Sedona 6/11 - 6/18

Family trip. Staying at a friends condo at some golf resort. Paid extra $$$ for nice Jeep rental. Did a little research but want local advice. Places to visit, jeep trailed to drive, best food etc. Willing to drive a couple hours from Sedona for fun.

Will have night vision and full power peq/15’s in case any of you dudes have a place to hunt pigs.

As locals we avoid the touristy places - some of our favorite restaurants are (in no particular order)
Bella Vita
The Hudson
The Golden Goose
Oak Creek Brewing Co.

The surrounding area has more
Up The Creek (Cornville)
The Manzanita (Cornville)
Moscato (Camp Verde)
Pizzeria Bocce (Cottonwood)
Mai Thai (Cottonwood)

There are some pretty cool Indian ruins nearby - Montezuma's Castle,Palatki, Hunanki and V-Bar-V Ranch are all worth a visit.
Oak Creek Canyon is a cool drive but it's better going from North to South.  Save it for when you are coming back to Sedona from Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon, Meteor Crater, etc.

As far as shooting - we are under pretty strict fire restrictions in just about all the shooting areas due to the weather so don't get your hopes too high.

So many good restaurants in Sedona!

-If its not too warm out.. I HIGHLY suggest wheeling (its bouncy) up dry creek rd up to the Devils Bridge trailhead then hoofing it the rest of the way.. 2mi round trip hike from that spot.
-Schnebly hill rd is great views as well.
https://www.alltrails.com/us/arizona/sedona/off-road-driving

If it IS warm out lol, grab your trunks and towels and head to Crescent Moon Picnic site.. its our favorite swimming hole there, and if you go up the creek a ways its less people.  They do only allow so many folks in so if you go later you might be waiting in line for a spot.

If you are into wine, Cottonwood is a good easy day trip, there are a bunch of winery tasting rooms all within walking distance in the old town spot.. and we always end at Bocce(mentioned above).. their food is really good.  If you like the band Tool, one of Maynard's tasting rooms, Merkin, is there.
We also love hitting up the Vineyards on Page Springs Rd between Sedona and Cottonwood.  Javalina Leap, Page Springs, and Oak Creek vineyards.

I 100% agree on doing Oak Creek canyon drive on Hwy 89A from Flagstaff down to Sedona.  Do not miss the overlook turnoff before it drops down into the canyon.

I did make a few Points of Interest maps.. some crossover but one has some more things Grand Canyon Centric

POI Map
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1UPmPu70C6ZmC5Kpti0yvq8ZZD_GgVeZJ&usp=sharing

GC POI Map
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=19_JmznFkna-9AC4cmYbDKxqpz6fNYm3x&usp=sharing

Thanks so much gents!  First week long vacation for me in 7 years. I’m actually leaving my business phone at home, so a real vacation.

As mentioned, all of Yavapai county is under fire restrictions and shooting except at designated ranges is prohibited.  Camp Verde does have an indoor 100 yard range, and you can rent Patrick Swayze’s Red Dawn AK there.

As for pig hunts, AZ sucks.  Javelina are by tag only, and at night, it is illegal to possess night vision while hunting.  Arizona is awesome for most gun stuff, but hunting regs leave a lot to be desired.

Have fun in Sedona!  It is a cool place, but it can be very busy.

As others have said just about all State Trust land, BLM, and forest land is under a stage 2 fire restrictions.  So, no shooting.

But, here are some off road trails to think about.  You will need a Red Rocks Pass for most of these trails.

Greasy Spoon  It is rated as difficult but I did a couple of years ago in my stock 4Runner Pro.  

Outlaw Trail  The Indian ruins are worth seeing on this trail.

Schnebly Hill Road  This is a very busy and bumpy trail but the views are outstanding.

Have a shovel in your jeep if off the beaten path, just in case a small fire was left unattended needs to be extinguished before it becomes an even bigger fire.

And have a case of water handy at all times in the vehicle, too. Also a snake bite kit.

Don’t waste your money on a snake bite kit.  They don’t work.  EMS agencies don’t carry them.  Shovel and way more water than you think you will need is good advice.  Don’t go hiking with a bottle of arrowhead  and think that’s enough, it’s not.

Is it common for people to leave fires going around there?  Will have plenty of water and I’m actually looking forward to catching as many snakes as possible.

Our recent fires were caused by human campers who left theirs "unattended" and I am one of the ones who was affected by it, 17 to 20 structures lost.

Crooks Fire, and I was displaced by forced evacuations.

I've had to put out a few fires in the past rolling up to shooting pits that teens and dumb teens use to party for the night or out of towners that just didn't give a F, camper marks an all. So it makes me weary with visitors from out of state or city slickers from around the main cities here in AZ.

Speaking of things, if you have a pet with you we have a leash law in the entire state and of off the grid cannot be unleashed near wildlife sightings and other human travelers. Two curs almost got the bullet when they came at me when city slickers dragged a tree stump to the road and left it there just to have wood to feed their fire. I had to literally stop and get out to remove it in order to continue down the road which is our only way to and from home, and the slickers decided to camp nearby that blind bend in the road.

+1 on the snake bite kit. LOTS of water too!

People are stupid and lazy!  We have had enough camp fires not completely put out throughout Arizona that started some major wildfires.  Most are from illegals.

A few weeks ago I was up in the mountains where it is common for people to drive up at night just to have a campfire.  While we were sitting on the tail gate of my truck we smelled what we thought was a candle burning.  But, we did not see anything.  About the time we were thinking about leaving I saw an ember in an old rock ring.  I took a closer look and it appeared someone attempted to burn a book and we smelled the book binder burning.  We put it completely out with all of the water we had left.  People are stupid.

