Scenic Sedona hike ends at historic cabin
“A woman’s bullet kills as quick as a man’s!”
These menacing words on a lobby card for the 1948 film “Blood on the Moon” spoil one of the movie’s several twisted story arcs. Western serial movies don’t get any more typical than this one.
Starring Robert Mitchum and Barbara Bel Geddes (in her glamorous pre-Miss Ellie of “Dallas” phase) the film’s luscious black-and-white cinematography features several Sedona locations.
Despite the film’s period-accurate stilted dialogue, unfortunate stereotypes and marginal production qualities, it’s a captivating tale of a sinister businessman vs. a good cowboy (and his “spitfire blonde” love interest — the one with the bullets) who foils an evil plot.
There are plenty of horses, cattle and smoking-gun action scenes that play
out in the pristine countryside that dominated the area before Sedona became Sedona.
You can hike to two of the film’s focal points — Van Deren Cabin and Cathedral Rock. Many well-known trails, including Templeton and Baldwin, lead to the world-famous spires of Cathedral Rock above Oak Creek, but there’s only one way to get to the less obvious cabin locale.
Constructed in the 1890s, the two-room abode passed through the hands of various colorful characters including homesteader and cattleman Earl Van Deren. The juniper-shaded enclave on a ridge above Dry Creek is a popular destination for local Jeep tour companies. You could shell out for a butt-bruising ride, but a hike by way of two beautiful trails northwest of town is a less jarring, satisfying experience.
Although much of the land surrounding the cabin is private property, the Forest Service purchased the sliver of territory around the homestead to preserve it as a historic landmark. A plaque gives an overview of its moonshine-steeped history of ranching, outlaws, murder and romance. Some say a ghost lives there now. Apparently, the true history of the cabin would make quite a good film as well.
The least congested footpath to the cabin begins at the Long Canyon trailhead. Hike 1.4 miles on the Chuckwagon Trail to the Brins Mesa junction. Follow Brins Mesa 0.1 mile to where it crosses a dirt road. Turn left and hike the road 0.3 mile to the cabin.
First glimpses of the famous movie set clash with the foreboding words of another promotional lobby card: “When there’s blood on the moon … death lurks in the shadows.” Usually the only things lurking in the cabin’s shadows are squirrels and lizards.
Dust, birds and critters slip through ample gaps in the cabin’s cypress log walls. The homestead’s roost above the creek surrounded by 360-degree mountain vistas is a Hollywood art director’s dream.
Although mid-century Tinsel Town had a love affair with depicting the Old West through a polished, romantic lens where men wore clean shirts and women were perfectly coiffed, life in the remote cabin could not have been that rosy. Probably the only common thread between the cabin and the forgotten film in dire need of Netflix resurrection is that both Van Deren and Mitchum won their women in the end.
Van Deren Cabin hike Length:
3.6 miles out and back, or backtrack to the junction and follow Chuckwagon for a 5.2-mile loop. Moderate.
4,480-4,680 feet.
Long Canyon Trailhead: From the State Route 179 /US 89A traffic circle in Sedona, go 3 miles west on 89A to Dry Creek Road (Forest Road 152C). Turn right and go 2.9 miles to Long Canyon Road (FR 152D), turn right and go 0.5 mile to the trailhead on the right.
Rating: Elevation: Getting there: Details:
www.sedonaredrocktrails.org/ ROGS/Chuckwagon.pdf.
Czinar’s hikes at
Woolly paintbrush flowers are plentiful on the trail.