Red Rock Country - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 464

PauseafewmilessouthofFlagstaffattheOakCreekVistaPointtogetasenseofwhat
liesahead.Ashorttrailleadsfromtheparkingareatoabreathtakingoverlook,wheresheer
rockfacesoforange,red,pink,andchalkywhiteplungemorethan1,000feettothecanyon
floor. (At Sedona, a half-hour drive to the south, the brilliantly dappled canyon walls stand
nearly twice as high.) Though words strain to capture the scene, Western novelist Zane
Greycameclosein Call of the Canyons. “Theveryforest-fringedearth,”hewrote,“seemed
to have opened into a deep abyss.”
2. West Fork Trail
Like a great winding staircase, the road descends from Oak Creek Vista Point in a series
of dizzying hairpin turns to the canyon floor. Though each switchback brings a fresh per-
spective on this fabled gorge, the neck-craning view from below is just as dramatic. Near
the bottom lies the Sterling Springs Fish Hatchery, which supplies Oak Creek with trout.
Along the canyon floor the road traces the west bank of Oak Creek for 14 miles down-
stream to the lovely town of Sedona. While the upper canyon is densely forested with as-
pen,maple,ash,andoak(makingforadazzlingdisplayinearlyNovember),subtlechanges
in vegetation take place mile by mile, as the higher-altitude flora gradually yield to the
piñon pine, juniper, shrub oak, and prickly pear cactus of the upper Sonoran desert.
The eastern wall of the canyon is nearly as impenetrable as it looks, but to the west
the Red Rocks Secret Mountain Wilderness—a maze of canyons, cliffs, and crystalline
streams—is threaded with trails. One of the best, tracing the West Fork of Oak Creek, be-
gins a mile south of Cave Springs Campground at the Call of the Canyons Day Use Area.
Justthreemiles long,WestForkTrailleadsthroughlushvegetation intoanever-narrowing
canyon whose red walls tower hundreds of feet overhead. Pack your waterproof boots: In
places the canyon becomes so tight you'll have to wade through the ankle-deep stream.
3. Slide Rock State Park
Of the various stops along Oak Creek, there's no such thing as a bad choice. Pause to fish
the clear waters (trout flourish in the cool depths), picnic in the shade of cottonwoods and
willows, or simply contemplate the red rocks, whose striking contours never grow tire-
some.Onahotsummerday,however,oneparticular spotshouldn'tbemissed: SlideRock.
Snaking along a sandstone chute made slippery by algae, the creek drops suddenly to a
frigid pool, creating an exhilarating ride for swimmers. Farther down the canyon, at the
Grasshopper Swim Area, the creek curves through a narrow canyon pass and gathers in a
series of still basins, where visitors can swim.