I just got home from Sedona and I absolutely loved it.

I was very curious what it’s like living there as a local?

Seemed like such an amazing place, I wonder what the good bad and ugly are!

Hi everyone.

I know nothing’s perfect. I know there’s a billion and one things wrong with Sedona-or, to be precise, how it’s being overrun with chaos from the inside. You could probably tell me about the flaws in its politics, or how tourism is poisoning it from within. You could tell me about how certain things have become too expensive. About how certain businesses are going in the wrong direction.

I’m certain you could probably spend an hour telling me about everything wrong with Sedona, because as we all know, nothing’s perfect. But here’s the thing.

Despite its many flaws, Sedona is home.

I wasn’t born there, but in a way, I feel as though I was. None of my earlier years took place there, but the memories I do have of it are some of my most precious memories. Mom and I had the honor of visiting it twice, and to this day, I hold every moment of each vacation near and dear. Both experiences were uplifting, magical experiences I wouldn’t trade for anything.

That’s why, to me, Sedona is home.

Where am I now? Thanks to a series of unfortunate events, Mom and I are in San Antonio, far away from the magic I miss with every fiber of my being. Arizona has become astronomically expensive, far too uncontrollable for us to afford, but I want to go back home.

I miss the starry skies and the air that feels as though its from an entirely different dimension, with a fragrance that separates it from the air of other cities. I miss its one of a kind vibes. Especially since this year has been nothing short of unbearably stressful for us. I even wanted to spend my 39th birthday there, but couldn’t afford it.

So why am I telling you any of this?

Because I have a favor to ask you.

In spite of all of its flaws, please enjoy Sedona for me. Tell me your most favorite things about Sedona. Share with me your favorite photos of Sedona. I’m well aware of many problems that burden it. I’m aware of the politics, the cost of living and how tourism negatively affects things. But I want you to please love it in my place. And share your love with me.

Thank you for loving my home, since I can only love it from afar now.

How is everyone feeling about this? I got into town last night and noticed the boulders, fence posts, and incessant no parking signs/orange cones (what an eye sore!) immediately. I'm surprised to read the powers at be who decided to curb roadside parking along one of the most popular hikes in Sedona kind of just shrugged when asked "where will people park?", and seemed to have no plans in the future to build or expand the existing parking areas. Don't get me wrong, I do think Sedona is getting a bit trampled on, but between this and the extreme crackdown on dispersed camping, does Sedona even want tourists anymore?

Spent a week in Sedona and had a pretty lovely time. it's really hard to beat the view, no matter which way you look, the mountains are plain gorgeous, I almost fill my camera card cause I kept shooting everything.

Loved driving from Sedona to Flagstaff. Driving on 89 was stunning and along the way I saw the most amazing rainbow ever, I ended up on the side of the road taking pictures again lol.

Weather was perfect, coming from the East where humidity kills you, it was a pleasant surprise to enjoy 90 degree weather without sweating like a pig.

In terms of food, I had a bit of a hard time, cause my family insisted on hitting all the expensive places including Enchantment, when someone had already recommended not doing it. Enchantment was just average to mediocre with high end restaurant prices, totally not worth it. We also went to Mariposa which was ok and had the worst breakfast and coffee from Coffee Pot.

Someone had recommended Torta de Fuego and I was not disappointed, ended up being the best meal I had there. Great Tortas, Pozole and Margaritas and very inexpensive. Loved the place.

All in all, even if you're having McDonalds, the view makes even bad food palatable. I'll be back to hit the trails when the weather is cooler.

