|
Camping rules and regulations in the Sedona region have changed intensely over the last years. Once Sedona hit the map on everyone’s Top Ten destination lists, the number of annual visitors has increased exponentially. The ADOT traffic study six years ago extrapolated a total of 7 million visitors per year in Sedona. Camping now is limited to six established campsites in Oak Creek Canyon and in dispersed, free camping areas a considerable distance from the main National Forest lands around the town. No overnight camping is allowed in the central Sedona district.
The impacts on the precious natural resources surrounding Sedona have increased exponentially over the last decade. Ten years ago, very few people camped in the forest (dispersed camping). Most visitors camped along Oak Creek in the established campgrounds, especially in the summer season. Eight years ago a noticeable increase in campers began and ultimately became a deluge. One April evening in 1997, I counted 60 cars parked overnight along the lower 3 miles of Schnebly Hill Road. A good number of these “campers” were not experienced in low impact camping. Garbage accumulated, toilet paper was scattered behind every bush, and as the dead, fallen wood used in campfires disappeared, some of these “non-environmentally conscious” campers started cutting tree limbs, breaking off branches on the nearby shrubs, and soon whole trees followed. For the first time, initials and names carved in live trees appeared on the landscape. Something had to change.
It took over two years of public meetings, consensus gathering, and lots of Forest Service study to accomplish a change in the Coconino National Forest’s charter. The new amendment, which was quite controversial and was challenged by a few individuals and groups, took effect in 1999. It allowed the local Sedona Ranger District to enact new regulations geared specifically to the unique physical characteristics and tourism impacts in Sedona’s Red Rock area. The most visible change was to virtually eliminate “dispersed camping”, the roadside camping most common along the many dirt roads like Schnebly Hill road, Vultee Arch road (152A), Boynton Pass road as well as along the myriad pullouts that skirt the major highways. Though backpacking is still allowed in certain Sedona Wilderness areas, this change effectively eliminated 99% of camping and its associated impacts on the landscape. Even with new rules in place, enforcement is difficult in the less accessible forest lands surrounding Sedona. The origin of the Brin’s Fire of late June, 2006 that endangered hundreds of Sedona businesses and homes, especially in Oak Creek Canyon, and destroyed thousands of acres of forest land, was traced back to a careless transient’s illegal campsite.
I love to hike and backpack. I can still go into Bear Sign or Secret Canyon and spend a few nights and days or even spend a week if I choose. I have met many visitors who liked to camp along Schnebly Hill Road. Often it was their annual tradition. The anger and disappointment they felt at the strict new changes was understandable. To me the pressing choice between the continued degradation of easily accessible areas and the elimination of roadside camping was simple. There are still, and always will be, hundreds of thousands of acres of National Forest lands in Arizona, our public lands, that are open to roadside camping. These areas, except for a few highly-impacted camping areas near Payson, Flagstaff, and Prescott, do not have the concentrated volume of visitors as in Sedona. With as many or more visitors than most National Parks, finding a solution for Sedona that will preserve and protect the natural beauty and still allow us to touch, appreciate, and experience the land in a diversity of ways will always be a challenge and responsibility for those who care. Because there are some people who do not care and use this beautiful land without respect, the rules and regulations, too, will constantly need to change and adapt.
www.redrockcountry.org/recreation/camping.shtml
www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/other-rec/dispersed_camping.shtml
www.redrockcountry.org/passes-and-permits/where-to-purchase.shtml
www.redrockcountry.org/maps/index.shtml
www.redrockcountry.org/maps/index.shtml
www.camprrm.com/Arizona%20Campgrounds.htm
Sales
Rentals
|
