Are you planning a vacation to Arizona? Are you thinking of visiting Sedona? Our family of 5 had a great multi-generational trip to northern AZ, visiting Phoenix, Sedona, and The Grand Canyon’s South Rim!
Sedona, AZ is known for its beautiful Red Rock. As you drive from Phoenix north to Sedona, there are beautiful desert views with many cacti, and the view just keeps getting better. As you enter Sedona, you will feel the urge to pull out your camera as the beautiful Red Rock formations are breathtaking!
We visited Sedona with 3 little kids all under 6 years old (10 month old baby, 2 year old toddler, and a 6 year old), along with grandparents too! All three generations had a great trip to Arizona.
Seasons and the best time of year to visit? You can easily research this more on the internet, but I will share that we visited in February during non-peak season, and it was perfect for us. It was a bit cool in the mornings and evenings, so a light jacket was needed. The swimming pools were heated, but there were also indoor pools. The only negative was that the Grand Canyon had snow and ice on the Bright Angel trail, so it was not safe to hike with little kids, but the Rim Trail was still gorgeous and likely the safer route no matter the time of year if traveling with little kids and grandparents.
Best places to stay? Sedona is a relatively small town, and you will most likely have a rental car to get there from the nearest airports; therefore, you can stay anywhere in town. The traffic gets congested since there is only one main road, but you can still drive around within about 20 minutes. The main tourist shopping section has plenty of parking (check behind the stores not just on the main street). Parking is limited at the trailheads for hiking, but you can opt to take the Sedona shuttle, or arrive early.
With little kids that still nap, we stayed in a two-bedroom condo with a full kitchen, loft, living room, and separate area for the grandparents. It was perfect for us. There are many hotels to pick from in the area.
Favorite things to do? Since we traveled with three generations, we did not do the more strenuous nor dangerous hikes. We still enjoyed our 2-4 mile daily hikes and our day trip to The Grand Canyon’s South Rim!
You will find plenty more hikes and activities that might be better for older children, teenagers, or adults (Cathedral Rock, Birthing Cave, Boynton Canyon Trail, Devil’s Bridge, Subway cave, etc. and tours like the Pink Jeeps, biking, or similar excursions).
- Soldier’s Pass trail with Devil’s Kitchen and Seven Sacred Pools
- Bell Rock trail with Courthouse Butte and options to extend the hike
- Teacup and Sugarloaf trail: Beautiful views, along a fairly simple trail but more loose rocks and gradual steps. Parking is limited, and the trail from the parking lot is the Teacup trail, which connects to the Sugarloaf Loop; however, there are two Sugarloaf trails and neither end in the same parking lot so we had to retrace our steps. Watch your Maps carefully!
- Day trip to the Grand Canyon South Rim (about 2 hours 15 minute one-way drive) I’ll write about the Grand Canyon below.
- Airport Mesa at sunset: It gets crowded fast, so plan to go 45-60 minutes prior to sunset to park and walk to the lookout. There is a large parking lot at the “Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout,” but a long line. You can also hike the Airport Mesa trail to lookout too. On the way down, it is a single traffic light that took forever, so be prepared to wait.
- Old Cottonwood: A super cute historic town with a delicious (inexpensive) burger and malt restaurant that’s an old-fashion filling station. The Cottonwood Recreation Center is also amazing! A hidden gem! They allow non-resident day passes. We enjoyed their indoor waterpark, with a waterslide, zero-depth splash pad, lazy river, splash area, and hot tub. (I also snuck in a workout on their state of the art exercise equipment while taking turns with water play with my husband!)
Some delicious restaurants that we enjoyed:
- Red Rock Cafe: The menu had a large variety, but they’re most known for their 3 lbs cinnamon roll! We went early so there was not a wait, but by 9am there was a line outside.
- Coffee Pot: Best known for their breakfast!
- Pizza Lisa: Unique stone-fired pizzas.
- Thai Spices Natural Restaurant
- Bing’s Burger Station in Cottonwood: My boys loved this old-fashioned filling station restaurant, and the grandparents loved the prices!
We had many more restaurants on our list to try, but with young kids, we opted to also cook simple meals in the condo since we preferred to spend our time hiking or on adventures, and then getting them to sleep at a decent time, versus sitting at restaurants.
The Grand Canyon National Park South Rim:
- The visitor’s center offers two free documentary films, maps, and guidance on how to spend your day. There are restrooms and large parking lots, but they fill up fast by mid-day. There are shuttles to the Grand Canyon Village and Bright Angel Trailhead, or you can drive there or walk The Rim trail to get there.
- Mather Point lookout is about a 5 minute walk from the visitor’s center. Gorgeous views.
- The Rim trail offers scenic views and lookouts along a flat, relatively safe hike.
- The Grand Canyon Village has less parking, but it is available. There are multiple hotels, gift shops, and small restaurants/cafeterias.
- The Bright Angel trail descends into the canyon. The trail has a steep drop off. We opted to use the hiking backpack for our 2 year old, and baby carrier for our 10 month old, as we did not trust our toddler walking on this trail. Our 6 year old walked, staying on the inside. While we could have gone about 1.5 miles, we encountered sheets of ice covering the trail, with other hikers telling us people were crawling or clinging to the canyon walls, so we turned back. Definitely not worth the risk. (It was a sunny day, but there was still snow to be seen.)
- The Rim trail was perfect for our family with young children, and Grandpa (71 years old). There were a few steps in places, but it was fairly flat, paved, and easy. We hiked the rim to Trail View overlook, which was beautiful, but there were steps and only a thin railing so we made sure to hold our children’s hands. It was a good distance for our young children and Grandpa (about 3 miles round trip including our attempt at the Bright Angel trail).
- There is a scenic drive to more lookouts, but we opted to start driving back to Sedona, as prolonging time in the car with a toddler and baby is risky!
We had a great day trip to Sedona & the Grand Canyon, with young kids, and look forward to more adventures with them!
A few recommendations to help you plan for your trip to Sedona, if you’re traveling with young children.
- Consider booking a condo or multi-room hotel. There are multiple large hotel chains with condo-style amenities. It was game-changing for us to have 2 separate bedrooms, plus a loft, living room, kitchen, & laundry. If you travel with young kids, you know that sleep important. At bedtime, we let the baby stay up a little later and we can typically get them all to sleep at the same time. But once one wakes up, they’re all awake in a single hotel room. With a bedroom, it lets some of them get a bit more sleep. Also, nap time! My infant and toddler have a slightly different nap schedule. Depending on the hikes or plans for the day, we are flexible, letting the baby sleep in the carrier or hiking backpack; however, when we’re at the condo, it’s helpful to have separate nap-time sleep space!
- Bring chapstick and body lotion! The desert air is dry. All of the kids had chapped lips, and my hands were so dry that I could apply lotion 3x and they were still dry.
- Bring warm clothes for the early mornings and evenings. It’s cool in the desert. Depending on the time of year, it’s cool in the day too! (We visited in February. It warmed up by midday, but it wasn’t warm enough for certain activities like the Slide Rock State Park. I have such fond memories of that from when I was about 8 years old, so wished we could have gone, but realistically my kids are too young anyway.)
- See my recommended packing lists for packing with children.