The Ozark Society sponsored hiking trips to Zion National Park in September, 2014, and to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in September, 2017. To continue our visits to the Southwestern US we will hike in the vicinity of the town of Sedona, AZ with an arrival on October 18 and departure on October 24 this year. Of course, you can arrive earlier or depart later on your own. Sedona is surrounded by the Coconino National Forest with its red rock buttes and canyons. There are over 120 hikes within 20 miles of town and 95 of those are within 10 miles with several trailheads in the town itself. These are about equally divided between easy, moderate, and difficult hikes. Hikes will be led by Bob Cross with Roger Keesee and possibly Terry Fredrick as co-leaders. We will try to have at least two led hikes per day.
A group campground has been reserved at the Coconino National Forest Chavez Crossing Group Campground (#3, Sycamore). It is right on Oak Creek (for swimming and wading).
The capacity is 30 campers, primarily tent campers, but a few camping trailers or RV’s of less than 25 ft. in length will be allowed. There are fire grates, picnic tables, drinking water, and pit toilets as well as quite a lot of shade. The campground is in the city and not the wilderness so if you prefer not to camp there, there are many motels, resort facilities, and B&B’s in Sedona as well as rental rooms. Anyone who prefers not to camp is still welcome. The charge for the trip will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $50/person for the week for campers and $10/person for non-campers. Bear in mind that it is a long drive from Arkansas to Sedona (over 1,100 miles). If you prefer to fly and rent a car, the best destination is probably Phoenix (125 miles and a 2-hour drive from Sedona). The Flagstaff airport is closer but the ticket price will probably be significantly higher.
A unique aspect of the Sedona trip is that you will be able to experience Vortexes. There are seven of these in the Sedona area, believed to be electromagnetic in nature, with the ability of bringing together our spiritual makeup to create balance and harmony in our lives.
To register for the trip, please send an e-mail to Bob Cross bobcross610@gmail.com. State how many are in your party, whether you will be camping or not, and if camping, if you will have a camping trailer or RV under 25 feet in length. If you request camping, you will be notified whether there is space or not. Payment will be requested later.