Sedona is a tiny speck on the map so stunningly photogenic that many residents attribute mystical powers to its rugged red rocks.

Something must be drawing the crowds: why else would a town of less than 10,000 people attract 3.5 million visitors per year?

Two hours north of Phoenix but light-years from anything else on the planet, Sedona has such surrealistic surroundings that many artists, writers, and musicians who arrived as vacationers never left.

The town's 40 galleries overflow with the works of 200 local artisans -- painters, sculptors, potters, weavers, and jewelers -- who radiate the energy of the rocks and relish the chance to mingle with such natural bounties as 550 species of seed plants, 220 varieties of birdlife, 80 types of fish and reptiles, and 55 different mammals.

Sedona's appeal is so seductive that state tourism officials don't know whether Grand Canyon visitors happen to include Sedona in their travel plans or whether Sedona visitors happen to include the Grand Canyon.

Visitors can easily get sidetracked right at the start of the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sedona to the national park. Oak Creek Canyon, a 16-mile stretch of 89A that ranks as one of America's most scenic drives, is a fantasyland of thick pines and red rock cliffs that follows the creek to Slide Rock State Park, a natural waterslide far better than swimming hole conceived by Mark Twain.

Everything is far better in Sedona: brookside breakfasts, tennis under towering rock walls, hikes to ancient Indian ruins, horseback rides into the hills, and even Pink Jeep wilderness tours along the aptly-named Road of No Return.

Although the first white settler arrived in 1876, Sedona didn't get its name until 1902, when homesteader Theodore Schnebly -- hoping to establish a post office -- named the town after his wife. Western author Zane Grey put it squarely on the map 21 years later when he convinced producer Jesse Lasky to film his book Call of the Canyon in its actual setting. Hollywood has been back many times since.

Schnebly's name has survived him: Schnebly Hill Road is a twisting, 12-mile unpaved route that plunges 2,000 feet and passes some of the world's most spectacular natural scenery. The changes from top to bottom are dramatic.

Originally a cattle trail that cost $1,800 to construct, Schnebly Hill Road was Sedona's main drag before the Oak Creek Canyon route was opened as a wagon road in 1914.

Even after the advent of the automobile, progress followed at a respectful pace.

Not incorporated until 1988, only recently did Sedona start growing more rapidly than George Steinbrenner's payroll. Its permanent population tripled between 1980 and 1993, with people coming not only for the beauty but for the climate -- four distinct, mild seasons, with temperatures warmer than the mountains to the north but cooler than the deserts to the south.

At 4500 feet above sea level, Sedona is neither desert nor mountain but the best of both.

The Church of the Red Rocks, nestled into the surrounding landscape in 1956, has become as much of a local landmark as Coffee Pot Rock, a natural formation. Tuzigoot National Monument, west of town, is a 13th century Sinagua Indian ruin that also attracts many hikers. Montezuma Castle National Monument, 35 miles south, is one of the oldest, best-preserved cliff dwellings in the southwest. And Red Rock State Park, a 286-acre preserve of stunning formations a stone's throw from the heart of town, is well worth the $5 entrance fee.

To those who believe, the most potent natural vortex in the area is located in Boynton Canyon, which embraces the 70-acre Enchantment resort 20 minutes northwest of town center.

According to Apache legend, Boynton Canyon is the birthplace of the human race -- the result of a union between the sun and the first woman.

They couldn't have picked a more spectacular setting. Huge rock walls guard canyons, caves, and foliage of all descriptions, offering hidden surprises to hikers who emerge from adobe casitas carefully constructed to look like they too were natural.

Seeing stars is Sedona is commonplace -- even during the day. While the nighttime heavens look like a planetarium without the pointer, plenty of famous faces populate the shops, bistros, and galleries. Someone is always filming something, from commercials to feature films.

Hollywood memorabilia, mellow music, and a delightful menu are pleasant surprises inside the Marketplace Café, which has a storefront exterior but offers a memorable night out.

Perhaps the most romantic setting can be found at Cucina Rustica, a Mediterranean-style hideaway in the nearby village of Oak Creek. It's well worth the drive down Route 79.

At the Heartline Cafe, located along the the main highway through town (West 89A), chef Charles Cline blends European, Mediterranean, and even Asian influences in creating innovative vegetarian dishes. He and his wife Phyllis, also the owners, named their place after the famed Zuni heartline, symbolic of health, long life, and good luck.