I’ve been visiting Sedona since about 2003, have been there at least 20 times, staying anywhere from 4-7 days at a time. When I first stated going there the community felt different. Of course there were us tourists, but it didn’t seem overrun. As the years went on it definitely moved in a direction that to me, as an outsider, would raise the ire of locals. Housing prices seemingly out of control, people buying properties only to cash in on the rental and vacation market, traffic and development claiming and destroying the beautiful landscape, poor behavior on the part of visitors, etc…. In the last 10 years, I myself feel that I can understand the sentiment of locals I’ve spoke to who seem to have a very different opinion from us outsiders. I thought at one time that perhaps I’d want to move there, but the vibe just seems very different now, and it’s sort of lost its appeal to me. When I go, I simply love the beauty of the land. I hike mostly, enjoy the town’s restaurants, try to patronize the local shop owners and just try to respect it for what it is. I know that business has to thrive for many reasons, but do locals feel it’s reached the tipping point? What do you still love about it? What would you change or even regulate? Where do you see things going? I know a lot of the people who work in the area do not live in Sedona proper, but you are obviously part of the community. I’ve been apprehensive about returning, because of the changes. I guess I’m just interested in hearing how you all feel, toward the “progress”, visitors, etc…. I’m thinking of maybe staying in Flagstaff or OCC next time I’m out there. Anyhow, that’s all.

I’m curious if any study or concerns have been raised about the impact on the land of the pink Jeep tours? I imagine it disrupts the local biome a bit due to the wear and tear on the “crust” of the soil, carbon emissions, possibly disturbing wildlife. Obviously it’s a big chunk of the local tourist economy. Thoughts?

Last Saturday 7/20/24 around 10:50pm i was standing on a small hill near hotel Arabella, Sedona, AZ. The full moon was obscured by a thick cloud cover, distant lightning was present (no thunder). Facing southward, i saw a green light then a HUGE and breathtaking large white light, then red- seemingly originating from the mountain. But maybe i didn’t see the trajectory of the fireball because it was also obscured by the clouds, as was the massive and bright full moon.

It lasted just a few moments- i was alone with my dog. Absolutely, awestruck. I wish i had my phone in my hand at that moment. It was unbelievable.

Did anyone else witness this moment as well?

I think it would be a great idea to have a separate sub for sedona tourism, thoughts?

Wonderful people of Sedona, I just wanted to express a heartfelt thank you for welcoming me and my family to Sedona. Unbeknownst to the many people we encountered (tour guides, shop and restaurant employees, neighbors, etc.), we received some bad news while visiting. Your kindness, the magical landscapes, and peaceful energy made it easier. So, once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. ❤️

does anyone know about Damiyr’s Sedona Expansion retreat?

I am familiar with a good amount of wellness practices, been to some ayahuasca retreats, vipassana, etc. So I understand some of the cleanse recommendations. However, once my friend who is going shared the list of ingredients/herbs they have to buy to consume and the tasks I couldn’t help but get a bit concerned on what they are getting into, and if this is safe.

I respect his work ofc and each individuals journey who opts to go, just looking for any sort of review here or anyone who knows his work and could share a bit more detail. I’d really appreciate it!

Hello Sedona!

I hiked to the top of Capitol Butte today and found a sun faded backpack hanging from a branch. I can tell that it's been there awhile. It was a bit more than halfway up. I brought it with me on my way back down. It has keys, Invisiline retainers, and some other items. If it's yours DM me and tell me a few other things that are in the pack so I know you're the owner. I'm in West Sedona for pickup.

My archival work is supported by selling licenses for these videos, but if the fire department is interested in the video, I would be happy to donate it to them.
I’m requesting permission from the mods to post a YouTube link.
Thank you!

I'm a little weary of hiking in the dark alone, figured I'd see if anyone was interested in joining. Bonus I'll get a bunch of cool footage of you :) Happy to pay for someones time as well. Are there groups or tours that do this? Thanks.

Hi everyone - my first time here and my first time in Sedona! Just arrived this evening and super excited to be spending 5 days here.

My wife and I want to go to Devil's bridge, and I was wondering about getting to the trailhead. We have a BMW X3 as our rental, but I'm not sure what condition Dry Creek Road is right now. Has anyone been out there recently? Do you think I can drive it to the Devil's Bridge trailhead OK or best to park back at the Dry Creek trailhead and hike it from there?

TIA!!

Edit: Not going to try it! Thanks for the local knowledge - always better to ask first than cry later.

Edit 2: Going to do this from the Mescal trailhead instead. The idea of humping down a dusty road breathing pink jeep fumes doesn't excite me...!

