Oak Creek Canyon

Oak Creek Canyon – Arizona

After spending a couple of days in Sedona we headed north to Flagstaff by way of route 89A through Oak Creek Canyon.  The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff was 30 miles long, about 12 of which were in the canyon itself.

Quick Facts on Oak Creek Canyon (courtesy of Wikipedia)

• Length: 12 miles
• Width: 0.8 miles – 2.5 miles
• Depth: 800-2,000 ft
• Average Elevation: 7,200 ft. (West Rim); 6,500 ft. (East Rim)
• What flows through the canyon? – You guessed it…Oak Creek, a tributary of the Verde River.

From Sedona, we ascended 4,500 feet and stopped at Oak Creek Canyon Vista Point to take in the views from the top. The drive took a total of one hour and was full of switchbacks and dizzying hairpin turns. Had we not been in such a rush to get to another Canyon (a grander one) later that day, we probably would have stopped at Slide Rock; nonetheless, our drive was memorable and the views were phenomenal.

The following evening we drove back south through the Canyon after dark which we would not recommend. We spent the entire hour just waiting for an elk to dart out in front of our Prius or to go careening off one of the cliffs. Thankfully neither of these fears materialized.

Check out another one of the most scenic drives in the US: The Denali Highway