Between Cottonwood and Sedona, AZ

After hot Phoenix we went up North within Arizona into the “Verde Valley” to Cottonwood, where we had our base camp in the Dead Horse Ranch State Park. After the desert it’s good to see trees. The Coconino National Forest has tons of them 😂 It’s clearly much cooler, fresh air with a pine wood taste to it.

We visited old town Cottonwood, which is a sweet little village and concentrates on small wineries.

We used our time and the cooler temperatures for some hikes along some creeks (Oak Creek; West Fork Trail), where Eyra had her fun swimming in the cold water.

We also shortly visited the town of Sedona, where we have been on our US tour in 2010 and it still is just an absolutely gorgeous place, situated in the beautiful Red Rocks. We ate in our favorite restaurant (René’s) some cakes and unfortunately needed to already head further deeper North into Arizona and to the border of Utah. We enjoyed the most scenic road routes along our trip.
The Verde Valley with the Verde River:

Old Town Cottonwood:

Collibri drinking station infront of the restaurant, with a Collibri visitor

Driving through Sedona and Red Rocks, with the pit stop at René’s Restaurant:

West Fork Trail in the Oak Creek Canyon:
As we soon get used to, in the US you are waiting for everything. Even to park for hiking a trail we needed to wait more than 45 minutes in line (see picture below). There are just too many people, too many visitors to all places. But the trail itself was gorgeous and worth the wait.

To complete the picture of Sedona, please find herewith some pictures we have made in 2010:
In our personal view one of the most scenic places in the US. We needed to find out, that in 2018 we’re not the only ones thinking this. It was full of tourists and so many new houses, hotels etc. were built along the hills. It takes away a bit the charm of the city.. but we would still recommend everyone to go visit the town.. and eat in René’s 🙈.

We hit the road again and headed North in direction of Utah along most scenic routes:

See Three on the Roads in Utah, Monument Valley soon.