Munds Mountain Wilderness

HIKING THE Woods Canyon Trail in the Munds Mountain Wilderness in mid-February was freaky good because the weather was unusually warm, yellow flowers were starting to come out and butterflies were dancing around me.

Videogaapher Titian Beltran and I were shooting video on the Munds Mountain Wilderness that will be out on my YouTube page Preserving Arizona Wilderness this month. A month ago Wet Beaver Creek was gushing like a river, but with the lack of rain it was much more serene on this trek. 

Munds Mountain Wilderness is worth preserving for its red-rock formations, high mesas, cliffs, slopes and deep canyon drainages, and it’s particularly well known for its Coconino and Supai sandstones. 

The 14 trails in Munds Mountain Wilderness offer a range of opportunities for sun and shade. Some of the other trails include Jacks Canyon, Schnebly Hill, Bell Rock, Marg’s Draw and Courthouse Butte. Sedona landmark Bell Rock is here as well. 

The wilderness area is also known for its many archaeological sites. Native Americans consider the area religiously significant, so there are signs asking us all to respect these sites, listing legal ramifications that include fines for vandalism.

Most of the sites in the area were built by the people known archaeologically as the Southern Sinagua, who occupied them from about 1150 to 1300ACE. Some include artifact scatters consisting of pottery and lithic artifacts from foraging and processing activities. Other sites consist of small masonry fieldhouses that were part of the agricultural system. The most prominent sites are multi-room masonry pueblos on the edges of towering canyon walls. These sites have typically been considered fortifications, suggesting conflict near the end of the prehistoric period. None has been scientifically excavated, so this interpretation is still an open question in modern archaeology.

Munds Mountain Wilderness, established in 1984, starts at 3,600 feet of elevation and climbs to 6,800 feet, covering 18,109 acres.

Fire has had little impact here because the area is close to Sedona, so fires are put out quickly.

Trees in Munds Mountain include sycamores, Arizona cypress. pinyon juniper, mixed conifer, Ponderosa pine and gambel oaks. There are no perennial streams in the area, and surprisingly there are no invasive weed species. Arizona bugbane, a rare plant, thrives here.

Area wildlife includes black bear, elk, mountain lion, whitetail and mule deer, rabbits and coyotes. Mexican spotted owls, peregrine falcons, wrens, scrub jays, Stellar jays and Gambel’s quail are among the many birds.

Woods Canyon Trail

Woods Canyon Trail is one of the best because Dry Beaver Creek runs along part of the trail, and the further you go on the trail, the more you see the creek. During the first two or three miles there isn’t much water. Then the Munds Mountain Wilderness sign appears.

Woods Canyon Trail is an easy eight-mile hike. The trek to the Munds Mountain Wilderness sign is fairly flat, then there’s a bit of a descent and shortly after that you’ll come to Dry Beaver Creek.

At some points Dry Beaver Creek is running pretty strong, with water cascading like mini-waterfalls. The water appears to hardly be moving in other sections, and will tempt swimmers on warmer days. The hike begins at the Sedona ranger-station parking lot, where restrooms are available. Shortly into the hike you’ll walk are along an old jeep road.

For those who want more mileage, Woods Canyon Trail connects with Horse Mesa and Hot Loop Trails. A sign warns hikers that Hot Loop Trail is especially rocky and strenuous; several hikers have been rescued from this trail over the years. About a quarter mile from the wilderness sign hikers can walk or take breaks on large downed trees. The reward comes about 4.5 miles in when you’ll come to huge bounders overlooking Wet Beaver Creek where its water is highest. This is a great place for lunch.

In Day Hikes of Sedona I read that the trail is named for Fred Woods, who kept sheep in the canyon in the 1880s.

Book-signing

I hope you’ll join me at 2pm on March 7 for my book-signing and reading of my environmental-adventure novel Falling Into Congo, at Peregrine Book Store on North Cortez St. in Prescott.