Where is Sedona?
Sedona is a small desert town in Arizona more than 4,000 ft in elevation, around 280 miles East of Las Vegas (4.5 hour drive), 115 miles North of Phoenix (2 hour drive), and 120 miles south of Grand Canyon national park – South Rim (2.5 hour drive).
Sedona is surrounded with red color rock formations, pine forests and canyons, it has one of the most beautiful mountain roads, some stretch of the road is full of sharp curves and turns, incredibly beautiful and exciting ride if the roads are not busy and if you like that type of car or motor drives (from freeway 40 going south to the town).
Last time I was there was the past Memorial Day, long weekend, and the roads were full of cars, and the town was full of people. I would prefer it when it is a bit less crowded to enjoy the vacation. The town is famous for its small art shops, food places, cafes and also beautiful rock formations that can be seen and enjoyed from any place in the town.
What is Sedona famous for?
The town is famous for its rock formations, beautiful place for nature lovers, scenic views for landscape photography lovers, couples’s romantic getaway, fun place for group of people to enjoy biking, off-road driving, hiking, and many similar sports. It has many tours that can be scheduled to visit the famous rock formations, valleys, and native Indian spiritual places and many other destinations.
Also, there are many walking distance, art galleries, shopping malls and eating and drinking places which makes it ideal for people who like to walk, eat, and enjoy nice open sitting areas, and also for kids to run and enjoy the beautiful nature.
What to see in Sedona?
Besides the above, there are many places Sedona is famous for, you can take the Jeep trips to see some of these places, (tours like the famous Pink Jeep tour) or you can drive, hike, or take your bike.Some of the famous places in Sedona are:
- The Cathedral Rock and the Bell Rock: Two rock formations famous in Sedona. The first is 4 miles drive south of the town, you can park the car and hike the clear hiking trail to the formation. And the second is around 7 miles south of the town and just like the Cathedral Rock, there is a car park and hike.
- Boynton Canyon: Spiritual center for the native Apache people, and very famous for its 6-mile hiking trail.
- Red Rock State park: The park is a 10 mile drive from the town, a beautiful State park with many scenic views, trails, and creeks (Oak creek).
- Airport Mesa: a five min drive from the town, to a high platform (hence the airport name), which is a beautiful place with 360-degree view of Sedona, it beautiful red rock formations, and spectacular place to see the sun going down behind the magnificent red rocks.
The Chapel of the holy cross:
This is one of the most beautiful places to visit and it has a nice history behind it and that is why I left it to the last to give some information about its history. It is a 4 miles drive south of the town. There is a road that passes by the chapel, with a parking location to stop at the heel of the chapel, and enjoy the beautiful view and take pictures. The road also reached the chapel’s parking lot, where you can park and walk the ramp to the chapel.
Per the tour guide, and the Chapel’s official website, https://chapeloftheholycross.com/ , the chapel idea was inspired by the sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Staude, in 1932 with the help of Lloyd Wright, (the son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright) to initially build it in Budapest, Hungary, but was aborted due to the first world WWI. Then in the 50s, the idea was reborn but to be built in the US, there were few locations chosen in California but finally she chose the current location in Sedona Arizona.
The chapel was designed by Richard Hein was chosen as project architect, and the design was executed by architect August K. Strotz, both from the firm of Anshen & Allen and opened to the public in 1956. The construction took 18 months and $300,000.00 at that time. The following link shows you an article and a picture of the chapel when it was opened to the public. https://www.jamesmuir.com/imgSC/chapel-article-7wonders-11v.jpg.
Later, April 4th, 2018, the new 33 feet high cross inside the chapel was added. The new cross is truly a masterpiece, beside its amazing work and beautiful concept, it fills the chapel in a way that it is the centerpiece that focuses your eye when you enter the chapel. The Cross symbolizes the tree of life, and a complete meaning of the artwork can be found on their website https://chapeloftheholycross.com/chapel-art/ .
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