Red Rock Pass Sedona: Where You Need One, What It Costs, 2026 Tips

Yes, you need a Red Rock Pass in Sedona if you park at one of the Forest Service day-use sites around town, including Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, Boynton Canyon, Fay Canyon and Yavapai Vista. According to the Red Rock Pass Program Q&A from the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, the pass runs $5 a day, $15 a week or $20 a year, and an America the Beautiful pass works in its place. You don’t need one to drive through town, eat, shop, taste wine or pull over for a quick photo.

We’ve been driving guests around Red Rock Country since 2004, and the Red Rock Pass is still the single most common question we get from first-time visitors. Here’s the short version, plus the details that actually matter when you pull into a trailhead lot at 7 AM.

What the Red Rock Pass is (and why it exists)

Most of the red rock scenery around Sedona sits on the Coconino National Forest, managed by the USDA Forest Service’s Red Rock Ranger District. The Red Rock Pass is a recreation fee for parking at the developed sites on that land, the ones with restrooms, trail signs, kiosks and maintained lots.

The Chamber’s Q&A says about 90 cents of every dollar goes back into the sites: restrooms, trail work, signage, fire patrols and trash pickup. Anyone who has seen a busy trailhead on a spring Saturday can appreciate why that matters.

A few things the pass is not:

It’s not a permit to hike. Trails themselves are free to walk; the fee is tied to parking your vehicle at a fee site.
It’s not a city fee. City lots, private property and the Uptown business district have their own rules.
It’s not valid everywhere on the forest. Some popular spots are run by concessionaires or Arizona State Parks and charge their own entry fee (more on that below).

Where you need a Red Rock Pass in Sedona

The Chamber’s Q&A lists 19 day-use sites on the Red Rock Ranger District that require a pass for vehicles. The Forest Service’s Red Rock Ranger District Recreation Guide lists the fee sites, and these are the ones our guests ask about most:

Cathedral Rock and Little Horse trailheads (off State Route 179)
Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte (the Bell Rock Pathway area)
Boynton Canyon, Fay Canyon and Doe/Bear Mountain in the west Sedona canyons
Dry Creek Vista, Mescal and Jim Thompson trailheads
Yavapai Vista and Midgley Bridge, two of the most-photographed pullouts in the area
Huckaby, Baldwin, Bruce Brockett and the Bell Trail trailhead
Palatki and Honanki heritage sites, where the pass covers parking (check the Forest Service site for current hours and any reservation rules before you drive out the dirt road)

If you see a fee kiosk and a sign saying a recreation pass is required, assume you need one. The full, current list lives on the Forest Service’s Red Rock & Coconino Passes Program page.

Where you don’t need one

This is where most of the confusion comes from, so here’s what we tell our guests:

A quick photo stop. The Chamber’s Q&A says you don’t need a pass if you’re briefly stopping, roughly 15 minutes or less, to take a photo or enjoy a vista.
Driving the scenic roads. State Route 179, State Route 89A through Oak Creek Canyon and the drive through west Sedona are free.
Town, galleries and restaurants. Uptown, Tlaquepaque, west Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek are all off the forest fee system.
Wineries. Tasting rooms in Page Springs, Cornville, Cottonwood and Jerome are on private property. No pass needed, whether you drive yourself or ride with us. (Our Page Springs wine tasting guide covers that corner of wine country.)
Separately run sites. The Forest Service recreation guide lists Crescent Moon Ranch, Grasshopper Point, Call of the Canyon (the West Fork trailhead), Beaver Creek, Red Rock State Park and Slide Rock State Park as concessionaire or state park sites with their own fees, where the regular Red Rock Pass doesn’t apply.

That last one surprises people at Crescent Moon Ranch, the classic Cathedral Rock reflection spot on Oak Creek. It charges its own day-use fee. If you’ll visit several of those concession sites, look at the Coconino Annual Pass described below. And if West Fork is on your list, read our post on whether West Fork Trail is open first.

