I did my homework and it paid off.
Simply, my husband and I fell in love with Sedona and are sad not to have come years ago. We arrived in Sedona, on Sunday, March 18th, the day of the exceptional 6 inch snowfall. We drove up from Tucson, having visited friends there for 3 days having enjoyed the beautiful weather in the low eighties. Arriving around 10 a.m., we went through some snowy weather and missed the gorgeous views we'd seen in photos and read about. We more than made up for that in all the days that followed. We had rented a studio at SedonaSuite, (http://www.sedonasuite.com/) and were greeted by Ken, our host, a kind, generous, well-informed Sedona resident, who offered my husband his snow parka for the rest of our week's stay. That was a lovely welcome, as was our beautiful ecology-focused room with its very comfortable huge bed and soothing colors, and a well-stocked fridge and cupboard with drinks, healthy snacks and organic oatmeal. The porch outside our studio has a beautiful view of Cathedral Rock, and the Crescent Moon picnic area was close by, allowing early morning walks approaching Cathedral Rock and Oak Creek.
Hikes I recommend are the Bell Rock/Courthouse Butte walk which takes about 2 1/2 hours with fairly easy terrain. We somehow missed the path to the parking lot at Bell Rock at the end of our hike, and had to retrace our steps. I recommend going as early as you can because the crowds build as the morning moves on. We drove to Boynton Canyon, not far from where we were staying across from the Upper Loop Road. There are a variety of places to stop there, and we hiked what turned out to be a bit icy and mucky path at Fay Canyon. Go after 3 p.m. Driving Upper Loop Road was a treat every day, no matter the hour because the light on the rocks was always different. It's off 89A.
We walked the path to Cathedral Rock from highway 179 S, going right on Back'O Beyond to the trailhead, just about a mile away on the left. We went up as far as we were comfortable going, and then wandered a path we found that went across, as opposed to up!
Another walk we did was Marg's Draw, which we did one afternoon and one evening for a beautiful sunset. It's very close to the Elote Café and King Ransom Hotel. Another sunset spot was the Schnebly Hill trailway. Another lovely sunset spot is at Scnebly Hill. We also visited the beautiful Chapel of the Holy Cross, and again, I would urge anyone interested to go when they open at 9 a.m. to avoid crowds and traffic.
We hit the airport Mesa our first snowy day there, during the day and the views across the snow-covered rooftops were truly beautiful. We stayed away at sunset. Clearly, we are not crowd-lovers!
We tried to do the West Fork Trail up in Oak Creek Canyon, north of Sedona, but we walked on icy paths days after the weather had warmed up, and it was 35 degrees on the trail. We came to the first of 15 crossings of Oak Creek and the logs looked a bit slick. In the summer it would be a treat! We retreated to the parking lot and
headed back to Sedona after stopping to look at the beautiful high quality jewelry at Garland's on 89A, north of Sedona.
The temperature in Sedona was 75 degrees, quite a change! I highly recommend the Sedona Arts Center, another artists' cooperative. I found most of the shops in Sedona and even in Tlaquepaque very commercial and touristy, everything looking very much like everything else. Garland's is the exception.
We also visited Tuzigoot and Montezuma's Castle just outside Sedona. I highly recommend visiting them. We were given a Red Rock pass as well as having our own America the Beautiful Senior Pass, which is good for all national parks and costs only $10.00. You can find out more about the Red Rock pass by visiting www.redrockcountry.org I also highly recommend V-Bar-V Historical Site, the best Petroglyph site in the area http://www.redrockcountry.org/recreation/cultural/v-bar-v.shtml
Hours are currently 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (entrance gate closes at 3:00 p.m.), Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The number of pictographs and petroglyphs are astounding. It's about a 30 minute ride tops from Sedona going North and going past Rte 17.
We also had a treat by taking a yoga class our first full day in Sedona, when the snow stopped us from doing hiking. (We hadn't come with winter boots/clothing!). We had a terrific Monday morning class at 7 Centers Yoga: http://www.7centers.com/yoga_classes/yoga_classes.html
Class schedule abovePhone: 928-203-4400Toll Free: 877-603-4400Email: Yoga@7Centers.com 7 Centers Yoga Arts 2115 Mountain Rd/ It's off 89A going North/East and right onto Shelby, then right onto Mountain Rd.
I also highly recommend Rosemary Anderson for what was the best massage I ever had and her prices are extremely reasonable. http://sedonamassage.us/
The restaurants we enjoyed were Picazzo Pizza where we made our own vegetarian combination with whole wheat crust, basil sauce, avocado and sauteed onions. 928-282-4140 1855 W. Highway 89A Sedona; we also thoroughly enjoyed the Café Elote, getting there at 4:45 for a very early dinner, but which allowed us to step outside after dinner and see a breath-taking sunset right near Marg's Draw. We had a healthy lunch of soup and salad and the Wildflower Café on that first snowy day we arrived. It is well worth the 15-20 minute drive to Harry's Hideaway in Cornville. We were greeted like old friends and we asked to be seated in the back patio and we wound up being the only ones outside during lunch. We ordered two of the specials of the day after the elote appetizer. Everything was bursting with flavor and reasonably priced. Do not hesitate to go. I'd recommend calling for a reservation. Our last lunch was at the NY Bagel and Pizza and we had a terrific meatball sub, the special of the day, and a superb salad with lettuce, berries, nuts, and a terrific dressing. We were warmly greeted by Ross, the owner, who wound up treating us to a fruit tart for dessert. Maybe it was the Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox generosity after this last September's Sox fizzle.
We did some shopping at the New Frontier health foods supermarket. It was a bit expensive, but we bought salads and had them for dinner a few nights back at our studio.

So, that was our trip- 6 glorious days in Sedona. We can't wait to go back. I'm happy to answer any questions about our trip.