Summary: This loop hike circles Doe Mountain and provides excellent views of Doe Mountain throughout the hike and great views of Bear Mountain, Fay Canyon and Boynton Canyon from the Aerie Trail portion of the hike
Challenge Level: Easy to Moderate
Hiking Distance: The complete loop from the parking area for the Cockscomb Trail to the Aerie Trail and back to the parking area is 5.5 miles
Trailhead Directions: From the "Y" roundabout (the intersection of State Route 89A and State Route 179), drive west toward Cottonwood on SR 89A about 3 miles. Turn right on Dry Creek Road. Stay on Dry Creek Road about 3 miles to the end and a stop sign. Turn left on Boynton Pass Road and proceed about 1 1/2 miles to a stop sign. Turn left, continuing on Boynton Pass Road. Drive approximately 2.5 miles and turn left on Aerie Road, which is about 0.5 mile past the Doe Mountain/Bear Mountain parking area on the left side of Boynton Pass Road. Follow Aerie Road and take the right fork to the trail parking area.
Description: About 100 feet from the parking area is a trail sign. Go straight to follow the Cockscomb Trail and hike around Doe Mountain in a counter clockwise direction (which is how we hiked it), go left to follow the Aerie Trail across the north side of Doe Mountain. If you hike the loop following the Cockscomb Trail, you'll be returning on the Aerie Trail. The views are much better after you hike around to the east side of Doe Mountain and begin your way back on the Aerie Trail. You'll intersect the Dawa Trail after about 2 miles. We hiked in January 2011 and there were snow flurries along with a little snow on the ground. But we saw a few wildflowers and our guest hikers from Maine didn't mind the cold weather (he was wearing shorts!).
Photos:
Photos from our March 2012 hike
Photos from earlier hikes
For those of you who have a Garmin (tm) GPS unit, I have the Garmin (tm) GPS data for the hike.
For more information on this hike, check out Great Sedona Hikes by clicking HERE
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Great Sedona Hikes
Last Updated April 10, 2013
Web Page by Bill Bohan (billbo@greatsedonahikes.com)
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