Can relate on the irresponsible campers. We have a remote mining claim with two old cabins in national forest area in Colorado. Methed up locals or out of town hikers routinely find it and trash it up.

No pets and from deep TX Hill Country, so my family has a lot of respect for the woods.

Jeeper - there’s a few hots I’ve not added to my personal list I am excited about seeing. What can I expect around Sedona?  I’m very comfortable handling them and AZ has some of the most beautiful regional subspecies.

I have been wondering if they determined the cause of that fire.  Now we know.  People are stupid.  

This is kind of a fun one if you want to do a big loop (Sedona to Williams, then Williams to Jerome and down from Jerome back to Sedona):

https://www.arizonahighways.com/index.php/perkinsville-road

There's also a train to nowhere (Verde Canyon rail road) that goes down the Verde Canyon to Perkinsville as well. A little pricey and
slow, but great views. It may be booked up but you can check.

It was a hard to get to area too. Was perfectly downwind of populated areas even

Both Winslow (standing on the corner Eagles song) and Meteor Crater is an hour and change from the OP's soon to be vacationer AO, and can be easily done in a day. Worth the trip is he likes to to check out the mountains of Flagstaff on the way to and from.

If in Jerome, OP needs to eat at the Haunted Hamburger and to make sure he's seated with a view. The pictures below do not do that view justice by the way. And that's like the second leg of the stairs to a fitness check climb

Parking is going to be a bit fun, especially when realizing that after that summit climb, the last obstacle is heart attack stairs







OP, if you make it to Jerome or Prescott itself and would like to meetup for a meal, send me a message.

I have a match on the 18th at Gunsite, so any other day but that one would be okay with me.

'twould be best for all valley and city dwellers to just stay outta these woods.  Go play in the sand, it's harder to set fire to that shit.

And, take your trash with you, assholes.

We were in Village of Oak Creek earlier this year.  We tried Pagos one night and it wasn't bad, not fancy for Italian.  We liked the Torta de Fuego #2 there, fun and not typical Americanized "Mexican" food.  There's one in West Sedona, too.  In Clarkdale, not too far from the the  Verde Canyon Railroad - 9th and Main is Violette's Bakery Cafe.  French/European pastry style breakfasty/brunch food.  Mostly outside seating and prepared and served out of an old caboose.  Very much not what one might expect in an old Arizona copper mining town. Morning hours til 2:oo pm, not every day but convenient to the railroad if taking the trip and not out of the way if going to  Jerome.

Should you decide to go to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and use the east entrance via 89 (lots will loop a trip like that in one entrance and out the other, you cover two different routes somewhat different scenery), just north of the intersection of 64 to/from the canyon, is Cameron and a large trading post where the highway crosses the Little Colorado river.  Gas was reasonable there (for the area) and besides the "trading post" with a wide range of native American jewelry and other goods they have a nice restaurant with regional food.  The Navajo Taco on fry bread wasn't too spicy.  But they serve their hot sauce on the side and it's firey.

@bobweaver C molossus is common around Sedona, cerberus can be found there too but will be more common at slightly higher elevations....Oak Creek Canyon, Flagstaff, and Prescott if you're willing to drive a bit.
Atrox and scutulatus are both common in the lower elevations surrounding Sedona.
Enjoy your trip, hope you get to see some! Would love to see pics of you do.

Absolute most beautiful molossus was at Enchanted Rock nest me.  It had a pink base with white and grey quarts veining and then black quarts highlights - stunning, just like the granite we were climbing. My experience with blacks is that they show the most divergent color palette based on location.

I want to find a oreganus but I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it up that way during our trip.

We are staying at Village of Oak Creek. Drove in from Phoenix and was thinking to myself, man it would be tough living around here when it’s this hot - 113 yesterday.  Red cliffs around Oak Creek and Sedona are very beautiful. We spent the morning driving up to Sedona and out to the Boynton Canyon area and then drove around town to get familiarized with town.

So far two things stand out - roundabouts and pizza joints; they’re everywhere.

ETA: checked a G19 and was actually quite shocked how stupidly easy it was. Didn’t even ask to see it at the airport counter, just asked if it was unloaded and locked up.  Then in Phoenix I figured I’d have to pick it up from TSA but my checked bag was literally sitting alone by the baggage claim outside the Delta baggage office.

Be weary in the roundabouts, lots of Californians and cityslickers don't understand that yield means yield for right-of-way. Some actively consider it a race of egos to get to the yield first. Let them go by, they are dangerous.

The wife and I made a day trip today into Sedona to escape 112 of the valley for a few hours. I never had seen it so crowded before. The 100 was bearable with the wind. The cost of food was not. Although the cost of gasoline was 50 to 70 cents per gallon cheaper.

Having a lot of fun so far despite the heat, but we are used to it and actual handling it very well because of the lack of humidity compared to where we live. We hiked Bell Rock, swam at Slide Rock, visited Palakti Ruins and have eaten at half a dozen pretty good restaurants. So far not a single snake unfortunately, but I have added 4 new lizards to my personal list.  Tomorrow I think I’ll go take my two girls to play a round of golf with me and let mom go to the spa.

Guess weed is legal here because I smell it everywhere.  Really don’t have a problem with it, but just not use to the constant smell in the air.

Glad you're having a good time.
Which lizards did you encounter? Any snakes?
Rain in the forecast late week/weekend can help.

You might laugh at me, but I'm kind of a bridge nerd. The Navajo bridge is a couple hours from you. They built a new one for modern vehicle traffic and you can walk across the old one.



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Bridge

Eta: one of the few crossings in the area. Also check to see if the Glen canyon dam is open for tours. Almost the same size as Hoover dam at about 1/4 the cost (for the tour).

Too bad Fossile Creek is closed from last year's fire.  It's not far and a true Arizona gem.

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