Sedona's Holiday Season Runs on the Shuttle Calendar This Year

Most of the year, Monday through Wednesday is when you can drive to the Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass trailheads and park. The Sedona Shuttle runs Thursday through Sunday, and both lots close to general parking while it operates. This holiday season, the shuttle switches to daily service for two stretches: the week of Thanksgiving and the two weeks around Christmas and New Year's. That takes away nine weekdays of open parking. It also matches up with a town calendar of events at Posse Grounds Park and Tlaquepaque.

Here's how the November and December dates fit together.

The Weekday Window, and the Weeks It Closes

The Sedona Shuttle's FAQ lists standard trailhead service from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. During those hours, the Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass lots are closed to the general public, and riders get to those trailheads by shuttle. Soldier Pass also has its own rule. Under U.S. Forest Service regulations, the trailhead and its lot are always closed from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., and the gate schedule shows the lot open Monday through Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The 2026–27 holiday calendar adds daily service for these dates:

The last column is the part a regular weekday hiker will notice. Those nine Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays usually have open parking at both trailheads. With the shuttle running, the lot-closure rule applies on each of them.

Each stretch has one day with no service: Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, and Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25. According to the FAQ, Cathedral Rock trailhead parking is open whenever the shuttle isn't running. Parking at every other trailhead follows whatever the Coconino National Forest sets.

When the shuttle is running, the three park-and-ride lots are the way in. North SR 179 Park & Ride serves Cathedral Rock and Little Horse. Posse Grounds Park & Ride serves Soldier Pass. West SR 89A Park & Ride serves Mescal and Dry Creek, and the FAQ names Dry Creek Vista as the access point for Devil's Bridge. The FAQ also says Little Horse Trailhead parking is not an overflow lot for Cathedral Rock.

Dogs can ride if they're leashed and either in a carrier or muzzled. A muzzle must fit properly over the snout.

Posse Grounds Hosts the Shuttle and the Town's Holiday Mornings

Posse Grounds Park is the park-and-ride for Soldier Pass, and it's also where the City of Sedona holds its two biggest holiday mornings. The dates line up with the shuttle calendar in a convenient way.

The city's Turkey Trot is on Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, Nov. 26, at Posse Grounds Park. The 5K runs from 9 to 11:30 a.m. MST. Thanksgiving is the one day that week with no shuttle, so the race doesn't share Posse Grounds with park-and-ride traffic. Before Oct. 31, entry was $40 for adults and $20 for the kids' 5K, ages 13 and under. The registration page said prices would go up after 11:59 p.m. MST that night, so check the city's page for the current fee before you sign up.

Breakfast with Santa is on Saturday, Dec. 5, at The Hub at Posse Grounds Park. The main event runs 8 to 10 a.m., with a sensory-friendly slot from 7:30 to 7:55 a.m. for families with members who are sensitive to light and sound. The city's page lists a free breakfast of cocoa, pancakes and juice, plus carolers, games, and Santa with his elves. The page says Parks and Recreation staff and volunteers spend the week before turning The Hub into a winter wonderland. Dec. 5 is a Saturday, so it falls in regular Thursday-through-Sunday shuttle service, which starts at 7 a.m. That means the Posse Grounds park-and-ride will be running the same morning.

Tlaquepaque's Season, and What's New This Year

Most of the town's other holiday dates are at Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village on SR 179, and they're spread out across the season.

1. Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tlaquepaque hosts a free Yavapai cultural gathering for Native American Heritage Month, with Bird Singers and Yavapai Elder Rafeal Bear, as reported by Sedona.biz.
2. Friday, Dec. 4, 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Christmas Tree Lighting is at Tlaquepaque North, 336 SR 179, according to Visit Sedona's listing. That's the evening before Breakfast with Santa.
3. Saturday, Dec. 19, 3 to 7 p.m. The Holiday Sweet Stroll takes place throughout the village. It falls in the daily-shuttle week before Christmas.

The Sweet Stroll page lists one change for this year. The courtyards and walkways will be lined with luminarias, which Tlaquepaque calls "new this year," and at 5 p.m. guests are invited to help light them. It's a shared candle lighting, set against the late-afternoon start of a December evening. The rest of the listing includes galleries and shops open late, homemade Christmas cookies and truffles, hot spiced cider, eggnog and hot chocolate, Dickens-era carolers, Santa, the Grinch, and free face painting and ornament painting for kids.

Before the December events, the City of Sedona has a smaller date that people who follow local arts may want. Its newsletter lists a Community Conversation on Arts and Culture for Thursday, Nov. 12.

Uptown May Get Its Garage by the New Year

Uptown parking is still taking shape for the holidays. Sedona Red Rock News reported on Sept. 4 that construction on the Uptown Parking Garage on Forest Road began in May 2025, with a planned opening of spring break 2026. That date moved to June, and the garage is now expected to open by December or January. The project costs about $28.25 million, according to Deputy City Manager Andy Dickey.

The same article says Sedona City Council voted 6-0 on Aug. 25 to approve a $3,741,285.50 contract with J. Banicki Construction Inc. About $2.54 million of it covers Forest Road improvements, and roughly $1.2 million covers water-system upgrades tied to the garage opening. The Forest Road work includes sidewalks running from the garage to existing sidewalks along SR 89A. The city's August roundup said staff would give Council more funding and phasing details for Forest Road and the nearby roundabout proposals at the Oct. 28 meeting. The December-or-January window is still the most recent public forecast, and the city's news page will have any update from that meeting.

Elsewhere on the west side, Sedona Red Rock News reported in July that a new Circle K is being built at 2820 W. SR 89A, at the northeast corner of Southwest Drive. It will replace the store at 2570 SR 89A, and no opening date has been announced. If you're looking for a sit-down dinner during the busy weeks, Outbound Sedona, the former Poco Diablo Hotel, held its grand opening in May. Its restaurant, Lucida, serves Southwestern food, according to Sedona Monthly.

The Season by Date

Putting the shuttle calendar and the event calendar together:

• Nov. 7: Yavapai gathering at Tlaquepaque, during regular weekend shuttle service.
• Nov. 12: Community Conversation on Arts and Culture.
• Nov. 19–29: Daily shuttle. The Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass lots close on Nov. 23–25, which are normally open weekdays.
• Nov. 26: No shuttle. Turkey Trot at Posse Grounds, 9 to 11:30 a.m.
• Dec. 4: Tree Lighting at Tlaquepaque North, 5 p.m.
• Dec. 5: Breakfast with Santa at The Hub, from 7:30 a.m.
• Dec. 17–31: Daily shuttle, except Christmas Day. Weekday lot closures on Dec. 21–23 and Dec. 28–30.
• Dec. 19: Sweet Stroll, with the luminaria lighting at 5 p.m.
• Jan. 1–3, 2027: Shuttle runs Friday through Sunday.

Our team at the Tim Eastman Group follows Sedona's calendar all year, from the shuttle dates to the Uptown garage. If you have questions about life in Sedona, or want to talk about what's ahead for your own home here, give us a call.