Touring Sedona In an ATV with t(w)eens
Recently my family went on an Arizona Road Trip. Only God knows if we will make it to this area again so I planned a very ambitious week. Our goal was to see allllll of Arizona in one week. Well guess what?? We didn’t even come close but we sure did enjoy trying. Check out our Arizona national park visits and our Grand Canyon visit. The plan was to fly into Phoenix and out of Vegas and see all things inbetween! First on our list was the Red Rocks of Sedona in an atv tour with our t(w)eens.
On every Pinterest list of “must-sees in Arizona“ you will find the Red Rocks of Sedona.
When you research the red rocks two main choices pop up, Pink Jeep tours and ATV rentals. Tours stress me out due to having to be on a tight time schedule, the amount of social interaction involved (it takes one “crazy” person to ruin an experience), and the worry of whether we will enjoy it enough to make it thru. So if you tend to be the “live on your own time” type family like us then you know why we chose an ATV rental in Sedona with our kids.
Jump Ahead…
Getting to Sedona From Flagstaff
One thing I learned about Arizona is that everywhere is a long drive.
Fortunately the drive from Flagstaff, where we were staying, to Sedona was beautiful! Talk about the scenic route, wow! The drive was a little under an hour and took us from the flagstaff mountains, thru yellow stained fields, down between winding rock walls of the Coconino National Forest, and right into those stunning red rocks. The views were so different from North Carolina the ~hour drive flew by.
Once we arrived in Sedona we headed to our rental place, Red Rock ATV Rentals. The building is small and well maintained, but hard to miss because the parking lot is littered with ATVs. Thankfully we arrived early, parking is limited. Red rocks did later instruct us where to park.
Red Rock ATV Rentals
1590 West 89A Sedona, AZ 86336
(928) 282-8945
Book Reservations in Advance
After web searching and reading review after review we decided to go with Red Rock ATV Rentals because they had 4.7 stars and tons of positive reviews with pictures. There were plenty of terrible reviews for rental companies, it’s tough to plan from across the country. Therefore I always appreciate others honest reviews, opionions, and insights. I like to skip straight to the 3 star reviews, they just seem to be more realistic. Anyone else agree??
Make online reservations before you arrive. Tours sell out and online allows you to see what tour times are available, on which date, and for how long. Also when reserving you input all of your information and sign any waivers before you arrive. Always read the cancellation policy and FAQs page prior to committing. Just an FYI Red Rocks runs rain or shine!
Get To Red Rock ATV Rentals Early
Bring with you your license, a credit card for the damages hold, and sign the online waiver before you arrive.
A $3000 hold on your credit card is enough to stress you out. I just knew I would have to kill my husband if he ragged this ATV out on our excursion. There were several reviews complaining of being charged but once we got going I realized if you don’t drive like you’re filming Fast and The Furious 15 that you would have no problems at all!
The staff was young, but knowledgeable and professional. They made the process simple and immediately got us signed in and fitted for helmets, goggles, and played a safety video for us (luckily it was quick because it was sped up and the narration sounded like a chipmunk).
As we rode around we saw a mix of groups with and without helmets, not sure if it was a requirement but we played it safe, therefore we weren’t the coolest looking bunch.
Getting there early ensures you don’t cut into your riding time and gave us time to use the restroom before we got set up with our ATV.
They had a couple of options but as a family of 4 our best option was this baby, a RZR Polaris 4 seater. Driving was easy and My Husband did all of it, driving didn’t interest me a bit. In the small town we live in every other person we know owns one, they ride them in the local parade, and it’s nothing to see our kids classmates get dropped off to school in one. Country Living!!
Even if you don’t encounter these in your daily lives the Red Rocks staff make it simple and showed us how to work the RZR in less than 5 minutes.
Half Day Rental
Half Day and Full Day Sedona atv tours are available. We had our ATV for 4 hours with the half day rental. Initially we chose this option so we could spend our afternoon visiting national parks and I ended up being very thankful for this decision.
Red Rocks equips you with maps, directions, and a cooler full of water. The maps had a scan code that would help you locate yourself on the route in real time. This would of been very useful several times as I thought the directions to be confusing, but of course we didn’t notice it until it was all said and done. GOOD GRIEF!!
A half day does give you plenty of time to explore two trails, outlaw trail ( with optional short hike) and diamondback gulch.
Outlaw Trail
This was by far our favorite trail. It was mostly dirt road, with scene after scene of beautiful mountains. If we had hindsight we would have spent all of our time on this trail instead of moving to the next one. There were a handful of people on the trail so it was never too packed to be obnoxious.
We got behind a pink jeep tour at one point and thought we would have to pass them but they were making great time. I enjoyed watching the passengers on the back fly up and down with every pot hole they hit in the road.
About halfway around the trail you come up on Honanki Heritage site. This is a good place to use the restroom, have a picnic lunch (if you have your life together like that, shoutout to people like my sister-in-law), and stretch your legs. There is a ~30 minute round trip hike to the ruins from this point. Parking is $5 if you choose to stop here. We unfortunately did not choose to hike because my kids begged me not to add it to our already planned lists of hikes so I have no pictures to share with you.
The America the Beautiful Pass works here per the website!
Diamondback Gulch
This next trail was a little rough in my opinion. If your looking for a higher adrenaline trail I could imagine this would be enoyable for you. It was very rocky, therefore rough. To be honest 2 hours of riding had already given me my fill so that did not help my attitude towards this trail. My teen actually fell asleep and my tween began asking when we would get back every 5 minutes so as a mother you know….IT’S TIME TO GO!! Soooo thankful I ignored reviews suggesting full day rides.
The trail felt like it took an ETERNITY to complete. My husband agreed and you would think since he was driving he would be having all the fun. When we FINALLY completed the trail we headed back to civilization. At the rental place she said groups usually come back 15-30 min early and now i understood why.
Since we had a little time left we decided to stop for a snack. Look at this Mcdonalds!! Only in Sedona! It was just a couple doors down from red rocks. Service was terrible. It’s mainly thru kiosks and you weren’t allowed refills on drinks. Whaaaat!? Seriously tho would you expect anything more? It’s the Mcdonalds experience. It was still cool to snack under the blue arches.
What should you wear/bring?
- Layers: We visitied in September. It was a little cool when we started and then it warmed up quickly. Layers, Layers, Layers!! Arizona weather is crazy.
- Hiking Boots: Red Rocks suggests closed toe shoes. There are cactus everywhere. My youngest refused to get boots so we had to take a moment to dig needles out of her foot at one point.
- Wear something that can get dirty: It rained the day before so there were mud puddles we had to cross thru occasionally and it splashes everywhere, especially into the back seat.
- Sunglasses: You will want to protect your eyes from the sun, mud, and dust. If you’re not into goggles then you will want to bring your shades.
- Binoculars: These come in handy for up close views of the landscape.
- Camera: Well duh!
Would we do it again?
Despite my tweens claims on the experience, memories were made and an adventure was had as a family, which always makes it worth it. Thanks for letting me share our experience with you. Hopefully it gives you a little insight and until next time, Keep Adventuring!! 💜
