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Wednesday, November 6, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Walking in Cow Pies?
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
Since we9re in that <shoul-
der season= for hiking in our
area, when the white <ter-
mination dust= is calling an
end to mountain access and
friendly hiking weather, the
typical hiker is thinking about
hiking alternatives. For more
than a few residents of Sisters
Country, those <alterna-
tives= often include forays to
warmer and sunnier destina-
tions to the south.
One of the most popular
such destinations is Arizona;
and, for many locals, Sedona
is the go-to goal for off-season
hiking. As a result, each year
about this time, I like to fea-
ture a Sedona hike.
Years ago, on one of our
very first trips to Sedona, we
randomly selected a hike off
Schnebly Hill Road, which is
quite close to the downtown
area. As it happened, the trail
we chose was the Cow Pies
Trail, which is so named for
several outsized red rock for-
mations that are said to resem-
ble the semi-liquid, layered
<deposits= common to... cow
pastures.
Back in the day, when we
first visited the Cow Pies,
Schnebly Hill Road was an
unremarkable gravel-and-dirt
road, typical of access roads
leading to out-of-the-way
trailheads. Fast forward to
today, however, and Schnebly
Hill Road has deteriorated
to become one of the worst
roads known to humankind;
and the Forest Service seems
quite content to leave it that
way. Do not even think about
attempting to drive this road
without a high-clearance four-
wheel-drive vehicle. Hardly a
year goes by without someone
disregarding the warnings and
ultimately leaving engine oil
and scrap metal littering the
road.
If you do not have the
requisite vehicle, however,
despair not because the
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Munds Wagon Trail parallels
this awful road and makes a
very short and easy hike of
about three miles into a more
challenging eight-or-so-mile
roundtrip from the end of the
paved road.
The scenic red rocks of
Sedona are legendary, to the
point where the list of movies,
television shows, and adver-
tisements shot among these
unique rock formations is a
long one. Although dramatic
scenery is impossible to avoid
in this area, the Cow Pies Trail
features some of the very best.
The Cow Pies, themselves,
although extraordinary in
scale, definitely do resemble
their namesakes, as if depos-
ited by a gargantuan celestial
bovine in eons past. Upon
reaching the Cow Pies, there
is no exact carved trail over
and among them, but they can
be easily explored and clam-
bered over. From the trailhead
on the terrible road, this a very
easy hike, with very little ele-
vation gain or loss 4 unless
you choose to go all the way
to the top of the ridge off the
Hangover Trail.
The Hangover Trail, which
continues beyond the Cow
Pies, adds another five-plus
miles onto this hike. With a
sort of double meaning, the
Hangover Trail features rocks
that hang over the trail, while
the trail also reaches out,
PHOTO BY KATHLEEN EISENBEIS
These layered red rock formations are said to resemble enormous cow pasture deposits on the Cow Pies Trail
near Sedona, Arizona.
itself, and hangs over pre-
cipitous drop offs. It has been
labeled as one of the seven
scariest bike trails. A side trip
onto a saddle, on the ridge
to the north, ends at a spec-
tacular viewpoint atop a diz-
zying precipice overlooking
Sedona proper and Oak Creek
Canyon, more than a thousand
feet below. It9s a great spot to
stop and have lunch or just sit
and contemplate... whatever.
There is not much trail-
side vegetation, but there is
enough to provide occasional
shade; although the mild tem-
peratures at this time of the
year make for pleasant hiking
3 even at midday. Regardless,
always be sure to bring plenty
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Schnebly Hill Road is
named for Carl Schnebly who
settled in the area in 1900.
He was the area9s first post-
master; and he named the
postal station after his wife
3 Sedona, whose name now
graces the town that subse-
quently sprung up in the early
twentieth century.
Some of the permit
requirements for parking and
use of many of the red rock
areas in Sedona have been
relaxed in recent years, and
federal park and forest per-
mits are now valid for most
federal areas. Daily permits
are also available. State park
areas, however, may require
separate permits.
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of water because this is dry
country.
The Cow Pies Trail is very
close to town and easy to find.
Heading south from down-
town Sedona on Highway
179, it is just across the Oak
Creek Bridge on the way out
of town. Take the roundabout
three quarters of the way
around and follow the sign
to Schnebly Hill Road. It is
about a mile to the end of the
pavement and, if you dare,
another 2.7 miles of astound-
ingly terrible road to the trail-
head. There is a sizable park-
ing area on the right side of the
road, which is on the opposite
side of the road from the trail,
which takes off to the north.
Stay on point with your health
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lapointnaturalmedicine.com | 541.606.8971
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