What to Wear in Sedona: Sticky-Rubber Trail Shoes for Slickrock, Slide Rock Denim & Layers

In Sedona, you spend your mornings scrambling up angled, sun-warmed sandstone ledges, your afternoons wading in cool canyon streams, and your evenings dining on breezy cliff-top patios where the dress code is relaxed 'Southwest Resort Casual'. Pack these four essentials to handle every trail and creek.

Four Essential Packing Rules for Sedona

1. Trail Runners or Hiking Approach Shoes with Sticky Rubber Lugged Soles (Essential for Cathedral Rock, Devil's Bridge & Subway Cave): climbing the steep rock chute of Cathedral Rock, the natural stone staircase of Devil's Bridge, or the 8-metre ramp into the Boynton Canyon Subway Cave involves walking up 30-to-40-degree angled sandstone slabs covered in fine red quartz sand. Smooth-soled fashion trainers (Converse, Vans or flat lifestyle shoes) and sandals slide easily on sand-dusted rock, so wear broken-in trail runners or hiking shoes with deep, sticky rubber tread.
2. Red Iron-Oxide Dust Stains White Shoes & White Socks Orange: Sedona's soil gets its famous red colour from hematite (iron oxide), which acts as a natural permanent dye. Avoid wearing brand-new white mesh trainers or white socks on the trails unless you want them permanently tinted Sedona terracotta-orange.

3. Strapped Water Shoes + Old Denim or Boardshorts for Slide Rock & The West Fork Trail: if you plan to slide down the natural rock chute at Slide Rock State Park or wade across Red Rock Crossing, wear strapped water shoes with rubber soles (the underwater algae-coated rock is slippery in bare feet, and flip-flops wash downstream quickly) and pull a pair of thick boardshorts or old denim shorts over your bathing suit to protect it on the rock slide.
4. Peelable Layers for 18°C Daily High-Desert Temperature Swings: at 1,326m (4,350 ft) elevation in dry desert air, a sunny 24°C (75°F) October or April afternoon starts at a crisp 7°C (45°F) early in the morning on the open-air Sedona Shuttle or a Pink Jeep tour. Wear a moisture-wicking shirt topped with a light fleece pullover and windbreaker that you can pack into your daypack by mid-morning. Check seasonal weather.