Purtymun Trail & Along the Rim

Seven Skyliners hiked Purtymun Trail up the east side of Oak Creek Canyon and continued north along the rim for approximately 1.6 miles on Saturday, 19 November 2011.

We met at the Cottonwood Safeway parking lot and proceed north on Hwy 89A, stopping in Sedona to pick up George at his home. We then continued up the canyon and parked at a wide shoulder on the road about 75 yards north of the main entrance to Junipines resort. The unmarked trailhead is between two utility buildings on the east side of the highway across from the main entrance to the resort. The trail is easily discernible if you look closely. Just scramble up the bank between the two buildings and you will see it leading on up the canyon wall. Up is the operate word here; the trail is clear and easy to follow, but it is steep, climbing some 1200 feet in just a bit less than a mile (NOTE: I have gotten various readings between 0.7 and 1 mile.).

Looking back as we neared the rim, we found a gorgeous rainbow arching across the slope below us.

Rainbow in Oak Creek Canyon as seen from high on the Purtymun Trail

When we scouted the trail about a month ago the upper portion was a bit overgrown; however, it has since been trimmed and is now in good shape all the way to the top.

The below group photograph was taken where Purtymun tops out on the rim.

Left to right: Donna Goodman, Miriam Sterling, Betty Wolters, the author, 

George Everman, Marvin Alt and David Beach

After a long break in the brisk, cold breeze at the top of the trail, we set off heading north to hike a section of the Purtymun to Cookstove Trail. From Purtymun at N34⁰ 57.725; W111⁰ 44.872 we hiked 0.5 miles bearing 65⁰ true to the first of three old road crossings at N34⁰ 58.139; W111⁰ 44.151. From there we continued for 0.2 miles at a bearing of 49⁰ to the second old road crossing at N34⁰ 58.018; W111⁰ 44.250. We then hiked another 0.2 miles at a bearing of 34⁰ to the third crossing of the old road at N34⁰ 57.725; W111⁰ 44.872. After crossing the old road for the third time, we continued at a bearing of 43⁰ for another 0.7 miles to again intersect with the same old road at N34⁰ 57.725; W111⁰ 44.872 near Crazy Park Canyon. It was now 1200, time for lunch. After a relatively short lunch break, we started our return journey. It had taken us almost three hours to get this far and we wanted to get back down Purtymun by 1500.

We had been roughly following the old Purtymun to Telephone Trail. This trail, along with a Thomas Point to Cookstove Trail and a Telephone to Cookstove Trail, is sketched out on the Arizona topographic map I am using with my GPS, but they are not discernible trails for much of the way; they are rather a series of straight lines, apparently drawn from point to point. The green line (I call it Purtymun to Cookstove.) on the included map (below) uses parts of all of these trails along with various Forest Roads. It swings away from the rim to cross Surveyor Canyon, then connects with and utilizes the National Forest road system (FR 9493A, FR 9498 and FR 9496). This results in its passing Thomas Point about a mile from the rim before swinging back to pass the Telephone trailhead just 0.2 miles from the rim. Shortly after passing the Telephone trailhead, while crossing the ridge above Grandmaw’s Cave, the forest road ends and a discernible trail begins, leading to Harding Springs Trail and continuing to end at Cookstove Trail.

In my opinion, the track we followed to our lunch stop, as shown on the attached map (and also included in the GPS file), is the best route to follow to this point. To continue from here on what I am calling the Purtymun to Cookstove Trail, I recommend following the old road from where we ate lunch, heading generally north, for 0.4 miles to N34⁰ 58.676; W111⁰ 43.609. From there it is a relatively easy 0.3 mile climb at a bearing of 71⁰ down into the upper reaches of Surveyor Canyon and back up the other side to reach FR 9493A at N34⁰ 58.765; W111⁰ 43.278.

Purtymun Trail itself (below), from Hwy 89A to the rim, is xxx-miles one way; it has a maximum elevation of 6371 feet and a total ascent of 1318 feet.

Purtymun Trail as it climbs the east wall of Oak Creek Canyon

The included map (below) shows all of the trails we have hiked along the east rim of Oak Creek Canyon, including a recent scouting hike from the Willard Springs area to Thomas Point and back.

Today’s hike was only about 4.5 miles roundtrip; however the first mile (Purtymun Trail proper) was very strenuous and took around 1.5 hours each way. The total elevation gain for the hike was about 1500 feet, and we were on the trail for a total of about 6 hours.