Sedona Red Rock News
Utility Terrain Vehicles aka side-by-sides look like the rebellious cousins of the golf cart family. UTVs are becoming more powerful and easier to drive than older-style ATVs. For an increasing number of Sedona visitors, they are a desirable way to see the red rocks and spend time with family.
But modern UTVs also have the enhanced capacity to drive through untouched areas as well as be louder and faster than other vehicles and those aspects are creating a conflict with other users of the national forest lands west of Sedona.
Arizona Game and Fish officer Lee Luedecker, who has served in the area for 48 years, said “the last 16 months have been the worst that I’ve seen” in terms of off-road driving in the Forest Road 525 corridor.
Sedona Red Rock News
525 Overrun: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal land west of Sedona that includes the western foothills, Forest Road 525 and Bill Grey Road has seen a dramatic increase in camping and public use. This is the first in a series of stories
It’s red rock county, but without the city.
The foothills of the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness Area west of Sedona mesmerize with their views of sculpted cliffs and rolling desert hills.
The area starts around the Bear Mountain Trailhead on Boynton Pass Road and extends to Honanki Heritage site. It can be accessed from State Route 89 via Forest Road 525 or from West Sedona via Dry Creek Road and Boynton Canyon Pass.