Red Rock Pass prices and the passes that count instead

Here’s what the Chamber of Commerce currently lists:

Pass	Price	Good for
Red Rock Daily Pass	$5	One vehicle, one day, at Red Rock fee sites
Red Rock Weekly Pass	$15	Seven consecutive days
Red Rock Annual Pass	$20	Twelve months
Coconino Annual Pass	$50	Also covers Crescent Moon Ranch, Grasshopper Point, Call of the Canyon/West Fork, Beaver Creek and Lower Lake Mary

The Coconino Annual Pass replaced the older Grand Annual Pass. If you’re a local or a regular who hits the creekside concession sites in summer, it pays for itself fast.

Passes accepted in place of a Red Rock Pass: the Chamber lists the America the Beautiful Interagency Pass, plus the older Golden Age and Golden Access passes. That includes the senior, military, access and fourth-grade versions of the interagency pass.

A 2026 note for international visitors: the America the Beautiful annual pass now costs $80 for U.S. residents and $250 for nonresidents, effective January 1, 2026, according to the National Park Service. Nonresidents without an annual pass also pay an extra $100 per person (16 and older) at 11 busy national parks, Grand Canyon included. If you’re visiting from abroad and plan a Grand Canyon day trip along with a few days of Sedona hiking, do the math: the $250 annual pass may beat paying the surcharge plus daily fees separately.

Fees could change. In 2025 the Coconino National Forest proposed higher fees at a number of recreation sites, including many Sedona trailheads, as Sedona Red Rock News reported. The proposal went through public comment and review, so prices on site may differ from what you read online. Check the kiosk or the Recreation.gov site pass page for the current price before you go.

Where to buy a Red Rock Pass

You’ve got four easy options:

Online at Recreation.gov. Buy the Coconino National Forest site pass and enter your license plate. Rangers check plates, so you don’t need to display anything. This is what we recommend; you can do it the night before, and you’re not fumbling at a kiosk with no cell signal.
Kiosk fee machines at the trailheads themselves (daily, weekly or annual).
Sedona Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center at 331 Forest Road in Uptown.
Red Rock Visitor Center on State Route 179 south of the Village of Oak Creek, which sells daily and weekly passes (not annual).

If you buy a paper pass, display it on your windshield or dashboard where it’s readable from outside. A vehicle at a fee site without a displayed pass or online purchase can be cited.

When to go, what to bring, what to book

When to go. Fall is prime time. October and early November bring mild days, cooler mornings and full trailhead lots, especially on weekends. The popular lots at Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock and the west Sedona canyons often fill by mid-morning. Arrive early, go on a weekday, or save the famous spots for late afternoon when the morning crowd clears out.

What to bring.

Your pass, or the license plate you entered online
At least a liter of water per person, even on cool days
Sun protection; the Sedona sun is strong at 4,500 feet any month of the year
A leash if you’re bringing the dog (see our dog-friendly Sedona guide)
A backup trail, in case your first-choice lot is full

What to book. Nothing for the pass itself; there are no reservations for standard Red Rock fee sites. Book ahead for things that do sell out in fall: dinner reservations, lodging and wine tours. If you’d rather spend the afternoon tasting than circling a parking lot, a guided day in the Verde Valley wineries takes the driving and the designated-driver question off the table.

Quick answers to the questions we hear most

Do I need a Red Rock Pass just to hike? You need it to park at a fee site. If someone drops you off, or you’re on a trail that starts outside a fee site, you’re not paying to walk.

Do I need one to drive the Red Rock Scenic Byway? No. Driving is free. Pulling over briefly for a photo is fine, too.

Does my national park pass work? Yes, the America the Beautiful pass covers standard Red Rock fee sites. It doesn’t cover the state parks.

Is Crescent Moon Ranch covered? Not by the regular Red Rock Pass. It’s a concession site with its own fee; the Coconino Annual Pass covers it.

Do I need a pass for wine tasting? No. Tasting rooms are on private land, and if you’re riding with us, the parking is our problem, not yours.

Spend the morning on the red rocks with your pass on the dash, then let us handle the afternoon in Sedona wine country. Our Tour Chooser will match you with the right tour in about a minute.