Pocket Fire contained, most trails and two shuttle routes back open
Trails and shuttle routes are back, with a handful of Oak Creek spots still closed.
The Pocket Fire is 100% contained, and many of the trails closed during it reopened July 31 at 6 a.m. Sedona Shuttle service resumed the same morning, with Route 11 to Dry Creek Vista and Mescal and Route 14 to Soldier Pass returning to regular service at 7 a.m. Several locations stay closed for public safety, including Call of the Canyon, Grasshopper Point, West Fork Trail, Manzanita Campground and parts of Oak Creek. Those sites are not covered by the reopening, so a trip built around West Fork or Grasshopper Point still will not work. Official closure orders and maps for the areas that remain shut come from the Forest Service. (City of Sedona)
Balanced Housing Strategy heads to council this month
Sedona's 2026 Balanced Housing Strategy is still in public review, with a City Council discussion set for either August 11 or August 25. The June 2026 draft data analysis and the recommended targets that go with it are posted alongside the strategy materials, so the numbers under discussion are available before the council takes them up. The city describes the final strategy as intended to support the local economy and protect quality of life. Nothing has been adopted yet: what is circulating is a draft with recommended targets, and the city has not said which of the two August dates carries the discussion. (City of Sedona)
Fest of Fall applications open today for the October event
Participant applications for Sedona's Fest of Fall open August 1, covering food trucks, vendors, nonprofits, crafters and businesses. The festival itself is set for Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Posse Grounds Park. The city is promoting walking, biking, carpooling and public transportation as ways to get there, and Sedona Shuttle Connect serves locations within city limits for $2 per rider. Applications are for participants rather than attendees, so businesses and organizations that want a spot at the October event are the ones acting now. (City of Sedona)
Free road-work alerts, plus a current closure map
The city offers free Nixle traffic and road-work alerts, delivered by text or email, that push closure and construction notices out as they are issued. Alongside them the city maintains a current road-closure map, with links out to AZ511 cameras and statewide traffic conditions. Signup determines delivery, with alerts sent by text or by email. The closure map covers conditions around Sedona, while the AZ511 links reach cameras and traffic conditions statewide. (City of Sedona)
Celebrate Sedona brings ceramics and a new exhibition to Art Barn Road
Celebrate Sedona runs Friday, August 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Sedona Arts Center, 15 Art Barn Road. The program includes ceramics demonstrations and a ceramics sale, and the Beyond the Frame exhibition opens the same afternoon. The event centers on local and regional arts with food and drink, and the center frames it around engaging the local community. Live music has not been announced. Both the ceramics activity and the exhibition opening fall inside the same two-hour window, so a single visit covers them. (Sedona Arts Center)
Year-round camping, campfire and glass rules around Oak Creek
Camping and campfires are restricted year-round west of Sedona and across the Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon areas, except in designated locations. Glass containers are prohibited within 300 feet of Oak Creek outside developed campgrounds and picnic areas. These are standing restrictions rather than fire-season measures, and they apply regardless of what the Pocket Fire closed or reopened. They also sit on top of any temporary closures still posted, so an area that reopened this week is still covered by the year-round camping, fire and glass rules. (Coconino National Forest)
Planning and Zoning Commission meets August 4
The Planning and Zoning Commission meets August 4 at 4:30 p.m., the first city meeting on Sedona's August schedule. Wastewater maintenance follows the next day, August 5. Those are the only two city items scheduled that week; the pace tightens seven days later, when three City Council sessions run across August 11 and August 12. Additional council meetings are scheduled later in the month. (City of Sedona)
Three City Council sessions in two days
City Council has two sessions on August 11, an executive meeting at 3 p.m. and a regular meeting at 4:30 p.m. A special meeting follows on August 12 at 4:30 p.m., and additional council meetings are scheduled later in the month. August 11 is also one of the two possible dates for the council's Balanced Housing Strategy discussion, with August 25 the other. Residents tracking the housing strategy have the August 11 regular meeting as the earlier of the two chances to hear it taken up. (City of Sedona)