedona’s famous red rock country with an app-based, self-guided GPS audio driving tour. There’s no in-person guide—your phone leads the way with turn-by-turn navigation, stories, local insight, and directions as you explore Sedona’s scenic drives and iconic landmarks. Follow turn-by-turn directions through spectacular scenery along Oak Creek Canyon, the Red Rock Scenic Byway, and Red Rock Loop Road, with opportunities to visit iconic spots, scenic viewpoints, historic sites, and optional hiking trails. Shaka Guide tours are created by real people who know and experience the destinations they guide, bringing Sedona to life through authentic stories, history, local insight, and recommendations. One purchase covers everyone in your vehicle. Download the Shaka Guide app and tour before you go; once downloaded, the audio and map work offline, and GPS-triggered narration plays automatically as you drive.
Inclusions
What's included
- Flexible itinerary with optional stops and hikes
- Offline map and audio after download
- Three designated starting areas
- Access to the Sedona Driving Tour in the Shaka Guide app
- Stories, history, cultural insights, and local recommendations
- Turn-by-turn audio navigation that plays automatically as you drive
- Tour access does not expire
- One purchase covers everyone in your vehicle
What's not
- In-person tour guide
- Transportation or rental vehicle
- Food and drinks
- Personal expenses
Itinerary
This striking mid-century modern chapel sits atop a perch with a stunning view of the surrounding red rocks, from both within the sanctuary and outside. If you do go inside, please give the building the reverence you would a cathedral and maintain the silence. Outside, the parking lot is steep and often crowded, so coming early to grab a good parking spot is ideal. The walk up the ramp to the building entrance is also steep. There are three parking lots—in the middle lot is the trailhead for Chapel Trail, a highly suggested but optional hike past the red rocks. Open 9am-5pm daily, but check the website for mass and service times.
Stop at Yavapai and Courthouse Vistas for impressive views of Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, and Sedona’s red rock landscape. Take in the scenery from the viewpoints, or spend additional time exploring nearby trails if you choose.
Get another look at Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte from this trailhead and parking lot right off the Red Rock Scenic Byway.
This well-kept visitor center has displays on the area's geology and ecology, as well as clean restrooms and a water re-fill station. Outside the main entrance is a decent scenic overlook facing Sedona's Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock. Open daily 9am-4:30pm, Wednesdays 12pm-4:30pm (bathrooms still open).
This small historic district is a great place to grab a bite while Sedona’s parking lots fill up. The cafes, restaurants, and taverns on this strip are generally cheaper than their peers in Sedona too.
Optional Stop: Explore Tuzigoot National Monument, where you can walk through the remains of a hilltop pueblo and visit the museum to learn about the people who lived here centuries ago. Admission, if you choose to enter, is purchased separately directly from the National Park Service.
Optional Stop: Visit Jerome State Historic Park and the historic Douglas Mansion to learn about Jerome’s mining history while enjoying sweeping views of the Verde Valley. Admission, if you choose to enter, is purchased separately directly from the park.
This town on a steep hillside was known as much for its loose morals and frequent disasters as it was for its booming mining business. Almost a ghost town after the mines closed, today Jerome’s crumbling buildings mix with a funky assortment of restaurants, bars, and shops. This is another cheaper lunch option than Sedona.
Optional Stop: Explore Red Rock State Park and its network of scenic trails through Sedona’s red rock landscape and along Oak Creek. Choose a short walk or spend more time hiking and enjoying the views. Admission, if you choose to enter, is purchased separately directly from the park.
Optional Stop: Visit Crescent Moon Picnic Site for beautiful views of Cathedral Rock and a peaceful walk along Oak Creek. Spend some time taking photos, enjoying the scenery, or walking part of the creekside trail. Any required day-use or parking fee is paid separately directly at the site.
This easy, flat trail is within sight of Cathedral Rock for its entire length, about 0.7 miles out and back. If you can walk down hill for about 30 steps, the trail ends on a wide ledge with a stunning, unobstructed view of Cathedral Rock ahead and the Crescent Moon Picnic Site below. If you wish to continue hiking to Crescent Moon, go to the opposite side of the ledge from where you entered to pick up what's labeled on some maps as the Ridge Trail. Follow the rock cairns along the edge of the hill to the left as the path heads downhill. The trail dead ends behind some electric boxes off Red Rock Crossing Rd. Turn left and the entrance to Crescent Moon is right there. Going this far, the hike is roughly 20 minutes one way.
Check out this easy-to-access viewpoint that gives you a gorgeous panoramic view of the best of Sedona.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
3.9
- 536
- 46
- 31
- 23
- 111
Ratings come from 57 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- Shaka Guide Apps
- Service animals allowed
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- This is a self-guided driving tour. Transportation and a driver are not included, so you’ll need your own vehicle or rental car.
- The tour has three designated starting areas: central Sedona, north of Sedona for travelers arriving from Flagstaff, and south of Sedona for travelers arriving from Camp Verde. Choose the starting point that best fits your route in the Shaka Guide app.
- Download the Shaka Guide app after booking and use the redemption code provided in your confirmation to access your tour.
- Download the tour over strong Wi-Fi before you begin. Once downloaded, the audio and map work offline, and GPS-triggered narration plays automatically as you drive.
- The itinerary is flexible. Stops and hikes are recommendations, not requirements. Skip stops, stay longer at places that interest you, or customize the route based on traffic, parking, weather, and your interests.
- Allow approximately 8–10 hours if you plan to do minimal hiking. Travelers adding longer hikes or more stops may prefer to split the tour across two days. Shaka’s current Sedona itinerary is specifically designed to be highly customizable and can be driven in either direction
How it compares in Sedona
- Its from-price is 95% below the median of the 75 day trips we list in Sedona.
- Its length is typical for the group.
- By number of reviews it ranks 20 of 75.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Sedona
Sedona is an Arizona town surrounded by red sandstone buttes and canyons, a landscape of rock formations, hiking trails and creekside cottonwoods.
Sedona lies at the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon in northern Arizona, at about 1,300 metres, surrounded by red sandstone buttes and spires with names such as Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. The rock gets its colour from iron oxide, and it glows orange and crimson at sunset. Many believe certain spots hold spiritual energy, called vortexes, and the town has a New Age following.
Top-ranked sights in Sedona: Chapel of the Holy Cross, Oak Creek Canyon, Cathedral Rock.
Special offers in Sedona
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
