Arizona is filled with so many incredible locations, all just hours away from the nearest airport in Phoenix. Whether you want to elope in a private location or you want to be able to just park and walk to your ceremony spot, this list of the top 8 most epic places to elope in Arizona is PERFECT for you! These 8 spots are filled with cliffside views, vast mountains and all the colors that you know Arizona to be.
There’s a lot to consider when picking out a spot to elope, such as what permits are required, how easy it is to access the specific spot (Does it require a hike? Will you need a 4×4 vehicle?) and even the level of crowds to expect. So – grab a pen, make some notes and prepare to find your dream elopement location.
Horseshoe Bend
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Page, Arizona – 4.5 hour drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- $10 per car entrance fee
- $200-$300 wedding permit from Glen Canyon
- Per the park rules, you may not set up arches or things of that nature in the park for an elopement or wedding
- Accessibility
- Paved parking area with a walking path down to the rim, about 1.4 miles roundtrip
- Nearby Activities
- Boating, kayaking, hiking, off-roading, camping, stargazing, helicopter tours
- Crowd Levels
- VERY crowded – views are best at sunset, but it’s much less crowded at sunrise. Consider picking a weekday over a weekend to minimize the amount of people at this location.
- Another option to avoid crowds is to book a tour with Horseshoe Bend Tour Company for a private ceremony location with a view of the bend!
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Horseshoe Bend, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Slot Canyon
(similar to Antelope Canyon)
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Northern Arizona and Southern Utah – there are multiple ones to choose from in that general region! Most of the canyon options are a 4 to 5 hour drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- Antelope Canyon, the most widely known slot canyon, actually does NOT allow wedding or engagement photos of any kind. There are other slot canyons though that offer similar views!
- Most of the available slot canyons are located on Navajo land, requiring a private, guided tour in order to access the slot canyons and be allowed to have photos or a ceremony in the canyon. These tours can range anywhere from $600-$2000 for a 2-3 hour private tour, depending on the slot canyon.
- Accessibility
- After parking at the tour office, there’s anywhere from .5 mile to 3-4 mile hike, depending on the slot canyon
- Nearby Activities
- Boating, kayaking, hiking, off-roading, camping, stargazing, helicopter tours
- Crowd Levels
- The slot canyons are typically very crowded, but since you’re required to book a private tour for having photos or a ceremony in the canyon, it would just be the people you ask to join you + your tour guide.
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Page, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Secret Lake Powell Overlook
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Page, Arizona area – 4.5 to 5 hour drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- $200-$300 wedding permit from Glen Canyon
- Per the park rules, you may not set up arches or things of that nature in the park for an elopement or wedding
- $200-$300 wedding permit from Glen Canyon
- Accessibility
- A 4×4, high clearance vehicle is needed in order to reach this spot! There’s an unpaved dirt road for about 20-30 miles out from the final destination. The last two miles requires the most amount of off-roading!
- Nearby Activities
- Hiking, off-roading, camping, stargazing
- Crowd Levels
- Not overly crowded, aside from other campers or tourist every now and then. It’s very desolate and takes a few hours to access from the closest city (Page), which works in this location’s favor!
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Lake Powell, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Secret Sedona Spot
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Sedona, Arizona – 2 hour drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- Parking passes are $5 for this location, to obtain your Red Rocks Parking Pass
- Per the Sedona city’s rules, you may not set up arches, chairs or things of that nature for an elopement or wedding in this location
- Accessibility
- After parking in a gravel lot, there’s a 1.5 mile round trip hike required for this location
- Nearby Activities
- Hiking, off-roading, camping, stargazing, hot air ballon ride, wineries, breweries, spas, resorts
- Crowd Levels
- Majority of location in Sedona can get very, very crowded. Luckily with this being a lesser-known location, there is far less crowds at this post compared to others similar to it! The area at the top is VERY expansive so there’s also a lot of room to spread out and be away from other possible hikers.
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Sedona, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Cathedral Rock
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Sedona, Arizona – 2 hour drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- Parking passes are $5 for this location, to obtain your Red Rocks Parking Pass
- Per the Sedona city’s rules, you may not set up arches, chairs or things of that nature for an elopement or wedding in this location
- Parking passes are $5 for this location, to obtain your Red Rocks Parking Pass
- Accessibility
- With the recent popularity of this location, parking and accessing this spot has become VERY difficult. Unless you’re planning for this spot at sunrise, the road is often blocked off and doesn’t allow anyone to reach the parking area due to the traffic of this spot. If you’re dead-set on being there for sunset, you will likely need to book a shuttle service. (Just keep in mind, Uber and Lyft are pretty unreliable in the Sedona area!)
