autumn06

My husband and I are planning to go to Arizona this February - would you recommend Sedona or Tuscon. We enjoy hiking and very recreational bicycling. Where would you recommend to stay? Thanks from Canada!

zootsi

This is apples and oranges - Sedona is a small, somewhat touristy town surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful scenery. A hikers paradise. Tucson is a fairly good sized city, with all the plus' and minus' this brings. Tuscon has some nice desert country on the outskirts. I'd choose Sedona with a side trip to the Grand Canyon.

MikePinTucson

Sedona will be much colder than Tucson in February. Although since you are from Canada, the difference might not matter much.

The area around Sedona is awesome and there are tons of hiking and biking trails (if you are into mountain biking).

As far as things to do other than hiking and biking, tucson would provide more diversity, being a larger city. There are also great areas for hiking and biking around here.

Please visit my blog. I have put together a nice list of things to see and do around tucson and Southern Arizona.

http://mikepintucson.blogspot.com/

TheWeasel

I don't think you can go wrong with either. Tucson is more spread out and sprawling, so it'll take you longer to get anywhere. Also, (and correct me if I'm wrong) most of the good hiking trails are outside the city in the mountains, so February would be pretty cold for that.

emd

Mike T is right that Sedona is cooler than Tuscon in Feb., but don't get the idea that Sedona is really cold then. I have been hiking several times in Sedona in Feb. and wear jeans and a fleece top and a light jacket over it, but by mid-day I have peeled off the jacket and have just the fleece top and jeans on. It can go down to the 30s at night and is crisp in the morning, but warms up nicely to about the low 60s during the day. And it is generally a "dry cold", not a bitter wet cold, that time of year.

LindainOhio

The Enchantment Resort in Sedona has off season rates in Feb. That would do it for me. We really enjoyed our stay there. We had a suite with the Murphy Bed, fireplace and huge patio. Beautiful location in Boynton Canyon--really good hiking nearby.

MikePinTucson

"Also, (and correct me if I'm wrong) most of the good hiking trails are outside the city in the mountains"

Well, there certainly ARE dozens of hiking trails in the mountains. And since 3 of our mountain ranges have 9,000+ fott peaks, it would be plenty cold hiking to the top.

But there are as many, maybe more, hiking trails at elevations much lower than around Sedona. Just around Saguaro National Park (east and west branches) and Sabino canyon there are enough to keep you busy for days.

The temperatures in Tucson will (usually) range from the low/mid 40's at night to the upper 60's during the day.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/climate/tus.php
I do think you would find Sedona's "averages" to range from the upper 20's to around the mid 50's. I don't believe the averages would be into the 60's, although it certinly could be that warm.

And, of course, it goes without saying that worthwhile hiking trails would be out of town.

emd

I was relating my experience, having hiked in Sedona in four different years in Feb. It did get into the low 60s during the day. And even the mid- 50s feels nice and warm there when the sun is out. It is glorious weather for hiking. I prefer hiking in Dec.-Feb. more than any other time of the year in Sedona, because the weather is so great then for outdoor activity.

One late Feb. a few yrs. I went to Sedona to hike and there had been a lot of rain in the two weeks before I arrived, which was extremely unusual. So much rain that sink holes opened up in the roads and trails out in the Dry Creek Rd. area close to Enchantment. A few of the trailheads and roads were closed due to that. But that was a very unusual and freak thing.

emd

That was Feb 2005 when Sedona had all the freak heavy rain.