Day Hiking Cabin Loop Trail - Mogollon Rim - Coconino National Forest

Day Hiking Cabin Loop Trail - Mogollon Rim - Coconino National Forest

Cabin Loop is a great place to start backpacking. The trail is beautiful, you can make it as easy or as challenging as you want and there are tons of options to camp.

So why have I failed to complete this loop twice? First time....well, laziness. And then there were those bears. (Not that they wanted anything to do with me.) Second time? I underestimated a storm and bailed when lightning got bad. But the conditions were perfect, the flowers were in bloom and the area was greener than I've ever seen because of the recent monsoons. So Tina and I headed back up to finally complete that loop.

With Cabin Loop, you can do an endless combination of trails. Fred Haught, Houston Brothers, Barbershop and U Bar. And then there are the dozens of forest roads so you can start and stop about anywhere you want. We decided for the shorter of the two main loops, which meant excluding the Fred Haught trail. The length was a factor, but I'm also not excited about the 2~3 miles of the Fred Haught trail that are on the busy FR 300.

Now this is traditionally a backpacking trail, but we opted to car camp and day hike it. We went in at Dane's Cabin. This location is actually on the U Bar trail, but traveling south it quickly becomes the Barbershop Trail. And that stretch was amazing. Alternating between tall pine forests and meadows with a couple minor hills to overcome, it was a highlight. After about 5 miles, Barbershop ended at the Houston Brothers trail. This section? Not as amazing. But eventually, as you travel further north, Houston Brothers becomes drop dead gorgeous. Tall pines, aspen, meadows - filled with flowers and ferns - and finally a stream and some cabins. We finally made it to Aspen Spring. This has a spring (obviously), the remains of a shed and a stone fireplace alone in a meadow where the cabin had long since burned down. If we had continued north another mile or so, we would have come up on the Pinchot Cabin, but we opted for a short cut to U Bar.

U Bar...I forgot how steep those two climbs were. But at the bottom of each are two of the best campsites on the loop. (One was occupied.) We were day hiking, so we moved along. After a few more miles, we were back at Dane's Cabin and then the car.

Overall, our trip was around 16~17 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation change. I really can't recommend this loop (or just general area) enough. If you have not been to the Cabin Loop trail, pack your backpack and get going.

Happy hour by Packit Gourmet. No, I'm not sponsored or paid by them, I just love their food.

https://www.packitgourmet.com/

We take the Moonshine Margarita on most backpacking trips for a reward after a tough day. I also recommend...well, a lot of their other stuff. Start with the Meyer Lemon Cheesecake and maybe the All American Works Burger....And, of course, the Happy Hour Queso Rico Dip.

Music by Epidemic Sound:

Live Alice - Fleurs Douces
Wannabe - OTE
In Our Hands - Ten Towers
Boccherini Menuet

If you click on the links below - and especially if you buy from these links - I'll get compensation. So that would be cool. No, I'm not sponsored by them, but I love the products.

Filmed on:

GoPro Hero 9 Black:

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Canon EOS R:

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Weebil S gimbal for your DSLR:

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