Sedona, Arizona – Red Rock State Park

Red Rock State Park is a very apt name for a park in Arizona. There are beautiful red rocks everywhere. One morning, our tour led us to the pretty Red Rock State Park.

A brief history of how this park came to be. It was open and dedicated on October 19, 1991.

In the fall of 1980, Governor Bruce Babbitt was hiking with friends along Oak Creek southwest of Sedona. When they reached a certain property, an individual approached the group, advised them they were on private property and requested them to leave. This caused Governor Babbitt to become concerned about Oak Creek and many other hiking areas along waterways that were being closed to public access.

The property where the group was stopped had been part of the Smoke Trail Ranch located along lower Oak Creek southwest of Sedona. Helen and Jack Frye had purchased the Ranch in 1941. Jack Frye was the president of Trans World Airlines and he and his wife used the site as a retreat from the East Coast where they lived. The property has a variety of panoramic views of the Sedona red rock formations. The land is divided by a meandering 1.4 miles of Oak Creek that is lined with lush green wetlands.

A trail goes by a peaceful stream, Oak Creek.

As with most days in Sedona, there was bright sunshine and brilliant blue skies.

I was so taken by the peaceful stream and brilliant blue skies, that I didn’t have a chance to take any pictures of the red rocks. But you will see plenty of those in my other blog posts about Sedona. 🙂