![]() Back in the day, limestone was kiln-burned and used in mortar for building chimneys and fireplaces. Tarantulas and non-venomous snakes are harmless, but keep your distance from the black-tailed rattlesnake, a venomous pit viper.Ī great route to tackle by bike, the 15.8-mile Lime Kiln Trail traces parts of the Lime Kiln Wagon Road constructed in the 1800s. If you’re hiking in the warmer months, watch where you’re walking. Frequently seen animals include javelina, coyotes, bobcats and mule deer. The 0.2-mile (one way) Mesquite Loop Trail offers insight into the flora and fauna that thrive in the pinyon-juniper ecosystem. Get a trail map at the visitor center for prime locations for viewpoints and spotting wildlife. Most trails are less than a mile long but connect with others, so you can create your own adventure. Hike, bike or horseback ride (there’s a hitching post by the visitor center), pausing along the trails at interpretive signs that put the park’s natural and historical features into context. Plus there’s plenty to explore on your own. The park’s educational ethos continues with tours led by naturalists: daily guided nature walks, birding excursions by Oak Creek and a two-mile full-moon hike covering topics from archeology to botany. Two films are played on a continuous loop and there are hands-on exhibits about the park’s diverse habitats and early human inhabitants, as well as ranger programs for kids. (Some group camping is allowed, but only for people participating in the park’s environmental programs.) At the Miller Visitor Center, people can get a primer on the park and Sedona’s history. ![]() Red Rock State Park is now fulfilling its goals of preserving Oak Creek’s riparian habitat and operating as an educational day-use area for visitors. Hiking is one of the best ways to explore Red Rocks State Park. It took years of lengthy negotiations, political wrangling and legislative changes, but the land destined to be Red Rock State Park was finally in the State’s hands. He proposed a land acquisition and exchange between a mining company, the State of Arizona and Eckankar to obtain 286 acres of the ranch. Governor Babbitt envisioned turning part of Smoke Trail Ranch into a state park. He didn’t like the idea that land alongside waterways like Oak Creek could be off-limits to the public. One of those hikers was then-Governor Bruce Babbitt. They made extensive renovations to Apache House of Fires, but in 1980 everything changed when a sect member kicked a hiking group off the property for trespassing. Helen also wanted the Eckists, as they were called, to use the money to acquire Smoke Trail Ranch from the former developer and transform it into a private retreat for its members. She also gave them more than $1,000,000 in exchange for the group agreeing to let her live on the property, which she did until her death in 1979. In 1976, she gifted the Wings of the Wind land to the sect. Smoke Trail Ranch’s fate was uncertain once again.īy this time, Helen was dabbling in mysticism and was a member of a religious group called Eckankar. He envisioned building a resort, but funds dried up. ![]() Early in the 1970s, she sold more than 300 acres of the ranch to a developer. In the 1950s, she built herself a home called Wings of the Wind on an additional 32 acres she’d acquired. Helen became sole owner of Smoke Trail Ranch. After the idealistic couple’s relationship faltered, construction stopped. Helen Frye’s inspiration for the home’s name came from the fires the Indigenous people lit along Oak Creek, where they camped at night. Stretched over two levels, the 3000 sq ft house featured views of Cathedral Rock, three fireplaces (one on the rooftop), a commercial gas range and, in the main bedroom, a bed suspended from the ceiling. Construction started in 1947 and spanned three years. Pueblo-like in style, Jack Frye and the Yavapai-Apache people built the house from red rock and timber sourced nearby. They constructed an architectural oddity that still stands in the park: House of Apache Fires. The wealthy couple planned to turn the property into a getaway retreat. In 1941, newlyweds Jack Frye and Helen Varner Vanderbilt Frye purchased all five homesteads, along with a swath of land that became the 700-acre Smoke Trail Ranch. The settlers ranched, farmed and planted fruit orchards. The story of how Red Rock State Park came to be is as colorful as the rock formations that give it its name.įrom the 1800s to the 1930s, five homesteads had been set up in the area that would later become Red Rock State Park.
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