2017 Sedona Road Trip

It has been more than 6 years since my last visit to the Sedona region of Arizona, but with those great memories I discovered the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival the first weekend in March.  By Las Vegas standards, it seemed like March was a little early in the calendar year for this type of event (rain and snow are not mountain biking buddies) but was assured by the race organizerswarrior pose in Sedona that the weather forecast was positive.  On my previous trip I confined myself to hiking and exploring and I was looking forward to tapping into the world class mountain biking that Sedona offers.  The day-to-day workload was handled so I opted to head out on Thursday and spend my first night in a rented cabin at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.

Surprisingly, there was still quite a bit of snow coming through Flagstaff  (elevation: 7,000′) and it was recommended I try the Schnebly Hill road for some bonus photographic visuals.  Turns out, the gate was locked due to snow.  I was able to arrive at my cabin by 5pm and I was stoked!

Fisheye view of Dead Horse Canyon State Park cabin.

After unpacking the essentials and making the bed with my own linens, I was ready to go out and hit the town of Cottonwood.  The Verde Valley includes about 714 square miles located in the geographic center of Arizona, about 100 miles north of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Verde River runs through the valley from northwest to southeast and is augmented by flows from Sycamore Canyon, Oak Creek, Beaver Creek and West Clear Creek. The area is unsurpassed in its variety of physical beauty with the red rocks and Mogollon Rim to the north and east and the Black Hills and Mingus Mountain dominating the western and southern portions of the valley.

Old Main Street of Cottonwood, Arizona
Old Main Street of Cottonwood, Arizona

Old Town Cottonwood became a haven for those seeking to be free from the prejudice and regulation of nearby company towns. Main Street was created 1908 when Charles Stemmer and Alonzo Mason used a mule team to pull and drag through brush. The Mason Addition, Willard Addition, Hopkins Ranch No. 2 and other tracts were platted during the next decade coinciding with the development of Clemenceau on higher ground about one mile to the south.

The City of Cottonwood is located adjacent to the Verde River at elevations ranging from 3,300 feet to 3,900 feet above sea level and experiences a mild climate which, together with its proximity to an abundance of natural amenities such as the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Tuzigoot National Monument and the historic mining communities of Clarkdale and Jerome, continues to attract steady growth and tourism.

Dead Horse Ranch State Park is located adjacent to and across the Verde River from the community of Cottonwood. It is centrally located near several major population centers such as Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Prescott. When using Dead Horse Ranch as a base, one has a variety of attractions to visit, including: Jerome State Historic Park, Fort Verde State Historic Park, Red Rock State Park, Slide Rock State Park, Tuzigoot National Monument, Montezuma Castle and Well National Monuments, Oak Creek Canyon, Prescott National Forest, Coconino National Forest, and the popular towns of Sedona and Jerome.

Extensive trail system at Dead Horse State Park.

Calvin “Cap” Ireys purchased Dead Horse Ranch in 1950. “Cap” told State Parks Director Dennis McCarthy that his children named the ranch. The first time the family looked at the property, they saw a dead horse lying in the field, and after looking at a number of properties “Cap” asked them which one they liked the best. The answer was the one with the dead horse. After they acquired the property, they named it Dead Horse Ranch.

Dead Horse Ranch State Park celebrated its official grand opening with a dedication ceremony held on June 1, 1977. Michael Ramnes, State Parks Director, served as Master of Ceremony. Duane Miller, State Parks Board Chairman welcomed the visitors and dignitaries, Frank Sylvester, Director of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation spoke of his pride in this Park because of the amount of Land and Water Conservation Funds that were received and used to match the State funds for its acquisition and development.

Henry Barbarick, Verde Valley Chamber of Commerce, expressed appreciation on behalf of the Community for the new Park and Senator Boyd Tenney, Prescott, was the featured speaker. He gave praise to the Parks Board and especially Duane Miller for the roles they served in making this Park a reality. Senator Tenney was given a Certificate of Appreciation by the Parks Board for his interest in and support of Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Jon Clow was the first Park Manager.

