I’m going to be very honest with this post, and I request support from the moderators in case there’s anything concerning, happy to modify my post, but this is actually a big deal for me and I’m hoping to have a civil dialogue about this topic.

The situation:
My husband and I have gone to Sedona to visit family multiple times throughout the years. Multiple times a year, including during 2020 etc. My in laws have lived in Sedona for 20+ years. We now have kids and live in Southern California. It’s a huge challenge for us raising kids without any community in a big city, so of course we thought let’s give Sedona a try. We love Sedona, every city has challenges etc. and moving cities is NEVER easy, so is not like I’m going to get massages every weekend at Enchantment, I work full time and so this move is a huge commitment for us.

The Challenge:
I’m now member of multiple groups in Facebook that are Sedona related, and of course part of this sub. I have found horrible attitudes towards people moving to Sedona, the assumption that if you move to Sedona you have money, the assumption that I don’t know.. I truly don’t. A mom apologized on a post when someone asked her where she was moving from, she said “ don’t be upset with me, I’m moving for SoCal”. What?

Please, be super honest with me, is this a real thing? Do locals hate people who moved from other cities? I went to a school meeting and honestly I got so many strange vibes from parents and they were not a very friendly bunch - sure there are parents who are really nice, but others who are not — and I do wonder if it’s because they know we are moving there from somewhere else.

People who move with kids make huge sacrifices, and it’s a huge investment to get to know people, get the routine down again, etc. it’s not like we are there to invade sacred land. I also don’t like new developments but I’m not a real state developer.

Please tell me your perspective, and if you dislike people from Southern California moving to Sedona, please let me know why because I genuinely want to know.

Thank you for your sincerity and thoughtful answers.

I still tell stories about this day with my partner. It was our first trip together as a new couple, and it’s one of my favorite travel memories.

After an incredible hike, we ended up missing the last shuttle and had to walk along Highway 179 back to our camper van. Along the way, we got completely soaked in the rain, but then the clouds parted and we were treated to one of the most breathtaking rainbows either of us had ever seen. Thankfully, we snapped a photo, and it has become one of our favorite reminders of that adventure. We laughed the entire walk back and couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the day.

I’ve been trying to figure out the name of the rock formation in this photo but haven’t had any luck. I’m hoping some Sedona locals can help! Based on the geotag from my iPhone, it was taken near the Raven Caves Trail.

Does anyone know the name of this majestic rock formation?

Hi !
Just booked my flight / lodging for end of October to celebrate my 45th birthday. Dealing with 5 years of infertility / 4 miscarriages my journey is over . SO let the healing ❤️‍🩹 begin. Thank you for the kindness.
Suggestions please for must see :
Sunrise
Sunset
Grocery Shopping
Crystal stores
Coffee shops
Massage Therapist

Visiting and would like to find small coffee shops and cafes to support. Please send recommendations my way! :)

We’re only in the area for a short time and hoping to see as much of the natural beauty as possible! I keep seeing videos and posts of black water from the fire ash and extinguishing chemicals, is Slide Rock affected by this? We do have a 6yo so long/strenuous hikes are out but any recs for fairly easy places to take in the beauty or spots of local interest to stop for food, activities, etc are highly appreciated. Thanks for hosting us in your gorgeous corner of the map!

From the Coconino National Forest in the aftermath of the Pocket Fire. Posted today, Wednesday, July 15, regarding area closures. (The third map shows the original closure area, which has since been modified and opened up, but is here to clarify the trailhead locations as related to the bigger maps).

Hey guys! My husband and I want to take a trip to Sedona but we would be flying in. I’ve read that the Flagstaff airport is the closest to Sedona (about a 40 min drive). Does that airport have car rentals? This would be our first trip with flying and this is so new to us! We haven’t booked anything yet, and our plan is to stay at an Airbnb in October (late honeymoon).
Any travel tips or recommendations are welcome! If we go I October we would be staying for 5 nights!
Edit: we have been to the phoenix/mesa area on a business trip in 2018. We loved it so much we want to spend more time here! Sedona looks so pretty!!

