Casner Mountain Trail

full-limited Icon
4.9/5 (10 reviews)
Kachina Village, Arizona (Yavapai County)
Last Updated: 10/01/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

Much of the Casner Mountain Trail is squeezed between the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness and Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness, offering the most astounding views of nature you can see anywhere. This also forces you to keep your vehicle on the trail. You will also get a great view of the famous red rock country of the northern Verde Valley. The Verde Valley encompasses about 714 square miles in the center of Arizona and has hundreds of miles of dirt roads and off-road trails. This area is the height of Arizona's physical beauty, and you'll get an excellent view of it along the Casner Mountain Trail. While most of these off-road four-wheel drive trails are in the Coconino National Forest, others extend into Prescott and Yavapai National Forests, which you can also see parts of from this trail.


Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.9/5 (10)
User Avatar
Official Crew
inline-aa Icon
12650
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/23/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Absolutely incredible trail. We ran from north to south and then back north. Turning the corner and looking down the hill at Waypoint 9 to the narrow trail at the bottom had me taking a pause. Beautiful canyons on both sides of the trail. Switchbacks were awesome. Had to do a couple three-point turns due to some deep ruts. Great trail!
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Todd Harkins
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Todd Harkins
View More Images
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 08/26/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

WOW! Amazing views! The trail is getting more and more eroded with the rains. It’s now a high 3, low 4 in difficulty. I managed just fine in my modded, stock height 4Runner tho. The switchbacks are no joke, and not an area you want to take your eyes off! One of the best trails I’ve done so far!
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Jamie Thomas
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Jamie Thomas
View More Images
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
400
Partially Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 06/15/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

After our rainy season I wasn't sure what to expect. The lower (south end) was very washed out with medium sized rain ruts and lot of medium rocks which made this run much better than when the road is graded. Definitely a Moderate trail today. We started the trail on the south side and went up the switchbacks to the end of the trail, Then turned around and went back down. Round trip from 89A to the top gate and back was 5 hours including photo stops and lunch. I loved the round trip because it enabled us to see the views from both directions and go both ways on the switchbacks. Incredible views all along the trail. Highly recommend this trail!!!! REQUIRES PERMIT! ONLY 22 PERMITS ISSUED A SEASON! The permits are good for 1 assigned week during the season, but can only be used for 1 day during that assigned week. 10 vehicles Max!!!
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Marty
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Marty
View More Images
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/24/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Easier

An trail with two canyon views. A real treat and well worth it. We ran it South to North so we could camp on top of the rim and in the cool pines. But I agree with Trails Offroad that running North to South is the way to go. Your facing the amazing views almost the whole ride.
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
15100
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 08/27/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

The hardest part of this trail is getting a permit. Seven of us ran the trail from south to north ... which looks like the best direction to run it. We had to sneak our trail run in between monsoon rains. The clouds provided a beautiful backdrop to the scenic vistas. We continued on to East Pocket Road and to "Top of the World/Edge of the World/End of the World" ... the internet uses all three titles. Once there our luck ran out when the afternoon monsoon storm caught us.
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Tom
Trail Review: Casner Mountain Trail - Tom
View More Images

From the Community

Start a free trial and get this level of detail on every trail guide
Start Free Trial