Starry Starry Nights: A Tour of the Skies Completes Your Sedona Arizona Vacation

Sedona, AZ: You’ve spent the day in Sedona hiking around Bell Rock, dipping your toes in Oak Creek and browsing swanky Sedona art galleries. Maybe you’ve swooped over box canyons in a helicopter tour, or gotten your nose right up close to the red rocks as you checked out ancient petroglyphs. But have you really seen all the great sights of Red Rock Country? Not until you’ve toured the star-packed Sedona skies with the help of Evening Sky Tours.

Evening Sky Tours can grandly offer “Tours of the Universe” without even a hint of exaggeration. With the guidance of expert astronomer guides who delight in sharing their own passion for the stars, guests can gaze at planets, galaxies, satellites, the occasional space shuttle and more all-but-invisible wonders of the night sky through easy-to-use, custom-built telescopes. Families and other folks whose after-dark choices in Sedona used to be limited to DVDs at the hotel or a trip to the multiplex can now spend a few memorable hours surrounded by the sounds of the high desert at night, a blanket of stars spread overhead, viewing objects most people will only ever see in photos or their own imaginations.  

While part of the thrill of an Evening Sky Tour is the chance to use their fabulous telescopes for up-close-and-personal views of heavenly objects, even the lowest-tech star gazing is a pleasure that’s experienced by precious few people anymore. Not too long ago the stars were as present in our consciousness as the water we drank and the ground we walked on. Now people can live their entire lives only ever seeing a sparse handful of pinprick lights in the sky.

“Ninety percent of the world’s population lives under light-polluted skies,” explains Cliff Ochser. However, Sedona’s elevation, small population and strict light ordinances set the stage for prime star viewing. Visitors are wonder-struck at even the dazzling naked-eye view of Sedona’s nighttime skies where the swoosh of the Milky Way fights for elbow room with countless other brilliant neighbors.

When Evening Sky’s team of seasoned and patient astronomers assist guests in using custom-built telescopes to get a detailed look at things like the rings of Saturn, the Galillean moons or the red spot on Jupiter, children and adults of every age share a universal reaction of delight and awe.

“Even kids of five or six get it,” says Ochser, “and their reaction is immediate—‘Wow! That’s so cool!’”

It’s got to be gratifying to run a business in which your best measure of success is how often you hear that phrase. Ochser would agree (and by the way, he’s hearing it thousands of times a year.)