Sedona’s Most Famous Hike Is as Adventurous as It Is Scenic
Sedona is one of the most visually striking towns in Arizona, known for its dramatic red rock formations, sweeping desert landscapes, and vibrant arts scene.
Cathedral Rock is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the area, surrounded by other iconic formations like Bell Rock and the Courthouse Butte.
It’s also one of the most popular hikes in Sedona—and for good reason. The trail is short but steep, adventurous without being too technical, and offers an unforgettable view at the top.
Here’s everything you need to know about hiking the Cathedral Rock trail during your trip to Sedona.
Trail Stats
- Distance: 1.5 miles
- Elevation Gain: 741 feet
- Difficulty: Intense
- Pets: Dogs allowed, but not advised due to the scrambling nature of the trail
- Cell Service: Good through the entire trail
The Trail
The trail up to Cathedral Rock is short but steep, but the payoff is amazing.
You’ll do a quick initial easy section walking on flatrock up to the base of the mountain. Then the fun begins!
You’ll quickly start doing a combination of hiking and scrambling as you climb up the curved layers of sandstone. There’s often not a clearly delineated trail, but rock cairns mark the path up the rock (and you can basically just follow the line of other people making their way up Cathedral Rock).
There are a few more adventurous sections where you’ll be literally climbing up boulders in a crevice between the rocks, and multiple sections of walking up the grippy rock face. And even if the trail sometimes seems very steep, the rock is very grippy, which makes the incline much more manageable.
The crevice sections (shown above) were for sure the trickiest part of the trail. We found that it was actually easier to just hop over to the rock face (to the right side) and scramble up the side, rather than pulling yourself up among the boulders.
This is definitely a spot to wear your best hiking shoes with good tread! I was very grateful for my good hiking boots.
Be prepared for a decent bit of scrambling and using your hands to help boost you up. For this reason, I don’t think hiking poles are very useful for this trail. There are some areas of “regular” trail, but there’s enough scrambling that I wouldn’t bother with poles.
We saw quite a few people hike just 1/4 or 1/3 up the base of Cathedral Rock, call it good, and stop to enjoy the views, and then go back down. Now, you definitely need to do what you feel comfortable with, but if you can manage it, you absolutely want to go all the way up.
Sure, the views over the valley are essentially the same whether you stop halfway or go all the way to the end, but the views are not the main attraction on this hike!
The Views at the Top
The main attraction comes when you reach the end of the trail at the saddle of Cathedral Rock. Here, you’ll be at the base of all the pillars and spires of Cathedral Rock, surrounded by so so many tall red rock formations. It is SO COOL!
Off to the right is this crazy ledge that you can walk out to for an epic photo.
Be sure to swing around to the left side too, and hike up the steep rocky hill to this epic shelf surrounded by the tall spires, with a fin right in front of you.
Practical Info – How to Get to the Trailhead
The trailhead for Cathedral Rock is located on Highway 179, about a 10-minute drive directly south of downtown Sedona. There is a medium-sized parking lot at the trailhead – you can find the location here. You do need the Red Rocks Pass (or the National Parks Pass) to park here – you can buy the pass at a machine in the parking lot.
Because this is a very popular hike, the parking lot can fill up, or it can just be closed all together.
From Thursday to Sunday, the parking lot is technically closed and you need to take a shuttle from Sedona to the trailhead. We did this hike on a Thursday and didn’t realize the parking lot is closed on weekends, so we just drove to the regular lot. Someone was manning the entrance to the parking lot and directing people to go back and park in the shuttle lot.
Interestingly, though, he did let us go into the regular lot and park, and there were a decent number of spots open. I’d say it’s worth it to swing by the regular lot and see if you can get in, but be prepared for likely needing to park at the shuttle lot and take the shuttle bus over.
The shuttle comes about every 45 minutes and is free to use. You can find the parking lot for the shuttle to Cathedral Rock here and more information about the shuttle here.
Other Hikes to Do in Sedona
Check out my other Sedona hiking guides – these are all top bucket list hikes and experiences in Sedona:
