The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun.

The red rocks form a popular backdrop for many activities, ranging from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails.

[5] The first European-American settler, John J. Thompson, moved to Oak Creek Canyon in 1876,[6] an area well known for its peach and apple orchards.

That meant area residents no longer had to transport water, and could directly build infrastructure.

Stretching as far back as 1923, Sedona's red rocks were a fixture in major Hollywood productions – including films such as Angel and the Badman, Desert Fury, Blood on the Moon, Johnny Guitar, The Last Wagon, 3:10 to Yuma and Broken Arrow.

However, the surroundings typically were identified to audiences as the terrain of Texas, California, Nevada, and even Canada–US border territory.

On June 18, 2006, a wildfire, reportedly started by campers, began about one mile (2 km) north of Sedona.

[13] On May 20, 2014, a wildfire started from an unknown cause began north of Sedona at Slide Rock State Park.

The Slide Fire[14] spread across 21,227 acres in Oak Creek Canyon over nine days and prompted evacuations.

[15] State Route 89A opened to Flagstaff in June, but all parking and canyon access was closed to the public until October 1, 2014.

[16] Sedona is located in the interior chaparral, semi-desert grassland, Great Basin conifer woodland biomes of northern Arizona.

The Great Basin woodland has many small to medium trees of Pinus monophylla Var.

At higher elevations in Oak Creek Canyon Juniperus virginiana, Pinus edulis and other pines occur.

The Schnebly Hill Formation is a thick layer of red to orange-colored sandstone found only in the Sedona vicinity.

Notable landforms in or around Sedona include the Seven Sacred Pools, Bell Rock, Capitol Butte, Cathedral Rock, Courthouse Butte, Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole, House Mountain, Two Nuns, and Wilson Mountain which is the highest.

West Sedona School (Sedona-Oak Creek USD), serving grades K–6, is located at 570 Posse Ground Road.

[34] Red Rock Early Learning Center is a year-round Preschool program designed for children aged 3–5 years old.

Oscar-winning composer James Horner studied there (Titanic, Braveheart, Avatar, Legends of The Fall).

Yavapai College's Sedona Center for Arts & Technology includes the Sedona Film School, which offers certificates in independent filmmaking, the Business Partnership Program, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and the University of Arizona Mini Med School.

The facility is part of the Northern Arizona Healthcare system and is a subdivision of Verde Valley Medical Center in the nearby city of Cottonwood.