- After arriving at the trailhead, there’s a 1.2 mile round trip hike with STEEP elevation gain (including being forced to use all fours to climb up a crack portion of the rock on this trail)
- Nearby Activities
- Hiking, off-roading, camping, stargazing, hot air ballon ride, wineries, breweries, spas, resorts
- Crowd Levels
- VERY, VERY crowded. This spot is the best at sunset, and just about everyone in Sedona climbs up here to watch the sun dip below the horizon line. There are many areas to take photos at the top, but the main area with the cliff edge always has a little bit of a line wait to get out there. If you’re not a fan of PDA or attention, I definitely recommend staying away from this spot!
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Sedona, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Merry Go Round Rock
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Sedona, Arizona – 2 hour drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- Parking passes are $5 for this location, to obtain your Red Rocks Parking Pass
- Per the Sedona city’s rules, you may not set up arches, chairs or things of that nature for an elopement or wedding in this location
- Parking passes are $5 for this location, to obtain your Red Rocks Parking Pass
- Accessibility
- For Merry Go Round Rock, the road is VERY rough – it’s not only unpaved, but has large rocks that take time to drive up and definitely requires high clearance and 4×4. The road is only about 3 miles long, but it takes around 45 minutes to drive up! Once arriving at the top, it’s a 10 minute hike out to the edge.
- If you don’t want to rent your own jeep to drive yourselves up, you can totally do a jeep tour for getting up to Merry Go Round Rock! The only downfall to doing a jeep tour, is that you have limited time up there instead of your own timing with driving yourselves.
- Sedona Offroad Adventures
- Pink Jeep Tours
- Jeep rentals
- Make your expedition rental
- Red Rock Rubicon Jeeps
- Nearby Activities
- Hiking, off-roading, camping, stargazing, hot air ballon ride, wineries, breweries, spas, resorts
- Crowd Levels
- This is becoming more and more of a popular location – there are typically several elopements or other shoots happening at once, along with the jeep tours dropping people off and picking them up. If you’re game with waiting your turn a bit for photos in the most epic spots and having potential bystanders while saying your vows, this spot is great!
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Sedona, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Superstition Mountain
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Apache Junction – 45 minute drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- $7 per car entry fee into the park
- Both a wedding permit and photo permit are required to hold a wedding within Lost Dutchman State Park. You can click HERE to get full information on the permitting process as well as access the application.
- Accessibility
- You can park in the paved lots and then walk through the trails or over to the Wilderness area for a wider range of available spots (different permitting applies to the wilderness areas past the line of Lost Dutchman State Park)
- Nearby Activities
- Hiking, off-roading, camping, stargazing, horseback riding, hot air ballon rides, breweries
- Crowd Levels
- Very crowded on the weekend with campers and hikers – recommend a weekday at sunrise to minimize crowds
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Phoenix, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Grand Canyon
To see more images from this elopement day and location, click HERE
- Location
- Grand Canyon Village, Arizona – 3.5 hour drive from Sky Harbor Airport
- Permitting
- $30 park entry fee, per car
- A wedding permit is required to get married within the park at one of their pre-approved locations. For a list of available locations, click HERE
- No props, chairs, tables, flowers, amplified sound, balloons, signs, etc. are allowed at any location
- Accessibility
- Varies depending on the selected ceremony site (some require a bit of a hike, others are an easy park and walk spot)
- Nearby Activities
- Hiking, camping, stargazing, helicopter rides
- Crowd Levels
- Being such a natural wonder, this is a HIGHLY visited location for people from all over. Some of the allowed ceremony sites are less crowded than others so it’s always important to take those things into consideration. The time of year also highly affects this – week days during the school year is always a safer option crowd levels wise. The weather can play a factor in the visibility though, fog can move in quickly and block the view so it’s important to take that into account as well!
- Elopement Packages
- For all-encompassing Grand Canyon, Arizona elopement packages (and elsewhere), click HERE
Want to book with me for your epic elopement in Arizona?
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Wow there are so many amazing locations!
I love your style btw, it’s so warm and candid. 🤗