An appreciation of clean air, mellow music, and all things spiritual permeates the atmosphere everywhere in Sedona. Even before it changed its name to The Center in Sedona, the Center for the New Age was more than a curiosity. It was the place believers went to obtain maps indicating the many energy vortexes said to be in the area. Vortex tours may pair a visitors with a guide who will provide pickup, dropoff, and explanation of various sites.

For non-believers, the town also has a traditional history museum. The Sedona Heritage Museum, housed in a structure that was once the farmstead of the Jordan family, focuses on Sedona pioneers from the 1870s through the 1950s. It contains am 1898 buggy, a 1942 fire engine, and a panoramic view of Wilson Mountain from the surrounding five-acre public park.

The museum has a cowboy room, a cabin with a chuckwagon-type table, a 1947 kitchen considered ultra-modern at the time, and stories of Sedona's first families- including town namesake Sedona Schnebly (it's a good thing they didn't use her last name).

More than anything else, the museum answers questions, revealing when the first postmaster was appointed (1902), when Oak Creek Canyon Road was paved (1939), and when telephone service arrived (1950). There's even a special room devoted to the Golden Age of Western Movies, many of which were filmed in the area. The Sedona West subdivision now stands on an old John Wayne movie set, demolished in 1959.

Also not to be missed is Tlaqueoaque- not the saber-rattling president of Iran but a tree-shaded shopping plaza that is just as hard to pronounce. A local landmark lined with sycamores, cottonwoods, and adobe structures, it has arches, fountains, plazas, and local products- plus an ice-cream parlor that does a booming business on hot summer days. The plaza has 40 shops and assorted special events, including a Shakespeare festival every summer. Its name is borrowed from a suburb of Guadalajara.

Accommodations in Sedona range from rustic to regal but the best bets are the Inn on Oak Creek and the Canyon Villa Inn, two of the area's five Select Registry properties. Both are 11- room structures that blend into their environment as if they were there as long as the trees, streams, and rocks.

The Canyon Villa Inn, on the northern edge of the Village of Oak Creek, is literally a stone's throw from the main commercial strip. But its views of Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte place it firmly in Red Rock country.

The four-star property is purposely kept quiet: pets and boisterous children are not allowed and the inn is far enough off the main drag not to be bothered by the whoosh of passing cars. A huge fireplace separates the living room from the dining area and a comfortable den contains books, games, and a computer that appeal to visitors of all ages. When precipitation precludes use of the outdoor pool, indoor swimming will suffice; almost all of the inn's well-appointed rooms have whirlpool tubs.

Like the Canyon Villa Inn, The Inn on Oak Creek has enticing guest room names, from Golf on the Rocks to The Garden Gate, The Apple Orchard, and Hollywood Out West. A room called The Hen House is an optional second bedroom for occupants of The Rested Rooster.

A romantic enclave, it features private decks above Oak Creek, gas fireplaces to ward off the post-sunset canyon chill, private baths with whirlpool tubs, and bedding designed to support the back and caress the head. Guests don't even know they have neighbors until they meet each morning while four-course gourmet breakfasts are served. The recipes have become so popular that the Inn on Oak Creek even launched a cooking school earlier this year.

Getting around town is easy: the Sedona Trolley makes a complete circuit, providing unlimited on-again, off-again privileges, at $10 a pop. Maverick Helicopters flies to the Grand Canyon several times per day, allowing visitors to avoid summer traffic problems. The 8-seat choppers, bigger and steadier than the two-man "bubbles" portrayed in M*A*S*H, also provide bird's-eye views of Sedona and its surroundings.

The town lies north of Jerome and Prescott, southeast of the Grand Canyon, and north of the Valley of the Sun dominated by Phoenix and Scottsdale. If traffic allows, the drive to the Grand Canyon consumes about 90 minutes.

Most visitors agree that Sedona is a feast for the eyes as well as the mind, a place of passion, poetry, and renewal. No one wants to leave.

Further information is available from the The Inn on Oak Creek, 556 Highway 179, Sedona, AZ 86336 (Tel. 800-499-7896, http://www.innonoakcreek.com/); Canyon Villa Inn Bed and Breakfast Inn of Sedona, 40 Canyon Circle Drive, Sedona, AZ 86351 (Tel. 800-453-1166, http://www.canyonvilla.com/); or Sedona-Oak Creek Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 478, Sedona, AZ 86339 (Tel. 800-ATT-SEDONA or 928-204-1123).