Crowds have flocked to Sedona for years, drawn by its red rocks, New Age spirituality, spas, and outdoor activities like hiking and biking.
But over the past several years, those crowds have led some to complain about overcrowding. Sedona has had problems with housing and homelessness, and city leaders have struggled to get a handle on some of those issues, as well.
But our next guest says while Sedona may be over-touristed, it’s not overrated. Erin Strout, a freelance writer and author based in Flagstaff, argued in a piece for "Outside Magazine" that despite the crowds, Sedona is still a worthwhile place to visit. Strout joined The Show to discuss.
Full conversation
ERIN STROUT: Yes, that was the idea of it was to say, to sort of acknowledge that, yes, it's very crowded there, but it's also worth seeing.
MARK BRODIE: So what, to you, makes it worth potentially battling the crowd?
STROUT: I just think, you know, the landscape obviously is, it's beautiful and it's unlike anything you'll see, especially for somebody like me who came from the east Coast, there's just nothing like it anywhere else. And so I do think, you know that the Red Rock country is just so gorgeous it's, it's worth seeing.
BRODIE: What is sort of the prevailing feeling among residents of Sedona about all of these crowds? Like I, you know, you're coming down from Flagstaff so you're close, but not in the town there. What do people who live and work there say about all these, you know, sort of these somewhat newfound crowds?
STROUT: Well, I think it's a double edged sword, which I sort of get into in the piece, because the, you know, town of Sedona obviously relies a lot on tourism dollars, and so it is an important part of the economy there.
I do think that, you know, it's very welcoming to visitors and I think that they embrace visitors but also want to be cautious of, you know, sustainability and respecting the public land and, you know, sometimes those kinds of issues get ignored when there's so many people there.
BRODIE: Have you heard from people? I mean, you're obviously in sort of the hiking, outdoors world. Have you heard from people who have said to you, “you know, I was thinking about going to Sedona but it's too crowded, I just don't want to do it.”?
STROUT: Yeah, I think there's a lot of that, especially, you know, living in Flagstaff. You want to pick your times to go down and we have the ability to do that, fortunately. So, I don't think you'll ever catch most of us who are, you know, in the proximity to Sedona going there, just sort of the height of tourism, which to me is, you know, the spring break sort of time frame. I usually don't go down there during that time.
But, I'm also an early morning person, and so, I think any time of year that you can get down there and get on a trail early in the morning, you're going to be ok and you're not going to run into a lot of people.
BRODIE: One of the things that I found so interesting was when you would talk to friends who have sort of secret places or their favorite places to hike or to eat or something, you would, you would ask them about them and they would say I'll tell you, but don't, you know, “don't take any photos or don't publish anything,” and it kind of sounded like they were maybe kidding, but also, maybe not kidding.
STROUT: Yeah, I would say they're probably more, were not kidding. I think people have like their, you know, little hidden gems that they like to visit or where they would like to go, get a beer that's maybe off the beaten track, and they don't want to share that in a publication that's reaching, you know, thousands of other people who might make that make those spots a little bit overcrowded.
BRODIE: Have you heard of that kind of thing happening where, you know, maybe a friend of yours had a favorite hiking trail or a favorite watering hole and then, like, word got out and they, like, can't go there anymore?
STROUT: I haven't yet. I do think that people around here sort of guard those secrets pretty well. So, I have not heard of that happening but, and, but I didn't also want to contribute to that in a piece that was reaching a lot of people.
BRODIE: Sure. So, one of the other things that you write about that I thought was interesting was this idea of Sedona being sort of a place for a lot of different kinds of people. Like, if you're into, you know, certain forms of spirituality, if you're into sort of a new age mentality, if you're into the outdoors, like all these types of people can find something interesting and something to do in this one place, which perhaps makes it not surprising that it is really popular with a lot of people.
STROUT: Yeah, definitely. I was actually taught, I met somebody. I was really fortunate recently to be able to go over to Europe and do the Tour du Mont Blanc and along the lines, you know, we ate dinner with lots of different people from all around the world. And I actually sat next to this one woman who, she wasn't from here but she, you know, was a big hiker and she had visited Sedona and what she mentioned that she loved about it as a visitor was the fact that she could bring her in-laws who were more into like, you know, the luxury spa vacation, but her and her husband could go out and do hikes that they weren't interested in. So, there's just like, a little something for everyone to enjoy, and I think a lot of people find that when they go to Sedona.
BRODIE: Well, so what specifically draws you to it? Like, what do you find appealing about it?
STROUT: I think my favorite part is, you know, when it's really dumping snow up here in Flagstaff, you can escape very quickly down to Sedona where it's, you know, you could go on a run in shorts and a T-shirt while it's freezing up here. I think that's my favorite part about Sedona, is just kind of escaping the winter up here and going down there and finding a little sunshine on your face and get a little rejuvenation.
BRODIE: OK. So, not to give away any state secrets here, but do you have any tips for people or places to, you know, maybe people who are not super interested in, in fighting the crowds where they can go and enjoy the, the beauty or enjoy the outdoors or any of the other stuff that one can do in Sedona and not have to, you know, wait for an hour to do it?
STROUT: Yeah, I feel like any of the trails that are sort of on the outskirts of town are great. I enjoy the trails that kind of force you to climb up and a lot of visitors will avoid those because they're a little bit more strenuous. And so, I would say, like Bear Mountain is great, it's strenuous going up, but you'll get rewarded by the views at the top. Mount Wilson, places like that are sort of where I tend to go, just because I like to climb up the mountains and look at everything below.
