Red Rock Country - Sedona, AZ Part I
Anxious to hit the road early, we packed the truck the night before and headed out at around 5:00 AM. There is something so beautiful about driving on the highway and seeing the sun rise. Next stop...Red Rock Country in Sedona, Arizona!
After a six hour drive or so, we hit the city limits of Sedona and the beautiful red rock buttes and canyon walls came into view. We were both just awe struck and knew that this was going to be an adventure to remember. However, it was lunch time and we were starving! We stopped into Nick's West Side to grab a quick bite. The staff was super friendly and we recommend trying their cheesesteak sandwich with sweet potato fries.
Since it was out first time visiting Sedona, we thought a great place to start exploring would be Red Rock State Park. There is a small entrance fee (Adults $7.00 per person) which gives you a day pass to enjoy the park. Some of Sedona's most beautiful hiking trails are located right in Red Rock State Park. You can also visit the visitors center where they feature informative exhibits and a have a park store. We decided to hike Apache Fire Trail which linked up to several others and featured some beautiful view points, including famous Cathedral Rock.
Following the amazing hike, we decided to tackle Schnebly Hill Road in our Tacoma. We would rate this as a moderate OHV trail with short sections of Hard. It is very bumpy and rocky and highly recommend a high clearance vehicle with 4x4. With that being said, the trail was just as described, towering red rock buttes set against a backdrop of clear blue sky!
Unfortunately, we did not quite make it to the top for our dispersed camping, due to our roof top tent (RTT) sliding back and forth on our bed rack. Since we couldn't fix the issue on trail, we decided to strap the RTT down with some tie downs and find camp elsewhere. Schnebly Hill Road won this round, but we will be back!
With the help of Free Campsites, we found a great OHV trail with plenty of dispersed camping and set up our camp for the night. After a long hot day Randy and I were both ready to unwind, enjoy a nice meal, drink a cold beverage, and watch the sunset together.
Sometimes adventures don't always go as planned and that's ok. You have to be willing to go with the flow and work through it. Ending the day on a happy note, Randy was able to fix the RTT so that it was attached securely to the bed rack. We still had another day of overlanding and exploring to do. That will be featured in Sedona, Arizona Part II, coming soon. See you on the Open Road!
Be sure to check out our YouTube video for Part I of our Overlanding Sedona, AZ Adventure.