The ride worth planning a day around here is State Route 89A through Oak Creek Canyon. The Coconino National Forest describes it as a 15-mile stretch of SR 89A between Sedona and Flagstaff, carrying a National Scenic Byway designation, with dramatic hairpin turns at the northern end and a climb of roughly 2,200 feet out of Sedona. It is fully paved and takes about an hour without stops. On a motorcycle that hour is the good part of a much longer day, and the planning question is not the road, it is when you ride it and how you get in and out of Sedona without spending the afternoon behind a queue of rental cars.
What the road actually gives you
Oak Creek Canyon is a rare thing in northern Arizona: shade. The canyon floor runs alongside the creek under a dense canopy, so on a June morning you leave red rock and full sun in Sedona and are riding through cool green within minutes. The Forest Service is blunt about the northern end — if you get carsick easily, the switchbacks probably are not for you. Riders read that differently. Those switchbacks are the only genuinely technical piece of tarmac in the area, stacked tight against the canyon wall as the road climbs to the Mogollon Rim.
What it is not is a fast road. The canyon carries heavy tourist traffic, the speed limits are low, and there are pullouts, campgrounds, trailheads and a state park along it, all of which generate cars turning across your lane without much warning. Treat 89A as a road to be enjoyed at a moderate pace with your hazard scanning turned all the way up, and it delivers. Treat it as a canyon carving road and you will spend the day frustrated behind someone's motorhome.
Route at a glance
| Route | State Route 89A, Sedona to Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon |
| Length | 15 miles (24 km) of canyon, plus about a mile of switchbacks to the rim |
| Climb | Approximately 2,200 feet (670 m) from Sedona |
| Surface | Fully paved, suitable for any road bike |
| Drive time | About an hour one way without stops, per the Coconino National Forest |
| Highlight stop | Oak Creek Vista, 14 miles south of Flagstaff or 13 miles north of Sedona |
| Peak season | Fall color in October, which is also the heaviest traffic |
Open the route in Google Maps — Sedona to Flagstaff via 89A, ready to send to your navigation before you leave.
Riding it southbound versus northbound
Both directions are worth doing, and they are different rides. Northbound from Sedona you climb, which means the switchbacks arrive at the end when you are warmed up, and you finish at Oak Creek Vista looking back down at where you have been. The Forest Service notes the vista is 14 miles south of Flagstaff on 89A, and that it is open year-round except Thanksgiving and Christmas, with a seasonal information booth generally staffed 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from early April through November, weather permitting.
Southbound from Flagstaff you drop into the canyon first thing, which is the better call in summer because you are descending into shade early and getting the technical section done before traffic builds. It also sets up the classic full-day loop: Flagstaff down 89A through the canyon, Sedona, then SR 179 south past the red rocks toward I-17 and back up to Flagstaff. That loop gives you canyon, red rock and rim country in one day without repeating a mile.
Sedona is the bottleneck, not the road
The honest weak point of this ride is the town at its southern end. Sedona is small, its main intersections were not built for the volume they now carry, and on a warm weekend afternoon the crawl through the middle of it in full gear is genuinely unpleasant. Riders who love this route mostly love it because they get through Sedona before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
The practical version: start early from wherever you are based, ride the canyon first, take your long stop at altitude where it is cooler, and let the town happen at the quiet end of the day. If you only want the road and not the town, base yourself in Flagstaff and turn around at the Sedona end of the canyon rather than pushing into the center.
How the switchbacks ride
The mile of switchbacks between the canyon floor and the rim is where a rider either has a good time or gets caught out. The corners are tight enough that a big touring bike is working in first and second gear, the camber changes through several of them, and there is usually a car ahead of you braking at exactly the wrong point. Two habits handle it. Set your entry speed before the corner rather than trailing the brake into it, because the surface at the apex is where dust and pine needles collect after a dry week. And leave a bigger gap than feels necessary to the vehicle in front, since the whole climb is a series of blind hairpins where the car three places ahead decides everything.
Going down is the harder direction on a heavy bike. Engine braking plus light rear pressure keeps the front settled far better than repeated hard grabs at the lever, and it keeps your brakes from fading on a warm afternoon. If you ride this with a group, agree in advance to regroup at the vista rather than at the bottom, so nobody is riding the descent under pressure to catch up.
