Cottonwood Cove: the Far Side of Coyote Buttes South

Color Streaks Through Stone

Coyote Buttes South is an immense landscape with no trails.  There are few landmarks and only limited information.  I used Photographing the Southwest:  Arizona to pick a sunrise location.  Beyond that I found information scarce.  Some online guide information and plenty of time looking at satellite images helped me decide where I wanted to go.  The problem is that something like this on satellite:

Coyote Buttes South satellite Images with some GPS locations I programmed before my trip.

Ends up looking like this in reality:

Coyote Buttes images from the ground:  terrain looks much rougher in reality!

As usual, I wanted to explore further afield in this awesome locale, searching for something novel and exciting.  I like that feeling of discovery so I left the tall teepees of Coyote Buttes South and crossed that sandy 1 mile to reach the far side of Cottonwood Cove.  Here I discovered more teepees and some very colorful sections.  One teepee I've named the "Rainbow Teepee" because of the wonderful colors.  I also discovered a "Barrel Wave" formation that is all white with a few lines of color streaking through it.

Sand is a four-letter word.  I found plenty of it all over and it slows progress a lot.  Over on the far side, I saw nobody else but did see a couple footprints in the sand.  Somebody had come this way before.

West Side Cottonwood Cove Teepees

Red-brown chocolate teepees also infest this area.

My favorite discovery on this side was the White Barrel Wave, which feels like it's going to roll over me and all around me.  It's a long formation, probably 150 feet, and beautifully colorful!

White Barrel Wave:  A Stunning Discovery!

White Barrel Wave Detail

Another discovery was this stack of circular layers of sandstone.

Circles and circles in hundreds of layers.

Gordon's hike rating:
Hike Difficulty:                   ★★★ Moderate with Class 2 Scrambling
Trail Condition:                   ★★ Fair:  Good route-finding and common sense is necessary
Trail Hazards:                      ★★ Fair:  Sand and Sandstone
Trailhead:                              Coyote Buttes South parking lot
Time Required:                     Half day hike, (minimum 4 hours)
Distance round trip:              2 miles
Off the Beaten Path:             ★★★★ Yes, 4 Stars
Scenery:                                ★★★★ Excellent, 4 Stars
Photographic Potential:        ★★★★ Excellent, 4 Stars