DAY TWO – CAMP VERDE/SEDONA

Friday morning I was up early and ready to take advantage of the mountain bike trails within and around Dead Horse Ranch State Park.  The campground host was very helpful giving me some tips for easy routes within the park and he also recommended the Jail Trail which connects to Old Town Cottonwood.  The weather was perfect, few people were out and about and the morning went well.   Now was time to hit the road and head towards Camp Verde to visit the Out of Africa Wildlife Park and then head north to Sedona to check-in for the MTB festival and also my AirBnb lodging.

I arrived at the Wildlife park around 11am and it was already starting to get warm which translates to the big animals settling in for nap time.   The mission of Out of Africa Wildlife Park is to create the ultimate animal adventure for all ages, one steeped in fun, immersed in learning, and inspired by a living and colorful world of astonishing wildlife. Their commitment to the animals  allows them to portray their instincts, intelligence, and emotions. Wisdom is served by learning the integrity of their world, their honesty, their vitality, and their life-on-the-line reality. Their wealth is a life well spent. They thrive by living in the “now,” focusing their attention, their power, their affection in acute awareness of life itself. By cooperating with them and their needs, our human family can, to an appreciable extent, integrate with theirs.

This business is VERY military-Veteran friendly and they offered a $7 discount to active duty and Veteran’s.  THANK YOU!  The GA price includes an guided adventure tour that allows you (NOT ME) to have a giraffe proffer a wet, long-tongued kiss in exchange for some shrubbery.  LOL  The tour guide was very knowledgeable and the tour lasted about 15 minutes.  You then have the option to walk the many acres of the property and see a diverse group of African wildlife and other critters that are pretty interesting.

DAY THREE – SEDONA MOUNTAIN BIKE FESTIVAL

Saturday was commissioned with abundant sunshine, minimal wind and the promise of a fun day attending the MTB Festival.  The only thing on my agenda was to ride my own bike for a group ride (versus a demo bike which is the main attraction to a mountain bike festival – I just prefer the familiarity of my own bike when riding in a group)  and that gave me time to meet the different vendors, learn about their products and of course check out the hot bikes and a few of the hot chicas that happen to be into MTB.  I met some really cool people and before I knew it I was running late to join in on the 40 person group ride which covered mostly a trail named “sketch”.  I started strong, finished weak but had a good time and by the time I headed back to the festival I got a solid 15 miles at 4000′ elevation and my lungs kept reminding me that I am a flat-lander.  LOL

DAY FOUR – PHOENIX/LAS VEGAS

Panorama view of Phoenix, Arizona

My last day on the road I had penciled in heading over to Prescott and checking out Watson Lake as I had never been to Prescott and this area looked interesting.  It also looked pretty massive and maybe my quick trip would be wasted not knowing the lay of the land.  I have a Navy shipmate buddy who lives in Phoenix and he volunteered to meet-up in Prescott since it had been 35+ years since we had served together but then Sunday morning I bunted and opted for Plan B and headed straight to PHX.  I have never done the PHX to Vegas drive and felt it was time to break my cherry and as major bonus connect with an old shipmate.  Fortunately, Lenny is an outdoor enthusiast and knows his backyard very well and he took me for an hour hike South Mountain State park and then he also drove us to the top of South Mountain for a great vista view. At more than 16,000 acres South Mountain Park/Preserve actually consists of three mountain ranges, the Ma Ha Tauk, Gila and Guadalupe; and is one of the largest municipally operated parks in the country.

Thanks Lenny and I was amazed by all the various mountain formations in the Phoenix valley.  I will want to explore much more down there in the future for sure!

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ABOUT ROBERT BAKER

I have been shooting for $$ since 2000 opening my shop with a Nikon D1.  I am primarily interested in shooting adventure lifestyle and travel with a host of my  day-to-day clients being within the industrial sector.

Many of my editorial stock photos have been published in all major news outlets, with my primary focus is distributing my images on a client-by-client basis to ensure their branding is unique and compelling.

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