Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon

It's easy to see what draws so many people to Sedona. Red-rock buttes—Cathedral Rock, Bear Mountain, Courthouse Rock, and Bell Rock, among others—reach up into an almost always blue sky, and both colors are intensified by dark-green pine forests. Surrealist Max Ernst, writer Zane Grey, and many filmmakers drew inspiration from these vistas—more than 80 Westerns were shot in the area in the 1940s and '50s alone.

These days, Sedona lures enterprising restaurateurs and gallery owners from the East and West coasts. New Age followers, who believe that the area contains some of the Earth's more important vortices (energy centers), also come in great numbers believing that the "vibe" here confers a sense of balance and well-being, and enhances creativity. Vortex maps of the area are available at most of Sedona's New Age stores.

Expansion since the early 1980s has been rapid, and lack of planning has taken its toll in unattractive developments and increased traffic. The town has been chosen to take part in the federally sponsored Main Street program, which means, among other things, that a number of Red Rock Territorial-style buildings in the Uptown section will be preserved and that a separate parking district will be built.

The town itself is young and there are few historic sites; the main downtown activity is shopping, mostly for Southwestern-style paintings, clothing, rugs, jewelry, and Native American artifacts. Just beyond the shops and restaurants, however, canyons, creeks, Indian ruins, and the red rocks beckon. The area is easy to hike or bike, or you can take a jeep tour.

Sedona is roughly divided into three neighborhoods: Uptown, which is a walkable shopping district; West Sedona, which is a 4-mi-long commercial strip; and Central Sedona, which encompasses everything south of the "Y" where AZ 179 and AZ 89A intersect.