Munds Wagon, Cow Pies and Hangover Loop Trail: Coconino National Forest, Sedona, AZ ❤️❤️❤️

3/30/2021: "Big views and lots of variety." "Wall-to-wall beautiful." This was Marguerite's favorite hike of our week stay in 2021 but it took its toll on her: “You better believe we’re having beer!”

This was a beautiful hike. Again, very happy that we got an early start. Still, we met several people later in the day as the crowds hit the trail. All three parts (Munds Wagon, Cow Pies and Hangover Trails) had their unique contributions to the hike. Hiking counter-clockwise, we paralleled a pretty stream all the way up the Munds Trail before taking the Cow Pie Trail. I wondered why they called it Cow Pie and discovered that the rock formations look like huge cow pies. I am glad it wasn’t because a bunch of cows left real cow pies along the trail 😊.

We hiked counter clockwise, going up the Munds Wagon Trail to the Cowpies intersection, and followed that to the Hangover Trail. This is a Lolli-pop loop.

Here is the complete Sedona Adventure Trip Report.

• 8.0 to 9.0 miles loop – 5-year old grandson? No
• Difficulty: Moderate to Hard, depending on your balance.
• Elevation range: 4457' to 5268' gross: +1377'
• Traffic: Moderate to Heavy
• Getting There: No issues
• Trail Obstacles: The Hangover Trail has a few steep drops, but the trail has plenty of room and good boots will help you stick to the rock.
• Fees: $5.00 Daily Red Rock Pass, or America the Beautiful pass. Check here.
• Trailhead Coordinates: 34.8666, -111.7487
• Driving Directions
• Trail Map
• Search this Trail
• Photos
• Geo-mapped Photos
• Management: Coconino National Forest
• Alltrails.com info

Marg’s Notes: Got ready night before so we could head out earlier & were on the trail by 7:50. Chilly again, but not quite as cold. First part of hike went along beside the Munds Wagon Road. Lots of 4wd buggies so a bit noisy, but the trail was nice & wooded. After about 2 miles we joined the Cow Pies Trail & climbed a bit. The view from the Cow Pies was fantastic. We had a bar there then joined the Hangover Trail. This climbed over & up lots of rocks, a few narrow places but not that bad. Met lots of nice people. Turned a loop & headed back thru forest. Ended by going out same trail we came in on. Went 9 miles! I was really tired when we got back. Took a nap!

Went to Belfry Brewery for dinner: Beer, potato & cheese thing & hummus & Beer!

Rod’s Ramblings from the Trail: We started about 8:00 and saw few people initially but saw more as the day progressed. There is a lot of dune buggy traffic on Schnebly Hill Road ferrying tourists up and down the valley. You will hear that traffic nearly the whole hike, but you get used to it; you are there for the scenery.

We had a snack where the Cow Pie trail joins Hangover Trail. Again, the way my mind works, I was totally wrong about why they call it Hangover Trail. Of course, I thought perhaps it was that some drunken cowboys were up here, camped, drank their dinner and had bad hangovers the next day. Nope, wrong again. It is because there are a bunch of steep slopes and ledges that hang over deep ravines. Those hang overs make the trail a double black diamond for mountain bikers but as long as you have good boots to grip the stone, hiking is not really a problem. However, if you are afraid of heights then you might want to avoid this part of the trail. The out and back to the Cow Pies/Hangover junction is a great hike.