Sedona: Horseback Ride in Canyon & Vineyard Country Near Town

4.86

(192 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

You know that sharp clop of hooves on hard ground? That’s what hit me first, even before I could take in the weirdly sweet smell of horse and dry grass. We were only about nine miles outside Sedona but it felt like a different world — more open, quieter. Our guide, Jake (cowboy hat, sunburned nose), gave my horse a friendly pat and said something about her being “a real sweetheart unless she sees a rabbit.” I laughed but also checked the brush for rabbits after that.

The trail wound through these rolling hills — not too steep but enough to make you lean in your saddle sometimes. There was this one spot where the sunlight hit the red rocks just right and suddenly you could see a whole vineyard stretching out below. Didn’t expect that. The air smelled faintly like sage and dust, which somehow made me hungry? Maybe it was just being outside for once without my phone buzzing every five minutes. Jake pointed out some old coyote tracks in the mud (I totally would’ve missed them), then told us how the Verde Valley used to be ranch land long before wine came along. He seemed to know everyone; he waved at a guy fixing a fence who shouted something back about “city folks” — I pretended not to hear.

I’d never been on a horse before this Sedona horseback ride, so yeah, my legs felt wobbly at first. The wranglers didn’t make a big deal out of it though — they just helped me up using this mounting dock thing (which honestly saved me from embarrassing myself). Helmets are required for everyone, which made my mom happy when I sent her a photo later. The ride lasted about an hour and a half but time got weird out there; sometimes it felt slow, sometimes fast. At one point we stopped under some cottonwoods and I swear all you could hear was horses breathing and someone’s laugh drifting back down the line.

Afterwards I kept thinking about that view over the vineyard — how close we were to Sedona but how far away it felt for those couple hours. If you’re looking for something easygoing but still kind of wild (and don’t mind smelling like horse for the rest of the day), this is probably it.