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The word oasis conjures up images of exotic desert gardens lost in distant times or faraway lands, yet the world's most beautiful examples lie right here in the American Southwest. Guarded by fantastically sculpted rock forms, desert streams create lush, green microhabitats known as riparian zones. These shady forest corridors, many protected within wilderness areas, offer unique hiking, camping, swimming, wildlife viewing, birding, photography or just the ultimate spot to play hookie in for awhile.

Even though I've explored many southwestern oases over the years, my first encounter with one of the riparian paradises carved into Arizona's Mogollon Rim remains crystal clear in my memories. Viewed from above, the chartreuse ribbons hugging each bank of Sycamore Creek barely hinted at the idyllic forests sheltered below within Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area. After the early morning hike down a rocky trail past thorn-studded saguaro cactus and mesquite bushes, my sudden entry into the canyon bottom riparian zone felt like opening a door to a different world.

Cottonwood, willow, the pungent vanilla odor from ponderosa bark, and a dozen wildflowers harmonized a potpourri of sultry plant perfumes. The birds created a symphony of chirps behind occasional virtuoso riffs. Towering cliffs assured that sunlight wouldn't reach the river for awhile, but the west wall, awash with indirect light made luminous, red-gold reflections in the mirror-smooth pools. Add the river's soothing water music and the cool humid air, and I was beholden to the perfect morning. Just a few feet away, hard-scrabble chaparral and cactus clung to fractured boulder slides reminding me what a fragile miracle the water had brought to the desert.

Sycamore Canyon is just one of a half-dozen Mogollon Rim oases near Sedona. Known locally as "The Rim," the 2,000-foot-high escarpment curves across Arizona from the southeast to the northwest separating red rock plateau country from the Sonoran desert. Riddled with long, well-watered canyons in the Sedona area, the leading edge showcases the richest ecological communities in the intermountain west.

The complex deciduous tree mix alone is unprecedented. Huge, old-growth cottonwoods, willows, sycamores, oaks, walnuts, box elders, ashes, and alders form incongruent emerald enclaves across sere, rugged landscapes. In fact, these forests are refugees of wetter times, before the ice ages and accelerating drying conditions crowded them into protected canyons near water. The surrounding desert adds numerous species, including the greatest cactus diversity on the planet. Various conifers such as piñon, juniper, cypress and ponderosa complement the deciduous trees, which in turn shade delicate mosses, ferns and wildflowers along the riverbanks.

Overall, the Mogollon Rim oases hold 500 lower and 600 flowering plant species making the area a botanical cornucopia. This diverse flora supports an equally varied animal population. Sixty mammals, including black bear and desert bighorn sheep, 180 bird species, 40 reptiles and amphibians, and 20 fish species find a home in the canyons.

While each Mogollon Rim oasis is uniquely scenic, Sycamore Canyon's lower stretches are particularly serene and colorful. Soaring walls come in every imaginable shade of red, orange and gold. Elegant, white-barked Arizona Sycamores curve out across shimmering water, their star-shaped leaves creating diamond sun glints that dance with every breeze. Intricately sculpted pinnacles and spires tower above deep, tranquil pools creating the most picturesque swimming holes on the planet.

Sycamore Canyon Wilderness was officially designated in 1972. Its 47,762 acres protect 21 miles of intermittent riparian corridor along Sycamore Creek, which empties into the Verde River near the southern wilderness boundary. Three large springs feed into Sycamore Creek on the hike's first four-mile stretch. Beyond Parson's Spring, the creek bed is mostly dry except after significant precipitation, but riparian vegetation persists in areas due to plentiful ground water.

Summer Spring crosses the trail about a mile in. Cold, clear water courses through a wildflower meadow forming a miniature bog as it branches into a dozen rivulets before joining the creek. On the hike upstream, wide, limpid reflecting pools invite introspective pauses, or sudden noisy immersions. Walls close in, wedging the trail between sheer cliffs and the river. The route alternates between rock ledges overhanging the water and brilliant red sand bars crisscrossed with animal tracks. The hike becomes a montage of ever-changing rock formations, sun dappled leaves, sparkling water and refreshing shade as little by little the concept of oasis changes from fantasy to reality.

Albuquerque-based freelance writer Michael Richie enjoys traveling the world for adventure but never tires of exploring local adventure spots, in particular places where his discoveries can help to increase public awareness to the effect of limiting mining and development. In 1982, his Sierra magazine article on New Mexico's Bisti Badlands lent support to the fight to stop the efforts to strip mine the Bisti and get it declared wilderness. More recently, his articles on Ojito Wilderness supported efforts to make it the first officially designated wilderness in New Mexico in 18 years.