About a two hour drive north of Phoenix, Arizona we recently spent seven days in a place called Sedona. A city that claims to be ‘the most beautiful place on earth’. We discovered a haven of red rocks that glow with personality, the valley of Oak Creek, masterful art work, the smell of Juniper, trails surrounding beautiful mountains, snowfall, prickly pear tea, Heritage sites, and an adventurous tour in a Pink Jeep.
Arriving in the Village of Oak Creek, our first stop was the Red Rock Ranger Station where we met Friend of the Forrest Ruti Lovitt, a recreation guide to the Coconino National Forest. She gave us invaluable advice on trails to hike, places to visit, and local restaurants. We left with a highlighted map, our official Red Rock Visitor Pass and an invitation to come back! Next stop, The Desert Quail Inn – our home for the next seven nights, located about seven miles south of Sedona within walking distance to a local restaurant, The Red Rock Cafe and IGA.
Sunday morning, Easter — we choose Baldwin Trail for a sunrise hike. A cool morning of 42 degrees, we started a little before 7 am Sedona time. Our body clock was awake early! It was a fairly easy 1.6 mile 
trail filled with red rock cairns for trail markers, juniper trees, views of Cathedral Rock and Wilson Mountain. We stopped often to listen for birds, bask in the views and we loved watching the sun appear to warm our backs. This trail is shared by mountain bikes and horses. We saw a few other hikers toward the end of the trail. It was a beautiful way to celebrate our risen Savior. Together, alone in the beauty as the sun came up.
After dusting a little red dirt off our feet, we drove into Sedona and got a feel for the Round Abouts, visited the Chamber of Commerce, wandered thru an arts store and visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross. We had lunch at PJ’s Pub House, a local place within walking distance of our hotel that has amazing burgers and advertised Tennessee Jack Daniels. We visited an outdoor Arts Festival where we were introduced to Prickly Pear Tea, Navajo Horse Hair Pottery and other beautiful native art work. After such an early start, we took a short afternoon nap and made another hike to Cathedral Rock at the Back-O-Beyond entrance. We stopped by the Bell Rock trail-head and took a short walk there also.
Monday morning we chose the Hi-Line trail. Waking early again, our central time body clock had us fed, stretched and on the trail by 6:30 am Sedona time. Parking was not an issue! It was a cool 46 degrees, with sunshine and clothing layers that made such a nice morning. We followed Ruti’s handwritten instructions on the map .. Kaibab, left on Yavapai Vista, left on Slim Shady, right on HiLine. Yavapai Vista, a connector trail, was a favorite spot of slick rock that we looked forward to revisiting another day. It was a beautiful place to soak in the beauty. The morning warmed to 53 degrees with beautiful views, a sunrise and two hours of only encountering one mountain biker, cactus, flowers, rock, and the pleasure of each others company.
Later Monday afternoon, we visited V Bar V Heritage Site, a rock art site and visitor center on the banks of Wet Beaver Creek. Rock art is one of the legacies left behind by the Sinagua people (which means no water). Petroglyphs and pictographs are found on rock panels throughout the Red Rock Ranger District.
Tuesday morning’s weather was much cooler, with a wind chill that kept us away from an early hike. We chose instead to visit a cliff dwelling, rock art and visitor center — the Palatki Heritage Site. Making an 11:30 reservation, dressing warm and driving 10 miles on a gravel road.. this site welcomed us on arrival.
A beautiful cool day to learn of the early uses for agave, earth ovens, cliff dwellers, rocks with personality and more petroglyphs. We were pleasantly surprised to see Ruti again as one of the guides on this tour!
After this tour, we drove west on Hwy 89A to the city of Jerome. Once a booming copper mining town, at an elevation of 5000 feet, it is now considered America’s largest ghost town. We ate a delicious lunch at Grapes, enjoyed the beautiful view of the valley, a few unique shops, a cup of coffee plus a look at the Audrey Headframe Park.
On our return drive to Sedona, we discovered the Red Rock Canyon Loop road where we saw beautiful views and homes. Driving on a cool day was just perfect, plus our bodies got a little rest from the trails.
Wednesday morning, yet another 34 degree morning with wind chill, we chose to drive 89A north thru Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff. We left our hotel and all along the 28 mile drive were red rocks on both sides and the elevation crested at 7000 feet. The word beautiful hardly describes it. We chose a pull off to explore Oak Creek Canyon, where snow had fallen the night before.
