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When visiting Sedona with your family, it’s important to find hikes in Sedona for families that everyone in the family will enjoy. We’ve been on loads of trails in Sedona, putting in hundreds of hours exploring the area and these are the best kid friendly hikes in Sedona in our opinion.
When creating this list, we considered things like fun climbing opportunities for the kiddos, limited elevation gain (with no steep cliffs), shade, and easy parking because honestly, finding parking in Sedona is extremely stressful.
While there are a lot of easy hikes in Sedona, these hikes take the cake for the best for the entire family, from littles to grandparents!
Make The Most Of This Kid Friendly Hiking Guide
Pinnable Map App | We recommend downloading the free offline map app, Maps.me. After you download the app, you can download the Sedona region of Arizona. From there, you can pin each of the locations of trails you want to hike!
It’s a great way to visualize where these trails are located, and remember where each of these hikes in Sedona for families are located. See an example of how we use maps.me here.
Free Parking | At each of the places below that cost $5 for parking, you can actually get free parking if you have a National Park Pass. Be sure to pack it for your trip to Sedona. Alternatively, look into the Red Rock Pass multi-day and weekly parking pass options.
Driving in Sedona | It’s important to note, that during busy times in Sedona, it can take over an hour to get from one part of Sedona to another. Try and choose your hikes based on the area you’re staying, or drive to the trailheads early in the day before the traffic picks up in the afternoon.
Packing | Our top tips for hiking with the family are to keep everyone well hydrated, these backpacks are great for the kiddos, keep bellies from being hungry, and carry toilet paper and hand sanitizer, as the trailheads don’t all have bathrooms.
5 Best Hikes In Sedona For Families
Sugarloaf Loop (Downtown West)
- Location | starts at parking lot
- Parking | free | 34.87429, -111.796447
- Trail Guide | Your Complete Guide to Sugarloaf Loop + Summit Trail
- Duration | 1.5 miles
- Terrain | red rock and sand
The Sugarloaf Loop is a great family friendly hike in Sedona for a number of reasons. You can choose to extend this hike, shorten this hike, or even hike to the top of Sugarloaf if you wish.
It’s one of the hikes to a summit in Sedona that doesn’t have major drop-offs and isn’t too steep.
We love hiking in this area because there are multiple other trails to explore if your family is feeling up for more hiking, there are incredible views right into the red rocks, and the parking area doesn’t fill up as quickly as other places in Sedona.
The Sugarloaf trailhead is in a neighborhood, so if you stay near the trailhead, you may even be able to walk here from your accommodation!
*If the Sugarloaf parking area is full, check out the other trailheads in the area like Thunder Mountain Trailhead or Andante Trailhead.
Fay Canyon (West)
- Location | 34.90172, -111.8578
- Parking | free Fay Canyon Trailhead | 34.901928, -111.857348
- Duration | 2 miles total out and back
- Terrain | mostly flat, sandy trail
Fay Canyon in my opinion is the best hike in Sedona for families. It’s basically a flat trail, with a lot of shade, sand for the kids to play in on the way, and rocks for them to climb on at the end.
Even without kiddos, this is my favorite place to hike in Sedona because right from the parking lot you’re immediately immersed inside a canyon. The towering red rocks on both sides of the trail as you hike is just breathtaking.
The parking area for Fay Canyon is not nearly as crowded as places like Boynton Canyon, there are bathrooms at the trailhead, and the views along the drive are gorgeous!
We’ve hiked in Fay Canyon multiple times up to the Fay Canyon Arch, to ruins in the area, and even up on top of the canyon walls. We always see people on this trail of all ages, from infants to the elderly walking with canes.
Fay Canyon is truly a hike that the entire family can do and will enjoy!
Red Rock Crossing/Budda Beach (West)
- Location | 34.82347, -111.79676
- Parking | Crescent Moon Ranch $12 | 34.8265568, -111.8083602
- Trail Guide | Red Rock Crossing Vortex Hike
- Duration | 2 miles out and back
- Terrain | well maintained path through woods and along the water
Hiking the Red Rock Crossing area in Sedona offers a shaded hike along Oak Creek. This hike is again relatively flat, and while it doesn’t have incredible red rock canyon views like others on this list, you do get the iconic view of Cathedral Rock!
