Swimming in Sedona: Three Oak Creek Spots

October 8, 2026

Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona, with red rock formations along its banks. (Ray Downs · Pexels License · Edited)

Slide Rock, Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing offer three different ways to spend a day beside Oak Creek in Sedona: a sandstone slide, a deeper shaded pool, or wading places with Cathedral Rock views. These are rocky creek shores, not sandy beaches with sunbeds. Choose whether to enter the water before choosing the spot, and give a creekside picnic equal standing with swimming.

Oak Creek water conditions

Permission to swim is not health advice to enter the water. The reach-level assessment is different from an immediate swimming restriction, and it is not a real-time reading of the pool you are standing beside. That distinction matters at Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing as well as Slide Rock.

If you want to avoid water contact, choose a shaded picnic or a walk beside the creek rather than treating wading as a substitute for swimming. Storm-related findings also make a wet-weather creek visit a different proposition from a settled-weather day on the bank.

Slide Rock, Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing

Criterion	Slide Rock	Grasshopper Point	Red Rock Crossing
Shore and water entry	Smooth sandstone, chute, varied pools	Boulders, uneven entry, deeper pool	Creekside rock, shallows and deeper pools
Distinctive day	Sliding or rock-shelf watching	Confident swimming or shaded picnic	Wading or Cathedral Rock picnic
Managed day-use access	Paid state park	Managed picnic and swimming site	Paid Crescent Moon approach
Admission	$20–$30 per vehicle, seasonal conditions	—	$15 per vehicle or $4 walk-in
Drive from Uptown visitor centre to arrival site	about 14 minutes	about 7 minutesBest	about 17 minutes

Shallow patches do not make any of these creeks uniformly shallow, and children need close supervision. Choose the setting for its shore-side appeal too, rather than treating the three places as a water-quality ranking. None is a bathing establishment with an umbrella-and-sunbed day package.

Slide Rock State Park

Slide Rock State Park’s natural sandstone chute is the reason to choose this spot. Smooth rock shelves flank the creek, and pools vary in depth along it. You can spend time watching the sliding area from the shore without getting into the water.

The approach from the car park is short, but reaching the creek means negotiating rock rather than a beach path. Wet sandstone is slippery, so choose footing carefully. Busy parking makes an early arrival useful, especially if you want a shore-side space for your group.

Vehicle admission, 1–4 adults: Friday before Memorial Day–Labor Day: $20 Monday–Thursday except holiday Mondays, $30 Friday–Sunday and holiday Mondays
Autumn vehicle admission, 1–4 adults: $20, Tuesday after Labor Day–31 October
Day-use hours: 1 February–6 December: 8am–6pm
Winter day-use hours: 7 December–31 January: 9am–5pm

Admission pays for park day use, not a supervised swimming session. Leave room in the visit for the rock shelves and creek views, whether or not your group enters the water.

Name: Slide Rock State Park
Location: 6871 AZ-89A, Sedona, AZ 86336 Maps
Site: azstateparks.com
Hours: 8am–5pm
Essential fact: A state park on Oak Creek in Oak Creek Canyon, north of Sedona.

Grasshopper Point

Grasshopper Point is the choice for a deeper pool shaded by the canyon, rather than sandstone sliding. Boulders and low ledges shape the rocky bank, and the water entry is uneven. The depth appeals to confident swimmers, but it is not a place to assume a child can stand.

Short paths lead from the managed car park towards the creek. Carry a picnic you can move easily over uneven ground, then choose a bank-side spot where you can sit without having to cross the water.

The ledges are part of the shore, not an invitation to jump. If you are keeping out of the creek, the shade and picnic setting give Grasshopper Point a purpose of its own. It suits a day focused on one pool and its surroundings rather than moving between slides and rock shelves.

Red Rock Crossing via Crescent Moon

Public transport to Crescent Moon: Sedona Shuttle Connect, on demand within its service area
One-way fare: $2 per adult, $1 for seniors
Recurring service window: Thursday–Sunday, 6:30am–8:30pm

Red Rock Crossing combines Cathedral Rock views with a creekside picnic, so entering the water need not be the centre of your day. Rock and shade border shallow wading areas, but deeper pools coexist with them. The open, public Crescent Moon Picnic Site provides the managed approach, and swimming and wading are permitted activities.

Oak Creek flows through Red Rock Crossing beneath Cathedral Rock. — Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing, with Cathedral Rock rising above the creek in Sedona.
*Bosunclc1952 Christopher Lee Cassel · Public domain · Edited*

Drive in on Red Rock Crossing Road, then walk from the car park towards the creek. Choose a shaded place for lunch or spend time looking towards Cathedral Rock from the bank.

Vehicle day admission: $15 per vehicle
Walk-in admission: $4 per person, including shuttle passengers
Pass acceptance: Red Rock Pass and America the Beautiful passes not accepted
Daily hours: Summer: 7am–dusk, winter: 9am–dusk

A shuttle ride does not include site admission. Request a journey with both pickup and destination inside Connect’s service area, and allow for entering Crescent Moon on foot. The service’s evening window does not extend the picnic site’s hours.

Name: Red Rock Crossing via Crescent Moon Picnic Site
Location: 333 Red Rock Crossing Rd, Sedona, AZ 86336 Maps
Essential fact: An Oak Creek crossing below Cathedral Rock, approached through Crescent Moon Picnic Site.

Oak Creek roads and rocky approaches

Road to Slide Rock and Grasshopper Point: Highway 89A north from Uptown
Slide Rock public shuttle: No current route from central Sedona
Grasshopper Point fixed-route shuttle: Not a listed trailhead destination

Use the Sedona Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center in Uptown as your driving starting point. Highway 89A leads into Oak Creek Canyon towards Grasshopper Point and Slide Rock. Both have managed parking, followed by a walking approach rather than direct access to a sandy shore.

For Crescent Moon, take the road approach to Red Rock Crossing Road. Keep picnic luggage manageable for the final walk, and wear water shoes with grip for rocky ground. They help with footing, but cannot make slippery rock safe.

Stay out of the creek during storms or rising flow, and move away from low banks if water rises. Flash floods can arrive from rain upstream. Cold water and changing currents also matter on dry days, so keep children within close reach rather than relying on a shallow patch.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, and opening hours.