To celebrate my the birthday of my friend Emma, we decided to make a day trip to Sedona! We woke up that morning at around 4 or 5 am because our goal was to make it to Buddha Beach by the time Crescent Moon Ranch opened, which was 8 o’clock, to ensure that we got a parking spot.

The night before we had a party for her birthday so we only had about two hours of sleep. Nonetheless, we all got up and left the apartment around the time the sun was rising!

In this blog, I’ll walk you through our day trip and give you details so you can explore the beautiful Buddah Beach and Crescent Moon Ranch too!

At a glance:

Driving to Sedona
Arriving at Crescent Moon Ranch on Oak Creek
Swimming at Buddha Beach
Location & coordinates

Driving to Sedona

Our first order of business was to stop at Dutch Bro’s to get caffeinated for the trip. Once we were all juiced up, we headed out on our way. As we we’re driving, we saw a dozen or so hot air balloons off of the highway. We took a random exit trying to find a rest stop which we were unable to find, but this led us to where the hot air balloons were taking off so we were able to see them up close.

Seeing all of the hot air balloons was such a unique and unexpected experience because they were all peacefully floating through the air, and reminded me of all of the possibilities and opportunities that are out there in the world. Almost like anything was possible. I don’t know why they brought such peace and inspiration to me, but they did!

Arriving at Crescent Moon Ranch on Oak Creek

We arrived at Crescent Moon Ranch at about 8:30 am and there were only a few other cars there. We wanted to arrive early because our friend warned us that the parking lot fills up quick. And our friend was right! Because when we left, the parking lot was overflowing with cars parked on the side where there were no designated spaces.

Even just from the parking lot, we already had stunning views of Sedona and its red rocks. In all directions you could just stare out for miles and admire the vibrant colors the scenery offered.

We weren’t sure exactly where Buddha Beach was from the parking lot so we pulled up its’ coordinates on our maps app and tried to walk towards the pin point. We headed south from the parking lot, down Chavez Ranch Road, pass the gate. We took one of the paths on the left and followed it down until we reached the creek. I thought this was Buddha Beach, but turns out you need to keep walking for another five minutes along the creek!

We explored this area first before heading to Buddha Beach. At first, the water felt super cold but then as we kept walking up stream we got used to it. Or my feet became numb, either way.

After exploring this first part for a bit, we headed back to our car so we could get some food and have a picnic – it was probably about 9:30 but we had already been up for a few hours so we were hungry!

When we headed back down, we set up our picnic at this little beach we found (still not Buddha Beach yet). It was a quaint little spot that had views of the red mountains of Sedona in the distance. For our picnic, we had cinnamon raisin bagels from Trader Joe’s with peanut butter and an assortment of jams left over from our charcuterie board picnic we had a few weeks prior! It was sooo tasty and also so peaceful to have lunch by the creek. I highly recommend this!

After our picnic, we continued along the path to find Buddha Beach. On our way, we stumbled across this old tree that was falling over the path. I felt like I was in my own fairytale! Of course we took some pictures in front of it :)

Swimming at Buddha Beach

Finally, we made it to Buddha Beach! There were some other people there as well, but we still were able to have our own spot to hangout. Rohini, Emma, and I decided to lay on one of the giant rocks and get some rays while Rita explored a bit. There were even some small cliffs here to jump from, but the water was freezing so I didn’t want to go all the way under. Maybe if it was a bit warmer outside!

This spot is called Buddha Beach because of the many piles of balancing stones, called cairns, that you’ll find throughout. These cairns give Buddha Beach a zen-oasis vibe to the area!

All in all, the hike from the car to Buddha Beach wasn’t long, maybe .5 miles at first. But there are so many spots to explore along the way to make this a full day trip! Buddha Beach is definitely an ideal spot for our hot summers in Arizona. However, I believe it may be closed right now due to the wildfires. Hopefully we get some rain very soon so these destinations aren’t ruined!

Location

Address: Chavez Ranch Rd, Sedona, AZ 86336

Coordinates: 34.823690, -111.797185

What’s your favorite way to stay cool during Arizona’s hot summers? Let me know in the comments below!