Munds Wagon Trail to Cow Pies

Author's Comments

I am not sure why this trail stays as quiet as it does. The named landmarks of Sedona pull most of the foot traffic toward themselves, which leaves the Munds Wagon Trail and the strange stacked terraces at its midpoint to whoever bothers to walk the mile and a half in. I am grateful for that, and a little protective of it. The Cow Pies are exactly what the name suggests, more or less. Rounded sandstone platforms layered on top of each other like something that got poured rather than carved. Walking onto them feels like stepping onto a stage. The rock falls away on every side and the horizon goes all the way around, and suddenly you are looking at Courthouse and Bell to the west, Cathedral to the south, the Mogollon Rim holding the distance to the north. It is one of the few places in Sedona where you can stand at elevation and have the major formations arranged around you rather than rising above you. I come here in late October, an hour before sunset, when the light goes long and the sandstone underfoot warms to the same color as the buttes on the horizon. The terraces themselves become the photograph as much as the view does. Their curves lead the eye outward toward whichever formation you have chosen to emphasize, and a low camera position lets the foreground rock do real work in the frame. Bring water. There is no shade up there, none at all, and the rock holds heat long after the sun has dropped. That is part of why it stays quiet.

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