Casner Mountain Trail

[azepicriderandrunner]

Has anybody ridden Casner Mtn Trail north of Sedona before? GPX file available here. The aerial shots make it look like it would be a lot of fun coming down from Flagstaff, perhaps for a long, long ride (with a stop at Oak Creek Brewery of course).

[freak-a-zoid]

I have hiked it from the bottom and 4xd out from off woody mtn rd. It is a closed 4x road to access the power lines going up casner....beautiful views on top looking both to sycamore and towards sedona. would be a lenghthy ride or shuttle operation.

[dobbs]

Cosmic Ray's book from long ago used to list the trail as "Death Hammer" or something like that. Sounds pleasant.

[rockman]

In a nutshell, Casner sucks. But have fun, if you can.

[azepicriderandrunner]

I just got this PM

They baby heads are so nasty. I thought that it was one of the most beautiful trails that I have ever been on. I thought that it was a great time, even though you have to walk a bit of it.

and this

The only problem is that the power lines are the only legal way down to connect woody mountain road to sedona on that side, and from what I've heard, it's about 7 miles of baby heads the whole way down

It looks like we will be pre-riding the loop in early May if anyone is interested.

[rockman]

Steep and rocky with lots of overgrown vegetation. I'd wear armor or carharts. Munds Wagon trail would be a better option but for sure everyone should ride Casner once. Casner Bloodbath was the term Ray used to describe the ride.

[azepicriderandrunner]

Originally Posted by rockman

Steep and rocky with lots of overgrown vegetation. I'd wear armor or carharts.

Sounds like the perfect conditions for an AES epic Carharts?!......SunDog might be interested in this one also.

Thanks for the heads up and beta. Here is a good map of the trail.

Originally Posted by rockman

Munds Wagon trail would be a better option but for sure everyone should ride Casner once.

The plan is to ride out from Flag, drop down on Casner and over to Cockscomb, Girdner, Teacup, JT, Huckabee, and then up Munds, Hot Shot, and then back to Flag via the Old Munds Highway.

[AKA Monkeybutt]

Casner Mtn sounds fun in a sick way. It reminds me of our all day Seven Springs bike/hike.


Not to get off the Casner Mtn subject but, I believe Epicrider is working on a large jeep trail ride in the Crown King area. Keith and Deb up in Black Canyon City were telling me they have a lot of information on jeep routs/mining trails up in that area. Sounds like the making of some good rides

[rockman]

My bad, I thought you were talking about the other Casner. Casner canyon off of Schnebly Hill Rd.

[azepicriderandrunner]

Originally Posted by rockman

My bad, I thought you were talking about the other Casner. Casner canyon off of Schnebly Hill Rd.

oh, no problem. That is not my favorite trail, truly a route worthy of some carharts. Casner Mountain Trail and connecting powerline might be similar with some pretty gnarly sections of baby heads.

[SSspider]

Yo,
Dave T has prolly got that on a GPX file.

[azepicriderandrunner]

Originally Posted by SSspider

Yo,
Dave T has prolly got that on a GPX file.

Thanks Mr. See; I hope to have the cue sheet for you soon. BTW, I am getting a lot of compliments about your shirt.

[azepicriderandrunner]

Steve,

Thanks for the info, especially the mileage/time info. PM sent.

Did you do the singletrack (Cockscomb, Girdner, Teacup, JT, Huck) over to Schnnebly or did you take the road?

[coconinocycles]

Originally Posted by azepicriderandrunner

Has anybody ridden Casner Mtn Trail north of Sedona before?

many, many times. a great connector. as it is the powerline access it is kept clear by APS. although it is a "road" it is closed to traffic without reservations. not brushy. *beautiful* views of sycamore & the sedona area as well as the entire verde valley & the peaks. very technical/grovel-y. at times the ridge is very narrow with huge drops to each side. great camping on the precipice. no water. 1st water is the old ranch/windmill at the bottom {i wouldn't bet my life on it, however....} used to knock it out as a training loop from flag & back up schnebly & old munds highway in <10hrs. about 108mi. mooney canyon trail is a wilderness "option" - illegal, of course.... very rugged, it often has pools of h2o near the bottom. more ledgy then casner......seen wild bulls here a few times. PM me for other "options" Steve.

[coconinocycles]

Originally Posted by azepicriderandrunner

Steve,

Thanks for the info, especially the mileage/time info. PM sent.

Did you do the singletrack (Cockscomb, Girdner, Teacup, JT, Huck) over to Schnnebly or did you take the road?

no, that time is just rally-ing the roads........we did do casner/girdner/az cyprus/carrol cnyn/templton to village of old creeps 1 day, next day llama/chkn point/munds trail to the top-top/road to top of mormon mtn/MM trail and AZ trail to flag - AWESOME loop..........Steve.

[Pitch]

I've been through there 2x in the past year with Jeeps (need a USFS permit). The trail is a doubletrack the whole way with several steep and loose hills. There is "exposure" in a vehicle as you cross some knife edge ridges, but really no sweat on 2 wheels. Too many flat sections to be a DH run. But oh, the views... phenomenal: Sycamore Canyon to the west and the Verde Valley/Sedona to the east. There are long, uneventful jeep road approaches on the upper and lower ends, with no real fast/easy way to make shuttling especially attractive either.

[azepicriderandrunner]

I have the GPX file of Casner. The route has been recently graded, so it is a smooth, breath-taking ride down to Sedona. Let me know if anyone is interested in the file.

92 miles/6k of climbing w/o any singletrack from Teacup or Munds, 110+ with said singletrack.

[azepicriderandrunner]

Here is the GPX file.



The route: Casner-Cockscomb-Teacup [imagine adding JT and Huckabee...]-Schnebly-Munds Wagon-Hot Shot-Munds-Old Munds

Looks fun, eh?

103 miles, 10k of climbing, and one good time.

[azjonboy]

Chad,
I'm unable to download the file. Could it be because I'm using a Mac? Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Jon