Continuing toward Flagstaff our next stop was Slide Rock State Park. Besides the beauty of a natural rock slide we discovered the park is a 43-acre historic apple farm located in Oak Creek Canyon. Frank L. Pendley arrived in the canyon in 1907 and acquired the land under the Homestead Act in 1910. He pioneered a unique irrigation system still in use by the park today. His first apple orchard was planted in 1912. The pioneer spirit was evident… what amazing strength and courage.
A short hike above Slide Rock was a bench to view this. Imagine a warm summer day and awesome fun of a slide thru here!
Continuing north on 89A driving to Flagstaff, we stopped at Oak Creek Vista, elevation 6420 feet. The view was amazing, the wind strong. The trees reminded me of Teton Pass in Wyoming. A forest filled with Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, Pinyon, Juniper, Fernbush, Aspen, and countless wildlife.
“When your spirit cries for peace, come to a world of canyons deep in an old land; feel the exaltation of the high plateaus, the strength of moving waters, the simplicity of sand and grass, and the silence of growth.”
-August Fruge
Wanting to experience the stars in Sedona, that evening we drove to a secluded trail head – on Turkey Hill Road at dusk. We saw several mule deer on the ride there. While waiting for darkness to settle in, we protected our night vision by avoiding any artificial light. It truly is amazing how much you can see in the dark, if you allow the eyes to adjust. We carefully left our vehicle with our eyes shut tight against the lights.. and felt our way to the back of the truck, then opened our eyes to look up a the night sky filled with stars! An amazing display of constellations and light slung into place by the Almighty Himself. We were reminded of His promise to Abraham, that His descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Standing there under that amazing display, chosen as his descendants was spectacular. We looked as long as our necks would allow us to and said “wow” more than once! The Village of Oak Creek, a ‘dark sky community’, which means nighttime star gazing, is amazing. The community itself has no street lights but uses reflectors, and homes have special lights that eliminate light pollution.
Thursday’s forecast allowed us back on the trails for a FitBit measured 8 mile day. Starting the Mescal Trail around Mescal mountain a little before 9 am with a 47 degree temperature, we followed Ruti’s highlighted map. From Mescal to Deadman’s pass to Long Canyon Trail back to Mescal — it was beautiful at every turn. For three hours we soaked in, photographed and enjoyed one of our new favorite places.
After Mescal Mountain, we had lunch at PJ’s Pub, grabbed a short nap and headed to Boyton Canyon Loop for a drive thru 10 miles of gravel roads with views of the rocks. We also chose a short evening hike at Chimney Rock then attempted another night to see stars with a picnic dinner. However, the cloud cover was thick and no stars appeared. We did get to see a herd of Javelinas on our way to the trail head! Interesting creatures, wild scavengers, we were glad to see in the wild.
Friday, our last day, we savored the sights after breakfast at the Red Rock Cafe. Returning to Yavapai Vista for a beautiful 360 degree view of the red rocks we now called by name. Saying ‘see you later’ to these beautiful rocks and ‘it was nice to meet you’ all at the same time. We simply sat for a while and soaked in the beauty, thankful for the opportunity and the beautiful blue sky.
We returned to the Red Rock Visitor center for souvenirs, visited the local art exhibit, a farmers market in the Village of Oak Creek then grabbed lunch. Friday afternoon we returned to Sedona, visited a bookstore and took the History walk. With a 5 pm reservation at the Pink Jeep tour, we spent the evening with our driver, Todd, and a family of six from Minnesota, climbing rocks and exploring where only these jeeps can take you! We stood on Submarine rock, Chicken rock, saw Mushroom rock, Spaceship rock and the famous white line that mountain bikers ride. It seemed impossible the places those four Kevlar tires took us. More than once Mark said to me, ‘don’t look’ as our driver took us down steep places. Two hours of seeing parts of the Coconino National Forest that is only possible with a tour guide.
It was a great end to a beautiful trip. We ate dinner, packed our things and slept one last night in the comfy king size bed at Desert Quail Inn.
Rising early Saturday morning, we took one last drive thru the village to see the Red Rocks, get gas and head for Phoenix. Thankful for a safe rental car return and flight back home. Red dirt and memories all packed away.
Sedona has something for everyone; those who hike, bike, or simply want to enjoy the beauty. It’s a city that host millions of tourists every year. I hope you get a chance to visit someday. You may agree; Sedona is the most beautiful place on earth.. but you may be like me and wanna keep looking, keep exploring.
Enjoy the search.
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