The 89A between Flagstaff and Sedona opened this morning and Harding Spring is flowing.

As things start to settle, I just wanted to post a quick "thank you" to everyone who assisted on the Pocket Fire to keep Sedona safe. Those two words aren't nearly enough, but if you helped out in any capacity, I personally appreciate you.

My family and I are visiting Sedona this coming Saturday 7/18 and staying in a VRBO next to Enchantment. I’ve been monitoring the fire situation and it looks like things are improving. But I was wondering though how the air quality is right now as my son and I have asthma. I’ve also read that it’s possible that roads could close due to fire containment efforts. I was hoping to get some insight into how viable this trip would be for us. I’m almost wondering if we should stay in a different area?

:D

I will be in Sedona for a couple of days in early August before heading to the Grand Canyon. I managed to get a reservation at Phantom Ranch but am a little worried about the trek in and out so don’t want to kill my legs beforehand. I am an early riser so looking for easy hikes and would be interested in a sunrise/Sunset excursion. Thanks for any help. Great appreciated!!!

I don’t know if they’ll see this, but perhaps someone on here could share it if you know these two.

Hi everyone!

My fiancé and I are getting married in Sedona this November, and we’re looking for recommendations for a great day-of wedding coordinator.

We’re having a very intimate micro wedding with only about 20 guests at a luxury resort. The day will be pretty simple, a short ceremony followed by dinner, and I’ve handled all of the planning, vendor communication, and logistics up to this point. However, our venue requires that we have a day-of coordinator.

Since it’s a smaller event, we’re looking for someone who is organized, communicative, and experienced with micro weddings. We’d love someone who can manage the timeline, coordinate with our vendors day of, and can make sure everything runs smoothly so we can relax and enjoy the day.

If you’ve worked with someone you loved (or have any recommendations), I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.

Thank you so much!

*please know I have already done my best to comb the existing updates in this thread before posting*

been on the road with my dogs all summer and was scheduled to leave Santa Fe for Sedona tomorrow 7/10, received a cancellation email for Oak Creek Canyon camping this morning at 7. our following destination is Los Angeles with a check-in on 7/12. Open to absolutely any recommendations on where to sleep- including rerouting. Anyone have friends who rent a guest house, know a reasonably priced hotel, or just willing to share their opinion on even driving through? thanks for reading

This is a strange question, but wondering if there are any private lifeguard services offered in Sedona. I’m getting married in October and will be having a pre-party the night before the wedding and an afterparty after the wedding reception at our airbnb which has a pool. I have a 3 year old and I’m so anxious about stories of kids drowning while there are plenty of adults around, that I’m legitimately considering hiring a lifeguard for the parties. I’m not sure if this is a thing, or if there are any lifeguards in Sedona that would be open to providing services, but I’m looking at any and all avenues to make sure this is a safe event and that I can truly relax and enjoy my wedding parties.

Hi everyone, I apologize in advance because I know the pocket fire has taken over this subreddit recently. I just haven’t seen any smoke reports for the last 2-3 days. I have a trip planned this weekend (Saturday - Tuesday). Have had it planned for months, thought about canceling but I kept reading on here that conditions weren’t terrible and now I can’t cancel my hotel. I’ve kept on eye on Watch Duty and the containment for the fire has slowly improved, up to 53% today. I plan on just enjoying the hotel, restaurants, and doing the hikes to the south like Cathedral Rock or Little Horse.

My main question is how bad is the smoke in town today? Does it seem like the wind is blowing it to the north? Are the stars still visible at night?

Sorry again for repeated questions. Just looking for a recent conditions report, I’ll be there regardless unless the fire starts moving south, which doesn’t like that would happens.

I am supposed to arrive this Thursday July 9 to Sunday July 12. We have two kids (one is 3 years and the other is 10 months) We were supposed to be at the Enchantment which they allowed us to cancel but we also have a non refundable air-bnb in Sedona. What is it actually like there re: smoke and air quality. Tough to understand from maps/aqi readings. Would you voluntarily bring your young kids there this week? Any insight appreciated! Thank you!!

