Drive from Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon

After our time hiking to Devil’s Bridge, we took 89A north out of Sedona to get to our accommodations in Flagstaff. We took this route last year on our family spring break on our way back north from Jerome, but ran out of daylight and could not even remotely appreciate the scenery that we were driving through.

Typical Sedona scenery

The scenery in this area is so spectacular. I can’t imagine having this as the backdrop to a daily commute, I never tire of seeing these colors

Fading sunlight on the canyon walls

Unlike our time here almost two years ago, we drove through today with plenty of daylight to take in the scenery. We got to the Oak Creek Canyon Overlook at the top of all of the switchbacks at 4:45 and the Overlook was supposed to close at 5:00. We figured there’d be just enough time to get out and look around, but the entrance gate was already closed.

We stopped back at this overlook on our way out of Flagstaff on October 31. The gates had just opened, and some of the vendors were just starting to get set up. We walked along the path and were awestruck by what we saw. The pictures here do not even remotely capture the beauty of the canyon.

View at Oak Creek Canyon Overlook
At the Oak Creek Canyon Overlook, just south of Flagstaff, Arizona.
Looking into the canyon. Some of the switchbacks from the road we drove up the other day are visible below.
View at Oak Creek Canyon Overlook