Dry Creek Vista Parking (Devil's Bridge)
Closed right now
Dry Creek Trail No. 52, Mescal Trail No. 174C, and Devil's Bridge Trail No. 120 are all closed under the Coconino National Forest Pocket Fire closure order through September 30, 2026 unless rescinded earlier. Sedona Shuttle Route 11, which serves this lot, is suspended.
Closed right now — the trails this lot serves are inside the active fire closure, and the shuttle route serving it is suspended.
When it's open, here's the thing worth knowing: a lot of guides claim private vehicles are banned here Thursday–Sunday. That claim isn't supported by any official source. The City of Sedona's shuttle FAQ names only Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass as lots closed to private vehicles. Dry Creek Vista isn't one of them.
What's true is that the lot is small and fills very early. That's a capacity problem, not a legal prohibition — and the difference matters if you're deciding whether it's worth driving out.
The facts
- Open right now?
- CLOSED — trails served are in the Pocket Fire closure order
- Trails served
- Devil's Bridge (via Chuckwagon), Chuckwagon, Girdner, Bear Mountain and Doe Mountain trails
- Cost / pass
- Red Rock Pass ($5 day / $15 week / $20 year) or America the Beautiful
- Lot size
- Not published by the Forest Service
- Private vehicles
- Permitted — no official prohibition, despite widespread claims otherwise
- When it fills
- Reported by hikers as very early in peak season; no official data
- Overflow option
- Shuttle Route 11 from the West SR-89A Park & Ride (when both are running)
- Roadside parking
- Not officially addressed; Dry Creek and Long Canyon Roads are commonly reported as enforced
- Restrooms
- Not documented in official sources
Getting there
Get directions →The myth we're not going to repeat
Search for Dry Creek Vista parking and you'll find confident statements that the lot closes to private vehicles Thursday through Sunday, exactly like Cathedral Rock.
We went looking for the source of that. It isn't in the City of Sedona's shuttle FAQ, which is very specific about which lots close and names only Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass. It isn't on the Forest Service's pages either.
Our read is that people are conflating "this lot is always full" with "this lot is legally closed," which is understandable but materially different. If you can get a space at 6:30am on a Saturday, nothing we could find says you can't use it.
We'd rather tell you the sourcing is thin than state a rule that isn't written down anywhere. If the Forest Service posts signage saying otherwise, that signage wins — and we'd like to know so we can correct this.
Getting to Devil's Bridge from here
Dry Creek Vista is the paved, sedan-accessible option, and it's the long way in: about 2.1 miles each way on the Chuckwagon connector before you even reach the Devil's Bridge trail, for roughly 5.8 miles round trip total.
The Mescal trailhead is the shorter paved alternative at about 4 miles round trip. The 1.6-mile figure everyone quotes requires the high-clearance Dry Creek Road (FR 152) trailhead.
This lot also serves Bear Mountain and Doe Mountain, so it draws traffic from several directions at once.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dry Creek Vista closed to private vehicles on weekends?
No official source says so. The City of Sedona's shuttle FAQ lists only Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass as trailheads closed to private vehicles during shuttle hours. The widespread claim about Dry Creek Vista appears to confuse a lot that fills early with one that's legally closed.
Is the lot open right now?
The trails it serves — Devil's Bridge, Dry Creek, Mescal — are all closed under the Pocket Fire closure order through at least September 30, 2026, and Shuttle Route 11 is suspended.
How many spaces does it have?
The Forest Service publishes no capacity figure for this lot. Hiker reports describe it as small and filling around 7am in peak season, but that's not official data.
Do I need a Red Rock Pass here?
Yes — a Red Rock Pass or a valid America the Beautiful pass, displayed on the dashboard.
Facts on this page last verified July 28, 2026. Fees, hours, and access rules change seasonally — confirm with the official source before a long drive.