Crescent Moon Ranch is a day-use area that has picnic tables, bathrooms, and over 1.5 miles of paved trails. There are also big open areas for kiddos to run around and play, and some historic buildings on site as well.
Oak Creek runs right through this area and along the Red Rock Crossing trail, so be prepared for the kids to get a little wet playing in the water, and sandy playing in the sand.
Red Rock Crossing is one of the seven vortex sites in Sedona, if visiting vortexes is your thing, don’t forget to check it out!
Margs Draw Trail (Tlaquepaque)
- Location | 34.856638, -111.754648
- Parking | free at Marg’s Draw Trailhead | 34.856952, -111.760953
- Duration | 4 miles but can turn around whenever
- Terrain | climb on uneven stairs at beginning, then mostly flat, sandy trail
When we hiked Margs Draw trail, we immediately texted our friends and told them we found the next trail to take the family on. They have a two year old and a five year old, and we knew Margs Draw would be perfect for them.
Margs Draw is an out and back trail that you can make as long as you wish. In the three times we’ve been to Marg’s Draw Trailhead, I’ve yet to see the parking be even close to full.
This trail is nice because while there is a climb at the beginning of the trail, right when you get to the top of the stairs, you have incredible 360 degree views of the area. They literally made my jaw drop when I saw them!
For adventurous families, when you hike up to Marg’s Draw via the connector route from the parking area, instead of turning left or right on Margs Draw, go straight. There’s some fun rock climbing/exploring to do, that feels pretty safe without major cliffs and ledges. And following the social trails, there are also some good alligator trees for the kids to climb!
With older kids, you could hike up to Snoopy Rock, but that’s definitely not advisable to those who are afraid of ledges!
Bell Rock Loop (Oak Creek)
- Location | 34.803719, -111.765998
- Parking | $5 | 34.805799, -111.766303
- Duration | 1.9 miles
- Terrain | red rock and sand
Bell Rock is probably one of the most popular hikes in Sedona for families. We’ve met two different families that go to Bell Rock every time they visit Sedona just to see how much higher on Bell Rock the kiddos can climb.
Bell Rock is a fun area in Sedona because there’s no real trail, and it’s all about exploring and climbing all over some red rocks.. going up as high as you feel comfortable.
There’s also a loop that goes around Bell Rock, that’s fun to hike around, however, be warned, there’s little to no shade along the route.
While Bell Rock is a great family-friendly hike, the two major downsides are the lack of shade in this area and the chaos of parking here. It can be extremely stressful to find parking with people literally swarming and circling the lots like vultures.
With that said, climbing all over Bell Rock is an experience that’s hard to match in Sedona.
More Family Fun In Sedona
There are so many fun parks, playgrounds, and even splash pads (at Sunset Park) in Sedona for families to enjoy. A lot of the restaurants have great outdoor seating areas, allowing kiddos to run around and get their wiggles out, and there are many tours in Sedona that are great for the whole family too.
Whether you’re out for just a nice drive in Sedona, want to do an open air driving tour in Sedona, or are hoping to hit the trails, remember, it’s best to enjoy where you’re at instead of stressing to see and do all the things. Go with the flow, and enjoy the slow-paced adventuring in Sedona with your kids.
Top Rated Family Friendly Stays in Sedona
Family Friendly Stays
- $160/night on Average | Garden Oasis | Check Availability Here
- This Place Sleeps 7 People | An Uptown Home | Check Availability Here
- Looking For A Jacuzzi? | Hill Top Hideaway | Check Availability Here
Stress Less Sedona Travel Guides
We’re all about creating memories instead of nightmares on your travels. That’s why we’ve created Sedona guides to help you plan your perfect vacation, without the stress of not knowing what to expect when visiting Sedona.
Check out our complete list of Sedona travel guides here, or click on the guides we’ve hand picked for you below.
