Independent visitor guide. Not affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service. Passes are sold by the Forest Service at Recreation.gov and by in-person vendors.
Red Rock Pass GuideSedona parking & pass answers, verified

The Coconino Annual Pass (and What Happened to the Grand Annual)

By Phalen Vitas — Sedona-based hospitality professional. Spotted something outdated? Tell us.

✔ Last verified: October 17, 2026 — the $25 weekly and $50 annual prices, the five-site coverage and the in-person-only sales rule re-checked against the Forest Service’s Red Rock & Coconino Passes Program page and each concession-site page. Chamber Visitor Center availability is not on the Forest Service’s list and is unconfirmed (928-282-7722).

A surprising amount of the internet still tells you to buy a Grand Annual Pass in Sedona. You can’t — it no longer exists. Its replacement covers a different, smaller set of places than most people assume, and knowing which set is the whole game.

What the pass actually is

The official name is the Coconino Hospitality Annual Pass, though nearly everyone shortens it to “Coconino Annual Pass.” It costs $50 a year and is issued by Coconino Hospitality (928-203-0624), the private concessionaire that operates the five concession-run sites on the forest:

  • Crescent Moon Picnic Site (Red Rock Crossing)
  • Grasshopper Point
  • Call of the Canyon (West Fork)
  • Beaver Creek Day Use
  • Lower Lake Mary (Flagstaff side)

Those five gates are its entire universe. Day fees there run $12–$15 per vehicle — $15 at the three Oak Creek sites, $14 at Beaver Creek and $12 at Lower Lake Mary — so the pass is essentially a bulk purchase of creek-side day use. It comes in two lengths: $25 for a week and $50 for a year.

The Grand Annual is gone

For years the concession sites sold a “Grand Annual Pass” — $40 originally, later $45. It has been discontinued and replaced by the $50 Coconino Hospitality Annual Pass. That is the entire story, but the old name refuses to die: forums, older blog posts and even some visitor-facing pages still quote a $40 or $45 Grand Annual as if it were current. If a site names that pass or those prices, treat everything else on the page as suspect too.

Why an official document can still be wrong

Here is a live example, and it is not a cheap shot at the agency. The Forest Service’s own Red Rock Ranger District recreation guide PDF still lists the Grand Annual Pass at $45. Every current concession-site page names the $50 Coconino Hospitality Annual Pass instead. Both come from the same source. One of them simply has not been reprinted since the pass changed.

Printed and PDF material ages quietly. A price is set, a document is published, the price moves, and the document stays where it is until somebody has reason to revise it. Nothing has gone wrong except time, and the guide remains useful for the many things in it that have not changed.

The lesson is about how to read a figure rather than who published it. An official source tells you a number was right when it was written. It does not tell you the number is right today. That is why every price on this site carries the date it was checked, and why the stamp at the top of this page names the date it was checked rather than saying “current”. If you find a $45 Grand Annual quoted anywhere, including in a government PDF, the date is the next thing to look for.

What it does not cover — read this twice

The Coconino Annual Pass is not a substitute for a Red Rock Pass. It buys nothing at any fee trailhead, vista or Forest Service picnic site — those run on an entirely separate system, and the two passes do not recognize each other in either direction. It carries no weight at Slide Rock or Red Rock State Park either. The name is the trap: “Coconino” sounds comprehensive, but the coverage is five gates, full stop.

The break-even math

At $15 per visit, four trips through those gates cost $60 — so the $50 pass pays for itself at four or more visits a year. Three visits or fewer, pay the day rate and keep your money. (Beaver Creek’s $14 fee barely moves the arithmetic.) The $25 weekly works the same way on a shorter clock: two gate visits inside seven days cost $30 at the gate, so it pays for itself on the second.

Timing caveat. As of October 17, 2026, Grasshopper Point has reopened — the post-Pocket Fire Oak Creek closure lifted on September 17, 2026 — but West Fork Trail No. 108 remains closed under Forest Service order 03-04-00-26-007 through October 31, 2026, unless it is rescinded or extended. If your visit math depends on hiking West Fork, check the trail’s status before buying.

Two annual passes, no overlap

People arrive at this page assuming the $50 Coconino Hospitality Annual Pass is a larger version of the $20 Red Rock Pass annual. It is not. The two cover separate sets of places: the $20 annual covers Forest Service fee trailheads, vistas and picnic sites, and the $50 annual covers five concession-run gates. There is no site where one stands in for the other, and neither is an upgrade of the other. They are products of different operators, sold through different channels.

Which means a heavy Sedona year can genuinely justify both, at $70 in total. That is the right answer for someone who parks at fee trailheads regularly and also swims at the creek four or more times a year. It is the wrong answer for almost every single trip, where one pass or neither is usually enough. Work the two decisions separately — trailhead parking on one side, creek gates on the other — because nothing you buy on one side changes what you owe on the other.

Where to get one

The pass is sold in person at the five concession sites themselves — ask at the fee gate. The Forest Service states plainly that Coconino Hospitality passes cannot be purchased online, and they are not sold on Recreation.gov, which handles the separate trailhead pass system. The Sedona Chamber Visitor Center sold the old Grand Annual and is still sometimes cited for this pass, but the Forest Service’s current list of outlets does not include it; call 928-282-7722 before making the trip.

Common questions

Is the Grand Annual Pass still available?
No. It was discontinued and replaced by the $50 Coconino Hospitality Annual Pass. Pages quoting a $40 or $45 Grand Annual are out of date.
Does the Coconino Annual Pass work at Sedona trailheads?
No. Fee trailheads run on the separate Red Rock Pass system, and neither pass substitutes for the other. The Coconino Annual Pass covers only the five concession-run sites.
Is it worth it for a one-week vacation?
The annual rarely is: its break-even is four site visits at $14–$15 each, which few week-long trips hit. For a week with two or more gate visits, the $25 weekly version is the cheaper buy.
Is there a weekly version?
Yes. The Forest Service lists a $25 weekly version alongside the $50 annual, valid at the same five sites. At $15 a visit it pays for itself on the second visit within seven days.
Would an America the Beautiful pass cover these sites instead?
No. The Forest Service states that neither the Red Rock Pass nor the America the Beautiful pass is accepted at the concession-run sites. The Coconino Hospitality pass — $25 weekly or $50 annual — is the only pass those gates honor.
Where exactly do I buy it?
In person at the five concession sites, from the fee gate staff; the Forest Service says it cannot be bought online. The Forest Service’s current list of outlets does not include the Sedona Chamber Visitor Center, so call 928-282-7722 before relying on it.

Is it worth the $50?

For most buyers the $50 comes down to one canyon

West Fork is the gate people picture when they buy this pass, and the trail is closed under a Forest Service order running to October 31, 2026 — so judge the walk before the reopening rather than after. SedonaReady has a point-of-view film of that trail.

West Fork Trail preview

Sources for this page