Red Rock State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States, featuring a red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

canyon outside the city of Sedona. The main mission of this day-use park is the preservation of the riparian habitat along Oak Creek. Red Rock State Park serves as an

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discipli ...

facility for the public and for school or private groups, and provides limited passive recreational opportunities.

Natural history

Red Rock State Park includes a stretch of Oak Creek, which upstream flows through the famous Oak Creek Canyon in

Coconino National Forest The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre (751,000 ha) United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff, with elevations ranging from 2,600 feet to the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet (H ...

. The rich

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...

along the creek supports a diverse array of species. Trees in this habitat include Fremont cottonwood, Arizona sycamore, velvet ash, and Arizona alder. Oak Creek supports rare native fish, several frog species, and the

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

Sonora mud turtle The Sonora mud turtle (''Kinosternon sonoriense)'' is a species of turtle in the Kinosternidae family. It is found in Mexico and the United States. One subspecies, the Sonoyta mud turtle ( Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) is currently recogn ...

. Away from the creek the dominant trees are velvet mesquite, netleaf hackberry, Utah juniper, and alligator juniper. Bird species found in the area include the common black hawk,

wood duck The wood duck or Carolina duck (''Aix sponsa'') is a partially migratory species of perching duck found in North America. The male is one of the most colorful North American waterfowls. Taxonomy The wood duck was Species description, formal ...

, and

common merganser The common merganser (North American) or goosander (Eurasian) (''Mergus merganser'') is a large sea duck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees ...

. Lower Oak Creek, which includes the state park, has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. Large mammals include the

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

collared peccary The collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu'') is a peccary, a species of artiodactyl (even-toed) mammal in the family Peccary, Tayassuidae found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is the only member of the gen ...

, and river otter.

Introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

found in the park include giant reed,

tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamb ...

, Johnson grass, and

tumbleweed A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants. It is a diaspore that, once mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind. In most such species, the tumbl ...

Cultural history

Red Rock State Park was previously a part of a

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

, Smoke Trail Ranch. In 1941 it was purchased by Jack Frye, then-president of

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

, as a southwestern retreat for himself and his wife Helen. Helen Frye maintained the property for many years after Jack's death in 1959. In the early 1970s she sold to a

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

company, who planned to build a

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

complex. The deal fell through from lack of funds. In 1976 the property was transferred to

Eckankar Eckankar ( ) is an American new religious movement founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965. The group’s spiritual home is the Temple of ECK in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Eckankar is not affiliated with any other religious group. The movement teache ...

, a

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

that Helen Frye belonged to, who planned a private retreat for their members. In the fall on 1980 a group of friends hiking along Oak Creek were informed by an Eckankar representative that they were

trespassing Trespass to land, also called trespass to realty or trespass to real property, or sometimes simply trespass, is a common law tort or a crime that is committed when an individual or the object of an individual intentionally (or, in Australia, ...

on private property. The group happened to include

Bruce Babbitt Bruce Edward Babbitt (born June 27, 1938) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th United States secretary of the interior from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as the List of governors of Arizo ...

, then-governor of Arizona. Concerned about loss of public access along waterways, Babbitt researched the property and noted its potential for a full-fledged state park. After determining the willingness of all parties involved, Babbitt pursued a three-way land exchange: Eckankar would sell of the Smoke Trail Ranch to Anamax Mining Company (owner of the Twin Buttes mine), who would donate the land to the state in exchange for of

Arizona State Land Department The Arizona State Land Department is a department of the state government in the U.S. state of Arizona dedicated to the management of state-owned lands and property. Mission statement The mission statement of the Arizona State Land Department is ...

property they had been leasing in

Pima County Pima County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1 ...

. Since state law only provided for such exchanges within a county, the Arizona Legislature had to pass new legislation allowing trans-county trades. The enabling law and the transfers were completed in 1981. Development was slowed by budget cuts in the following years and a new land exchange with the federal government involving Red Rock and Lake Havasu State Park. Red Rock State Park opened to the public and was dedicated on October 19, 1991.

Motion picture

Red Rock State Park has been featured in movies such as ''

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

'' (1950), '' Fort Defiance'' (1950), '' Red Mountain'' (1951), '' Escape from Fort Bravo'' (1953), '' Fort Massacre'' (1957), '' A Distant Trumpet'' (1963), '' The Hallelujah Trail'' (1965),Maddrey, Joseph (2016). ''The Quick, the Dead and the Revived: The Many Lives of the Western Film''. McFarland. p. 181. . and '' The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle'' (1967).

Recreation

The park's

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic c ...

contains interpretive exhibits, a movie theater, Junior Ranger Programs, and a gift shop. There are several ramadas which can be reserved for private events, including weddings. Red Rock State Park has a network of trails totaling . From the park visitors can access

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

and

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...

trails on adjacent

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

land.

References

External links