Jerome is a small little town between Prescott and Sedona and takes about 25-30 minutes to get to from downtown Sedona. The road to Prescott seems very narrow and windy on the map but we didn’t check it out so I don’t know how long that would take.
Here’s some photos of the area so you can get an idea what it’s like, but don’t skip reading more about Jerome below.
Jerome was built literally on the side of the hill 1883. That must have been a whole lot of fun to haul materials up the hillside, even by horse or mule carts. If you lived in Jerome and walked everywhere, you’d for sure stay in good shape. Combine that with the additional amount of blood that people who live in high elevations have, and you’ll soon be as strong as the Mongol warriors. I didn’t get a chance to snap a photo, but one of the local residents was an old lady that looked to be in her upper 80’s and was plodding steadily up the hill with her walker. I was seriously impressed! She wasn’t going nearly as fast as I was, but she also didn’t seem to be out of breath like I was. I blame that on the 5000+ foot elevation even though it might have something to do with my fitness level – or lack thereof.
There is a state park that goes out onto what I call a peninsula of land but unfortunately that was closed when we went so I can’t say anything about that. From a distance across the valley it looked like a large building that might have had a museum and a big viewpoint / parking area but not the land area to camp or hang out in like a lot of other state parks have. However there was a mine shaft visitors area that was open so we were able to check that out, and talk to the attendant there who explained a lot of the history of it.
If you’re going to be in the Sedona/Prescott/Flagstaff or even North Phoenix area a day trip to Jerome is worth it.