Wildlife belongs in the same paragraph as the corners. Deer and elk use the rim country and the canyon at dawn and dusk, which are the exact hours the light is best and the traffic is thinnest. The temptation to ride the canyon at last light is real, and it is the highest-risk window of the day.
Elevation does most of your weather planning
The 2,200-foot climb the Forest Service describes is the reason this ride works in summer when much of Arizona does not. Sedona sits in high desert, the canyon floor is shaded and creek-cooled, and the rim above is pine forest. You can ride out of genuinely hot conditions into something comfortable in under an hour.
The flip side is that the same gradient works against you in the cold months. Snow and ice on the switchbacks and on the rim are normal in winter, and the road can be a completely different proposition at the Flagstaff end from what you left in Sedona. Shoulder-season riders should assume a jacket-liner swap somewhere in the middle, and winter riders should check the forecast for the rim rather than for the town.
In midsummer the low-elevation approaches to Sedona are the part that hurts. If your day starts in the Verde Valley or in Phoenix, the first two hours are the hot ones and the canyon is your reward. Start at first light, drink before you are thirsty, and read our guide to riding in extreme heat for how to pace fluids and electrolytes properly rather than guessing.
Practical details worth knowing
Fuel. Fill in Sedona or Flagstaff. There is nothing on the canyon itself, and while the distance is short, the loop through 179 and I-17 adds up quickly if you started the day low.
Parking and stops. Most of the pullouts along 89A are small, gravel-edged and busy. A bike fits where a car does not, which is an advantage, but gravel at the entry to a pullout has claimed plenty of low-speed drops. Come in slow and straight, and pick your foot-down spot before you stop.
Traffic and enforcement. This is a heavily patrolled tourist corridor with low posted limits and a lot of pedestrian activity around the creek access points. It is not a road where riding at pace pays off.
Fall color. October is the best-looking month in the canyon and the busiest. Midweek in October is the sweet spot; an October weekend is a traffic jam with scenery.
Current conditions come straight from the agencies: the Forest Service publishes the Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Drive page and a separate page for Oak Creek Vista, and ADOT publishes live closures and winter restrictions at az511.gov. Details above were checked on 16 August 2026.
Gear notes for this ride
Two setup issues show up on this route more than most. The first is the elevation and temperature swing across a short distance, which moves tire pressure more than riders expect on a day that never feels extreme — our tire pressure guide explains the mechanism, and a Bluetooth TPMS sensor turns it from a guess into a number on your display. The second is that this is a stop-heavy day. You are pulling over constantly, and every stop is a chance to fumble with a phone in a mount in bright sun. A JADO S6 riding system keeps the route on a sunlight-readable screen with the cameras running through the switchbacks, which matters on a road where cars pull out of trailhead parking without looking. If you are stringing this together with the rest of the region, start from the Phoenix and Las Vegas day rides overview and our notes on planning a route properly before you commit to the loop.
FAQ
How long is the Oak Creek Canyon drive?
The Coconino National Forest puts it at 15 miles of SR 89A between Sedona and Flagstaff, plus about another mile of switchbacks up to the canyon rim, and roughly an hour of driving without stops.
Is SR 89A through Oak Creek Canyon suitable for any motorcycle?
Yes. It is fully paved and the Forest Service describes it as suitable for all vehicles. The switchbacks are tight but well surfaced, and there is no unpaved section.
When is the best time to ride Oak Creek Canyon?
Spring and fall are the most comfortable, with October delivering the best color and the worst traffic. Summer works if you ride early and use the canyon and the rim to escape the heat. Winter brings snow and ice risk on the switchbacks and the rim.
Can you make a loop out of it?
Yes. The common one is Flagstaff south through the canyon to Sedona, then SR 179 south to I-17 and back north to Flagstaff, which covers canyon, red rock and rim country without repeating any road.
Where should I stop along the way?
Oak Creek Vista at the top of the switchbacks is the obvious one, 14 miles south of Flagstaff or 13 miles north of Sedona. It is open year-round apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the seasonal information booth is generally staffed 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from early April through November.