My family had an amazing visit to Sedona June 16-23! We stayed at an AirBnB (don’t blast me too bad) because we had 11 people traveling together, including 5 “kids.”

Elote did not disappoint! Fantastic meal, but reservations are so hard to get! Pisa Lisa had a couple of great pies that our family enjoyed a lot, including one with fig jam and prosciutto. Sedonuts was obviously amazing (best apple fritter I have ever had) and we stocked up a good bit from Safeway.

We hiked Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock, which were both spectacular early in the morning. We wanted to do Devils Bridge but all the trails on the north side were closed the second half of our trip.

We did a Pink Jeep, which was a lot of fun and got a fishing guide in town as well. The guides for both really made them extra special!

Two day trips- one to Page and one to the Grand Canyon. Both were incredible, but I would recommend only doing one. The drive really was spectacular on the way to Page, and the Grand Canyon is mind blowing, but the length of the drives was a bit much in a 3 day span…

While we were there, the Pocket fire started when we were on our way back from Page. We could see a thin finger of smoke from around Humphreys and by the time we got to 89A, the alarms on our phones went off and we turned around.

Despite the terrible pocket fire, we had a fantastic time last week. We hope it is all over ASAP. Wishing all the best to the community — from firefighters to the business owners to the locals.

I am a Texan who has been visiting Sedona for the past 5 years, it’s a beautiful place and an amazing place to visit, but I have 2 stories to tell. 2 years ago I visited Sedona for a random summer trip with family, we like to go off roading so we brought our can-am’s. We explored different trails and areas of it and nothing much came of that. We were all coming back from the devils bridge trail late at night, entering the neighborhood of our Airbnb, driving and enjoying the music and the cruise, when I turn a corner and see 2 figures in front of a for sale sign of a property in the neighborhood, these 2 figures seemed to be woman who had to be around 7-8 feet tall, freakishly pale and skinny, as skinny as twigs, wearing dresses and large straw hats. Obviously I freak out and yell. My friend who was next to me looked up and saw the same thing. We come back to the cabin and explain what happened to our family who doesn’t seem to believe us. 2 other family members take a can-am and go check and come back and see nothing. The following morning, we see nothing again. To this day we still don’t know how to explain what we saw, there’s no way they were mannequins because I clearly saw them move.

This second story takes place on this 4th of July. We come and visit Sedona again with the same family and friends, we take our can-am’s out to the broken arrow trail, just before we head up to the top, I see an older lady sitting on a rock, she’s wearing a blue dress and holding a brown bag. She seems lonely so I ask her if she’s ok and she says yes, I offer her a water and she happily takes it. Nothing else comes of that and we head up, the whole time on the way up, no one other than a black can-am piloted by one guy passes us, he’s completely alone, we think nothing of it. Eventually we make it to the top and find another family to Hang out with, we sit there for a bit, talking about life and Sedona. We eventually head all the way back down and head home. We’re all sitting in the living room and talking about the day, when the topic of this lady somehow becomes the talk of the conversation. Half of the family says the lady ended up at the top with us, they all ask her how she got up here but all she does is laugh and slime when they ask. Keep in mind, we didn’t see any vehicles coming up, not a single one. So we’re all here discussing how she could’ve possibly gotten up there, no one has an explanation, there’s no possible way she could’ve made it up there walking, and no way she got a ride from anybody else.(I forgot too add that the lady claimed to be waiting for her daughter who was walking the trail,she said this to one of my family members, only one, why would a daughter bring her mother to sit while she walks the trail, and where was the daughter while we were up there with the other family.) has anyone experienced a story similar to these, or have an explanation to these stories. I apologize if the story seems like it’s missing details but I wrote it the best I could.

It’s a smokey one y’all.
Where are you guys monitoring AQI? I feel the apps my info is coming from is not accurate. 💨

Some photos I've shot of the Pocket Fire and firefighting aircraft (Boeing CH-47D Chinook twin-rotor helicopters) battling the fire north of Sedona, which has been burning since June 19. As of the time this post, it is 24,165 acres and 31% contained.