Sedona’s scenery like nowhere else – and so are its traffic circles
Special to The Okanagan Weekend
With almost three million visitors a year, it can be tough to find solitude among the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona.
Driving in from the north down the winding Oak Creek Canyon highway, we arrived as darkness was falling on the massive traffic jam in the town’s centre, a vortex sucking traffic into the world of Sedona roundabouts.
Actually, Sedona is known as much for its so-called spiritual vortexes as it is for its unique towering sandstone cliffs.
We briefly visited Sedona a couple of times in the past and had been impressed by the scenery so we decided to spend a week at the Los Abrigados resort and take some time to leisurely explore the area.
Sedona took off as a tourist destination in the mid-1960s as hiking enthusiasts were drawn to the Schnebly Hill Formations. These are massive sandstone rock towers that shine red in the sun. Schnebly was the name of the first postmaster in Sedona while the town itself was named after his wife.
According to an article in The Guardian, a second tourist boom was initiated in the 1980s by psychic Page Bryant who had a “vision” and discovered a number of “vortexes” with supposed spiritual and healing powers.
We were there for the rocks, not the vortex mumbo jumbo.
Janis and I flew from Kelowna to Las Vegas by Westjet through Vancouver. Neither Air Canada nor Westjet recognize Flagstaff — the closest major airport in Arizona — as a destination. Alaska Airlines will get you to Flagstaff , but it takes a lot more time and costs a lot more money.
Even with a four-hour drive to Sedona from Vegas, we were way better off financially and time-wise.
Los Abrigados is a lovely resort next to Oak Creek and borders on the Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village, with about four dozen galleries, shops and restaurants (our favourite was El Rincon with it’s “Mexican food with an Arizona twist.” Excellent food, good prices and great staff).
But, getting in and out of the resort was a challenge, especially at rush hour where each roundabout can take 15 minutes to get through. There are more than a dozen roundabouts in Sedona, but the ones near downtown and the junctions of highways 89 and 709 are to be avoided, if at all possible, in the late afternoon.
While single lane roundabouts do decrease accidents and can improve traffic flow — if only everyone knew how to drive in them — the double lane roundabouts, of which there are a few in Sedona, are frightening if you have to cross incoming traffic to exit. Accidents are more frequent in double lane roundabouts than in intersections with traffic lights, but the roundabout collisions are generally less severe.
We’re not big hikers — especially when Janis’s knee is acting up — so we did some drive-abouts.
One day, we went back up Oak Creek Canyon only to find virtually every stopping place included at least a $3 parking fee ($20 for Slide Rock State Park) so we took a quick look around and decided it was not worth the money.
We did find a free “Historical Monument” honouring the first permanent white settler — JJ Thompson at Indian Garden. In 1876, Thompson discovered some abandoned gardens, built a house and ranched there.
What isn’t mentioned was that 1,400 of the resident Apache population were forcibly marched out of the area in February 1875 to San Carlos. Being a 300kilometre hike in the middle of winter, many died on the way.
Nice that there’s a plaque honouring the first white settler with no mention of why Indian Garden was created and abandoned in the first place.
Another day we drove to Old Cottonwood for breakfast at Crema. Taking a different route back, we found ourselves heading the wrong way instead of toward Sedona.
We spotted Highway 618 on a map, but it was easier to find on the map than in reality. Eventually, we spotted a tiny sign with the number 618 on it, next to a gravel road.
That led us some 25 kilometres through the back country on a good gravel road with no potholes, no traffic and lots of cattle guards and one-lane bridges.
Then suddenly, we crossed under the freeway onto Highway 179 and into Sedona past Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte.
I wasn’t to be totally denied the hiking experience.
There are hundreds of trails in the Sedona area, but the best ones are mostly accessible only though pay parking lots. By asking around, I was able to find a couple of great free hikes.
There’s a small free parking lot at the school on Upper Red Rock Loop Road with a few trails leading down towards Oak Creek with spectacular views of Cathedral Rock, which is also accessible from the south off Verde Valley School Road. There’s no bridge across the creek, which would have made a great scenic loop
Another great hike is off Highway 179 on Chapel Road. There’s a wide spot where a few vehicles can park, so it’s best to get there early. There is a myriad of trails at the base of the chapel with spectacular views of Sedona and the surrounding hills.
I took Hog Wash trail that zig-zagged down a rock face at one point. An easy enough trail, but watch out for the mountain bikers who, somehow, navigate in places where it’s a little tricky walking.
Wherever we went, there were the red rock hills that constantly changed with the light — awe inspiring even on overcast days.
We couldn’t leave Sedona without a final early morning stop at Sedonuts. This little shop is in a mall off Highway 98 South between Safeway and MacDonald’s. It’s owned by a husband-and-wife team who start their day prepping at midnight and open their doors at 6 a.m. Most days, they are sold out by closing time at noon.
Some of the best and, obviously, freshest doughnuts and goodies anywhere — ideal snacking on the road back home.