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| Hiking | 3.00 Miles |
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| | Hiking | 3.00 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 1.50 mph |
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| no partners | | Completed the hike to the summit of the Cockscomb on July 7, 2010, which took a little less than an hour. I saw no one else on the hike (too hot...).
The trail from the parking lot off of Aerie Road is now very clearly marked and almost impossible to miss. This is the "Cockscomb Trail," which is not to be confused with the "Cockscomb Summit Trail," which branches off of the Cockscomb trail.
The Cockscomb trail was apparently marked relatively recently by the Forest Service; the tall brown plastic trail markers look pretty new.
To get to the summit, follow the directions in the initial posting in this series, which are still accurate.
Once you get past the fence around the new development, the Cockscomb Trail bends to the left. Start looking for the Summit Trail, which is the first real trail off to the right. Is it not marked by the Forest Service, and is quite plainly not maintained by the Forest Service, either. But, it has been marked by various hikers with a cairns and can be found if you are paying attention.
Other posters have noted that there is only one way to the top. I believe it. The trail is relatively well marked by cairns left by hikers, but the trail does take some unexpected turns. Therefore, if you find that you have gone some distance without seeing a cairn, and it you are not sure whether you are on a trail, you are probably not on the trail. My suggestion is to stop at a cairn and look if you see another one before heading off. While this is good advice for any uphill hike, the Cockscomb is relatively small and steep, so you can get into trouble easily if you are not paying attention.
Also, I noted that some cairns are misleading and were apparently left by hikers who got off the main trail themselves and left cairns for their own benefit or because they thought they were being helpful, or because they were being mean, who knows?
There were a few short scrambles near the top. The summit itself is reached by standing on a series of rocks piled by previous hikers inside a wide, shallow chute about 8 feet tall. I needed to brace my feet against the walls in order to haul myself up.
The top is pretty small. The views are great, but not really any better in my estimation that those from Doe Mesa. Although you can get a good closeup look at the other parts of the Cockscomb formation that cannot be seen from the ground. On balance, I was pleased to have made the summit, but did not find the summit itself to be all that interesting. The top of Doe Mesa is more interesting, and will be more interesting to children (not to mention the fact that children will have a much easier time getting up Doe Mesa). (Frankly, I would not take smaller kids up the Cockscomb, but I know there are many parents, and kids, that are a lot more adventuresome that I am.)
Coming down I ran into a little trouble. Although I started to descend the way I had climbed up, it soon became apparent that I must have missed part of the trail on the way up in the first place. I ended up following some smaller cairns that someone had (carelessly? intentionally?) left that did not lead to the trail. Instead, I went about 20 years down some scree and slick rock to an area without an exit. The only way out was a drop of several dozen yards or a mad scramble back the way I came. So, I literally ran back up the hill as fast as I could with hands and feet, kicking out plenty of scree, until I could get back to where I started. It was a bit of a scare, not to mention the fact that I was totally winded from the uphill dash at an altitude I was not used to.
I went another way and finally regained the trail, where I discovered that I had completely missed a turn when I was coming up. That turn was a sharp turn to my right (on the way up), and I would not have seen it without turning my head to look for it. So, when I came back down, I was looking for the way that I came up, which was the wrong way.
Anyway, it worked out. Bottom line: it was nice to reach the summit, but the top did not knock my socks off. It is not bad, but I will probably not try this one again because there are many other hikes around Sedona that are much better. It is one that I can check off the list. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had stayed on the right trail?? If you try this one, just keep a close eye out for the real cairns and the real trail.
Geoffrey Hervey, Arlington, Virginia. |
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| Geoffrey T. Hervey Arlington VA |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
There was even a small canyon that opened up at one of the trail bends that was deserving of a Kodak moment. About 2 miles in the trail intersects with the Rupp Trail. Again, well signed. The trail does some moderate climbing as it swings to the west going around some very nice homes. It then crosses a paved road that leads to this community. At this point the trail is between Cockscomb and Doe Mountain and this is where the trail changes drastically from the itiial trail description. There is no signed trail or spur that climbs up toward the Cockscomb. (I wasn't looking for this "ascent to the Cockscomb", but I want to say that right after the road, there was a side trail. I will have to go back and follow up on this). Instead, the trail continues to wrap around the private homes and starts to circle the west side of Doe Mountain. Just over 3 miles in, I came upon a new signed trail called the Outer Limits Trail. It is so new, that it hadn't been added to any of the area maps. New trails 
Love it! 
