Utah Anasazi Canyon Hike - Comb Ridge - Monarch Cave

Utah Trip Report 2014 March - Monarch Cave

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Cedar Mesa / Comb Ridge, Utah
Day 3

Monarch Cave / Sand Island Petrogyphs

To sum up my second trip to Utah for 2014 is WOW. I traveled to the Cedar Mesa / Comb Ridge region in early March. I also made a day trip further north for another slot canyon adventure. I’m already falling behind on my 60 by 60 slot canyon challenge but I needed field data for the Cedar Mesa 2014 Canyon Atlas.  This trip was an Anasazi Ruins adventure.

Finding the trailhead for Monarch Cave was the trickiest. The Cedar Mesa 2014 Canyon Atlas book specifies the mileage at 6.9 miles but there is a track at 6.7 miles with a large developed parking area. I compared the GPS coordinates from the atlas to actual and noted the book called for N37.35897 but I was at N37.35710 which means I was only good to 2 decimal places with the third off by almost .002 which was a fairly significant error which indicated I should be further north. This error assumed the trailhead coordinates were correct. I decided it was close enough for me to find my way and there was a worn path from the parking area going down into Butler Wash. I didn’t think it was a cattle trail but you never know. I followed the path down a hill into a jungle in the wash and lost it. I couldn’t find an exit point and the wash wall was about 20 feet high making it a formidable barrier.  After floundering in the wash for about 5 minutes I concluded this was not it and I had enough bushwhacking.

I returned to the vehicle and drove further north to a 6.9 mile track and parked at the end. My GPS coordinates had me at N37.35878 now meaning the first three digits matched and the fourth digit was close. This time the path leading down into Butler Wash had a stick sign pointing the way. I followed this worn path although it was barely a path in a few places through some green trees until I came across a BLM sign warning about disturbing archeological sites. I was clearly in a drainage at this point running east-west and there was no getting lost now since the cave is at the head of the drainage. At first I started getting glimpses of the top of a cave or alcove. Even though the drainage will take you directly under the cave at some point prior to this you need to break right and there was a very short stick sign pointing the way to the right. Once the vegetation opened up there was a good view of the Monarch Cave with the ruins. The entry is along the cliffs edge where a long shallow alcove leads the way.

There is an ammo box lying on the ground chained to a large tree branch. You are supposed to make an entry although there isn’t any sign indicating this.  I head for the alcove. There are some paintings on the alcove wall and a fairly large area under the alcove that is chained off to prevent trampling of the vegetation.  To enter the Monarch Cave requires a bit of scrambling for those not afraid of heights or slipping off the Slickrock. This is one of the more photogenic and significant ruin in the Comb Ridge area. I spent a fair amount of time shooting it from various angles for different composition. It was an easy and pleasant hike going in and going back was even better since it was slightly downhill.

 Summary

This was a very enjoyable hike with an excellent prize at the end. The ruin is beautiful and the hand paintings are a bonus.

Sand Island Petrogyphs

There is a large sign along the highway (US-191) between Bluff and the gate for CR-262 for the Sand Island Petroglyphs Boat Launch and campgrounds. Although there may be an entrance on US-163, I used the US-191 entrance since this is what I was driving by every day.  The rock art is fenced off and extensive. I didn’t measure it but probably over a hundred feet long. This is another classic example, just because it is very easy to get to doesn’t mean it is a second rate experience. This panel is first class and large.