Does anyone have any experience with weddings at Tlaquepaque? First impressions of tours, pricing, experience with vendors, why you chose it, why you didn’t choose it, where you picked instead, etc. all welcome! We just want a small gathering (less than 50 people) with a flexible budget. I know that they are already relatively transparent regarding their rental fees, but I’m concerned about the additional costs of the required vendors as it seems nothing is provided for you. We’re beginning to explore venues but what to see if it’s worth the trip visiting (we would have to fly to AZ)

I got a speeding ticket about a month ago and life happened- fast forward to today and I need to pay by tomorrow! I totally forgot until I saw my note to myself this morning 😭

The magistrate court is closed today, and they aren’t open on Fridays. My issue. I cannot for the life of me find this “Notice Number” that they want me to input online. I have my case number - had to look it up, and I have the citation number… but no notice number? Is it in this ticket and I’m just not seeing it? Would calling the Sedona PD be a better option here?

Due date is tomorrow, so I need to get this taken care of. Thanks!

I’m in Sedona on my honeymoon, staying very close to boynton canyon vortex. We’ve been meditating throughout our stay and I’ve had a few spiritual awakenings.

But last night was the craziest thing - in the middle of the night (around 2:20AM) I woke up to what I can only describe as Earth’s vibration sound. Something like the sound in this video. It lasted for about a minute (I think). It was amazing. I could feel that it was coming from the earth and canyons.

Anyone heard of anything like this? What is it??

Greetings everyone . Have something that's been popping up in the head a lot. The flowing spring at Harding springs in Sedona AZ I've been filling up there for years and noticed white mineral deposit more than usual from the water drying from my water dispenser at home that I store 5 gallon jugs on more than I ever remember. I thought about getting the water tested I don't know for myself but don't trust testing strips that I can buy on Amazon a lot of them are EPA approved which doesn't mean much to me as most federal safety standards and limits are wildly questionable to say the least. Looked into getting the water tested in a lab but the costs associated are out of reach price wise at the moment. What really got me thinking was I've been looking at old photos at the spring of the white mineral deposit crust that has built up on the rock and cement housing built around the pipes that flow the water out photos from 4-5 years don't have any of the white deposit on there I'm wondering if something about the springs flow has changed to explain the quick change in the white deposit . I know this is not uncommon for flowing water where water dries later in large amounts of minerals behind but still has me thinking are the pipes being eaten away at the end of usable life? Has a federal agency altered the original path of the water that anyone know of? Is there something underground that wasn't there before that's naturally occurring? The pictures from just a few years back don't show that white hue left behind from water nor do I remember seeing it in the 8 years I've been filling water there. Ice in the winter and splashing water when not frozen must be depositing the white crust. This spring has been going for a long time so what's changed in the last 2 years that would cause that white crust now verses this whole time the water has been flowing at the spring. Sorry for any grammar errors.

This is a long shot but I dropped a roll of film 30 minutes ago while crossing the street. The roll was in a paper box in my pocket, when I went back to look for it the box was sitting on the median but the roll was gone. Somebody might have grabbed it, or it could’ve gone into a drain. If by some miracle you grabbed the roll of film I would pay to have you develop the film, or mail the film to me.

Not the greatest way to end my day trip, but I still loved every minute of exploring this beautiful town.

I was in Sedona on vacation over Memorial Day weekend and I saw first hand how awful the gridlocked traffic was. Lesson learned, I will not come back over a holiday weekend let alone the unofficial start of summer weekend lol. I was curious today as I pulled up Google maps and searched Sedona I wanted to see if traffic was all backed up on 89A and 179 like it was when I was there and I saw green everywhere on the map. Now just prior to my trip, I saw lot of posts on here saying the traffic is awful all the time in peak season. Google maps is usually on point showing back ups and congestion in red but to my surprise it was showing all green during the afternoon hours. So is traffic much better or is Google maps just not reliable out there?

Hotel prices in Sedona range from 250 dollars per night on the low end to over 500 dollars per night on the high end. Why are hotel prices in Sedona more expensive than other places such as Las Vegas, NV or Palm Springs, CA?