When Sedona Schnebly moved to Arizona back in 1901 from a small, quiet town in Missouri, she must have felt transported to another time and planet. Soon after stepping off the narrow gauge railroad car in Jerome (once one of Arizona’s most celebrated ghost towns) she and her husband Carl set off to an 80 acre homestead at the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon, smack dab in the middle of some of the most beautiful red rock country in the world.

The view from her porch of her stone house was stunning: an immense panorama of red sandstone formations greeted her eyes with awe inspiring magnificence, all begging for fanciful names from those who beheld them. Indeed, so inspiring are they that over the years, people have bestowed some downright fanciful monikers on them, ranging from Snoopy and Lucy Rocks, so called because of their resemblance to those characters from the popular Peanuts cartoon strip, to the traditionally descriptive, like Coffeepot, Bell, Cathedral and Chimney Rocks. There is even a pile of disk shaped formations stacked one upon the other that resembles nothing so much as that well known feature of ranches and dairies everywhere, the cow pie. And so it is called: the Cow Pies. As off the cuff as many of these names may seem, once you see them, you’ll understand and probably agree. For sure you’ll never forget them.

The little town of pioneers that eventually grew up amid these buttes and mesas was finally named after the Missouri girl who had become its most beloved resident and, of course, she never deserted it. Until her death in 1950, it remained largely unknown to the outside world, even though Arizonans themselves loved to visit the area, mainly for the trout fishing in the wild and lovely Oak Creek Canyon.

All that changed in the 1980’s however, when the area was finally discovered by both the wealthy and the recently born New Age movement. It had the allure of not only breathtakingly beautiful scenery and a mild climate, but a mystical attraction that the New Agers could hardly resist. It was ideal for anyone seeking a new vacation home or the possibility of spiritual development.

This mystical aspect of the Sedona area was nothing new, it having been considered sacred ground by its Native American inhabitants for thousands of years before the arrival of the White Man. The most recent, the Yavapai, had considered these brick red buttes to have especially spiritual significance and came often in search of healing and visions. When you hike the back country trails up, through and around the red sandstone today you would need to be willfully unimaginative not to understand why they found them so special.

Much of this purported spiritual energy is delivered through something called a ‘vortex” of which there are several significant examples in and around Sedona. To understand this outpouring of force, visualize a spiral of water or wind and then replace it with one of spiritual energy and you have a Sedona vortex. Four major vortexes (yes, that’s the plural here) have been located and serve as popular pilgrimages for visitors to Sedona who seek healing or some kind of mystical experience. In fact, they are so popular that there are now a number of vortex tour companies and guides who can prepare you for and guide you to them.

To some, the vortexes themselves may seem sufficient reason to make the journey to Sedona, and I’m sure that if they do find what they seek it will certainly be worthwhile. But even if they are disappointed in their quest, the scenery alone is more than worth the effort it takes to get there. The town is just about two hours of a mostly scenic drive north of Phoenix. As an added bonus, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado is just another two hours drive north through some of the state’s most beautiful country so you just can’t lose.

One caveat: don’t expect the quiet rustic village that Sedona Schnebly knew her whole life. The town of 11,000 is now crammed with galleries, souvenirs stores and yes, even traffic jams during the height of the tourist season, which usually lasts between May and September. But it’s big country, and once you’re there you’ll find it easy to get lost in the red desert of Sedona. Who knows, you may even stumble upon your own personal vortex.