Scheurman Mountain Loop

On Saturday, 21 January 2012, fourteen Skyliners did a loop hike on Scheurman Mountain. We gathered at the Cottonwood Safeway Parking lot, drove north on Hwy 89A and turned right on Lower Red Rock Loop Road. About 0.6 miles from Hwy 89A we turned left onto a dirt road and parked about 200 feet ahead. We paused there for a group photograph before starting our hike:

Jo Benkendorf, Donna Goodman (front), Connie Woolard, Bill Woolard, 

Jim Manning, Daisy Williams (front), Anita Jackson (rear), Janet Wakefield, 

Lila Wright, Name Withheld, Bob Wakefield, Colleen Maktenieks (front) and 

David Beach – photograph by the author

Our plan was to hike south along the bottom of Scheurman (parallel to Lower Red Rock Loop Road) until we intersected with Lime Kiln Trail where that trail crosses the road before zigzagging up the hill south of Elmerville and follow it to the saddle near the south end of the mountain; there we would connect with the southern end of Scheurman Mountain Trail. We soon found that we were generally following a trail that was marked with just the letter “S,” we think a horse trail. In any case, the going was fairly easy even when we were not following the “S” Trail, and we came to the intersection with Lime Kiln, about 1.1 miles from where we had parked.

Lime Kiln Trail up to the saddle is well marked and we were shortly, after climbing about 160 feet in just over 0.2 miles at the start of Scheurman Mountain Trail. We found the intersection clearly marked with a relatively new sign (right) and turned immediately to continue on up the mountain. After traveling another 0.7 miles and climbing another 350 feet, we came to a flat area along the lower slope of the mountain. Our trail ran about 30 yards from the east shoulder of the ridge we were on; walking over to the shoulder for a better view, we found Red Rock State Park laid out along Oak Creek below us to the southeast.

Looking out over Red Rock State Park from Scheurman Mountain

Turning a bit more toward the east we could see the Cathedral formation visible across Oak Creek; the Rabbit Ears formation is barely discernible far beyond and just to the right of Cathedral:

Looking southeast from Scheurman Mountain to Cathedral Rock and beyond

To the southwest, across the Verde Valley, the snow-clad Mingus and Woodchute Mountains were outlined against the blustery winter sky:

Mingus (left) and Woodchute (right) Mountains

Turning to the northwest we could see Rosie’s Volcano (slightly to right of center) just below us and across Hwy 89A. Two other similarly shaped formations are visible to the left of Rosie’s Volcano. Beyond Rosie’s, Black Mountain is visible to the left, Casner Mountain is to the right and in between is Sycamore Pass. Sugarloaf Mountain, not really discernible in this photograph is located just to the right of Black Mountain:

Rosie’s Volcano (just to right of center), Black Mountain (left), Casner 

Mountain (right) and Sycamore Pass (Between Black Mountain and Casner)

After a short pause for a mid-morning snack, we headed on up the trail, traveling another mile and climbing another 135 feet before we came to a fork in the trail. The sign indicated our trail continued by the left fork while the right fork led to a viewpoint. We turned right and found the viewpoint about 0.35 miles ahead.

Along the way to the viewpoint we had a good view out over Red Rock High School, where Scheurman Mountain Trail ends, at Upper Red Rock Loop Road and Hwy 89A:

Red Rock High School with Sedona and the red rock country beyond

Continuing on to the viewpoint, we found ourselves looking directly across Carroll Canyon to the airport on Table Top Mountain (more commonly referred to as “Airport Mesa”). This was our planned lunch spot and everyone but me settled down on the breezy hill to enjoy the view while eating lunch. As for me, being more interested in a good spot for a nap, I turned back down the trail looking for a cozy spot sheltered from the wind. I didn’t find anything that really suited me until I was back at the fork in the trail; so I settled down there for a quick lunch followed by a nap. It seemed that I had barely closed my eyes when I heard the rest of the hikers coming down the trail.

From the fork we climbed a short distance and then started the rather steep descent down the north end of the mountain to the end of Scheurman Mountain Trail at the high school. However, we needed to get back to our cars which were parked at Lower Red Rock Loop Trail, so just before we reached the high school, we turned left onto a trail (again Trail “S,” that would take us just behind and above the school and then along the side of the mountain parallel to Hwy 89A and then Lower Red Rock Loop road to our cars. Part of the way the trail followed an old roadbed above the present highway; however, as we approached the intersection with Lower Red Rock Loop Road, it veered off and followed a rock ledge around the side of the mountain. Somewhere along the way we missed a turnoff for Trail “S” and continued along the old ledge. But it really made little difference as we soon reconnected with the trail after the ledge ended at a wash. From there we followed Trail “S” most of the way back to our cars, coming out just about 0.2 miles farther along the dirt road from where we had parked.

My GPS disclosed that this hike was 6.3 miles long, the highest elevation was 4828 feet and the total ascent was 1002 feet.

The GPS track is shown on the included map (below).