Sedona is a community of diverse cultures and interests. Recently named by American Styles Magazine as one of five top art destinations by polled readers, Sedona has evolved from a small agricultural community into an artist's sanctuary and a tourist's dream. Four major regions offer significant contributions to Greater Sedona. You'll find lovely accommodations and year-round comfort with more than 40 galleries, unique shops and countless attractions. Four visitor's centers are offered at each gateway that feature maps and local information.
The Village of Oak Creek
Located on the southernmost end of Sedona is Oak Creek, a village that offers premier galleries, shops and a superb shopping experience at the charming Tlaquepaque, a recreated Mexican village. Galleries and shops nearby offer alternative browsing and spiritual enlightenment. The Sedona Golf Resort is nearby, with fine dining at the Grill at Shadow Rock. This area is also called the Chapel area, due to the proximity to the ascetic Chapel of the Holy Cross, designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. The Village area offers upscale dining, golf, tennis, shopping and accommodations including the Poco Diablo Resort, the suites at DoubleTree and Wildflower Inn.
The fiery-hued rock formations you'll find in this area include the famous Bell Rock, with its energy vortex, the wonderful Courthouse Butte and adjacent to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the stately Two Nuns formation.
Drink in fresh air and experience elevating surroundings while you continue up Highway 179 toward Sedona proper. At the "Y" junction of highways 179 and 89A, you'll find a Visitor Center nearby.
Uptown Sedona
Turn right onto Highway 89A, and you're headed to uptown Sedona. There are shops located in a major retail plaza along the highway that are within easy walking distance.
Rich in culture, the Uptown area offers the Sedona Arts Center, which includes a school and gallery, with juried works exhibited by various artists. Next, pay a visit to the Sedona Heritage Museum, the original farmstead of one of Sedona's founding families, the Jordans. Exhibits include written narratives, vintage orchard equipment and photographs, which depict the area's early history.
Outstanding accommodations in hotels and intimate bed-and-breakfasts are offered in Uptown. These include the European-style L'Auberge de Sedona. Rattlesnake sausage and a Pink Lizard to wash it down are featured at the nearby Cowboy Club.
Oak Creek Canyon
Follow Highway 89A North through one of the most
beautiful and scenic drives in America, as noted by Rand-McNally. The tree-lined canyon offers quiet austerity and invites self-reflection as you meander through.
Many secluded spots here offer sanctuary and quiet rooms, with space to relieve your mind of daily stresses and anxiety. Charming accommodations may be found at locations like the Junipine Resort.
Hiking and fishing are two favorite pastimes at Oak Creek. Bring your fishing license during the warm months when the creek is well stocked. Take a seat on the sun-warmed rocks and contemplate the satisfying natural world.
Dappled sunlight reflects on the water at nature's playground in Slide Rock State Park. Bring your camera as children at play frolic down the 30-foot natural rockslide. Easy hiking surrounds the area, but wear comfortable shoes with traction, as the path is often slippery.
If you follow Highway 89A north, you will eventually see Steamboat Rock and arrive in Flagstaff, which features the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the world. Just a few miles West of Flagstaff, off Interstate 40, you'll find skiing, and the original Route 66 running through the charming town of Williams. This is also the town where you catch the train to see the Grand Canyon National Park for a scenic day trip.
West Sedona
Wind your way back down Highway 89A to the 'Y' junction at Highway 179 in downtown Sedona. Travel through this intersection to enjoy the many faces of Sedona's west side. You will find interesting shops, fine dining including Fournos Restaurant, grocery stores and quaint bed-and-breakfasts like the Lantern Light Inn.
Sedona's airport offers activities like barnstorming the canyon at the Red Rock Biplane Tours, or rising to meet red monoliths in an aircraft from AeroVista.
Growing by leaps and bounds, this area has acquired a beautiful new Cultural Park and Visitor Center, which opened in the summer of 2000. Featured at the hub of the park's 50 acres is the new Georgia Frontiere Performing Arts Pavilion. Home to the annual Jazz on the Rocks concert in September, and the Sedona Ecofest benefit event in October, this amphitheatre features unique openwork architecture. From this vantage point, enjoy panoramic northern views of the Cockscomb, Chimney Rock and the majestic Coffee Pot Rock.
Drive a little further west, then head south down the Lower Red Rock Loop Road for a satisfying journey into the Red Rock State Park. Red Rock Park's fee area
offers a picnic retreat at Red Rock Crossing. This is one of the most photographed locations in the world.
Many opportunities exist in the area for photography and study of the early indigenous cultures. Take a short ride to the pueblo ruins at Palatki and Honanki, which are closest to Sedona. A little further out you'll discover Tuzigoot National Monument in Clarkdale. If you have some leisure time, be sure and take the wilderness train at Clarkdale for an enjoyable journey by rail through red-laced canyons. Jerome is nearby, which offers unusual charm. Its shops and homes are built on the sharp incline of a slowly sliding mountain slope.
