Sedona Calling: A Guide to Red Rock Country

Sedona Calling explores ways that visitors can connect with the red rock country's extravagant landscape, from sight-seeing, hiking, and photography to meditation.

"This is heart-stopping, achingly beautiful, ineffably alluring land," writes aurthor Lawrence W. Cheek. "It should have been roped off as a national park back around the time of Teddy Roosevelt, saving it from the desultory development that even many resident Sedonans lament today. In a perfect world, no architecture would perturb the spectacle; no rumble of traffic would diminish the delicate tinkle of Oak Creek. But even with all the development, the power of the place seems little diminished. About four million people come to visit every year, and more than a few of them find a way to stay."

The 96-page softcover book brims with descriptions, directions, travel tips, and color photographs. Besides guiding visitors through Sedona, the book lays out day and overnight trips to Oak Creek Canyon, ruins of ancient dwelling sites, Jerome, Cottonwood and other parts of the Verde Valley, the Grand Canyon, Mogollon Rim, and Navajoland.

Lawrence Cheek is a freelance writer, editor, and photographer specializing in the American Southwest and Pacific Northwest. His Arizona Highways books include A.D. 1250: Ancient Peoples of the Southwest, Photographing Arizona, and Scenic Sedona. He also has written the Arizona and Santa Fe books in the Compass American Guide series.

Cheek currently resides in the Seattle area.