Comb Ridge near Bluff Utah 360 Degree Panorama
360 degree panorama of Comb Ridge near Bluff Utah taken from DJI Mavic Pro drone.
Exploring Comb Ridge Utah April 2018
This video summarizes an early April 2018 trip to explore the east side of Comb Ridge along what is called Butler Wash, near Bluff Utah.
Bluff, Utah has a few hotel-motels, RV sites with tent sites, a couple good restaurants, and one place to get gasoline and supplies. Comb Ridge Bistro is excellent for coffee and food.
I chose to stay the first night at Sand Island which is very near the south entrance to Comb Ridge. Sand Island is a semi primitive campsite with a nice host family, dry toilets, potable water, fire rings, a few grills, picnic tables and lots of blow sand. If tent camping prepare for the blow sand. Campground was very quite and cost $15/night.
The sites included in this trip were;
Wolfman Panel and Ruins
Big Crane site
Double Stack Ruins
Procession Panel
Monarch Ruin
Cold Spring Ruin
Split Level Ruin
Fishmouth Cave and Ruin
Butler Wash Road was very well graded and did not have to utilize 4WD. Road was much better than the Coyote Gulch road for comparison. Many free, primitive campsites are available along Butler Wash and I felt very safe in this area primarily due to the lack of people.
ATT Cell phone coverage was good in Bluff, Sand Island but was marginal along Butler Wash. Sometimes up on the Comb itself you could get coverage. Deep in the canyons though, even my Garmin GPS failed to pick up any signal and Gaiagps stopped functioning.
By far my favorite locations were Cold Spring Ruin and Procession Panel. All ruins and petroglyph panels were easy to find and get to, except for Procession Panel. I followed the many Procession Panel cairns but one cairn path routed me to a steep approach so had to back track and choose a less sketchy route. Best to drop into the canyon as soon as you can instead of proceeding higher up on top of the Comb.
I did not see much of any wildlife while there. I did see large cat tracks inside Cold Spring Cave and a few in the drainage areas. I did not see any snakes but a snake track of one inside Cold Spring Cave.
All of the area was very clean and just a few instances of vandalism. The hiker pottery museums are becoming abundant and would like to discourage people from doing this and leave the sites as you found them.
Weather in early April was amazing. I made sure to time the trip based along no rain forecasts. Temperature was in the high 20s one night and during the day it would warm up to the 70s. Very low humidity so hydration important.
Hard to recommend on how many days you will need. I chose 4 days and this was perfect and allowed me to explore some of the river ruins.
In regard to the video, I chose to include many minutes of driving the Butler Wash road. I wish that this had been available to me prior so I could get an idea what condition the road would be in. I also included excessive footage of the Procession Panel. Many people were asking questions about the glyphs and thought this would give people an idea of the procession characters.
2016 COMB WASH TRAIL, BLUFF, UTAH, HD1080
Comb Ridge Off-Road Trail - Utah
For the full trail guide please visit:
Comb Ridge is an diverse, easy run for any stock high clearance 4x4. It parallels the dramatic Comb Ridge rock formation and has many historical markers outlining this area's importance to the early Mormon pioneers and the ancient Anasazi that once called this beautiful area home. Bring sunscreen as the majority of the trail has no shade. Be aware of the possibility of flash flood during inclimate weather as a good portion of the trail follows Comb Wash and crosses the creek bed many times. Please show respect to any historical sites along this route and do not climb on or remove any artifacts.
Get the trail details and download a GPS route today at:
Comb Wash Drive - Cedar Mesa Area - Blanding, Utah - Bluff, Utah
A drive down Comb Wash which lies between Bluff and Blanding Utah. Nice views of Comb Ridge the whole way along.
Monarch Ruin, Comb Ridge, Utah. Cedar Mesa, Utah. Bears Ears National Monument
Monarch is one of the most popular ruins on the east side of Comb Ridge.
The hike is short but scenic, about two miles round trip. The trail is well defined and easy follow. The climb up is gradual.
Regardless of the popularity it is a fun ruin to visit. There is a lot to see and places to explore in this canyon.
Driving from Monument Valley to Bluff, Utah
Driving on U.S. Route 163 from Monument Valley, Arizona, to Bluff, Utah. The road crosses Navajo Tribal Lands, San Juan River at Mexican Hat and Comb Ridge. Near Mexican Hat there is a small detour to Goosenecks State Park, overlooking a deep meander of the San Juan River. Driven on June 28, 2017. Filmed by Estonian journalist Priit Pullerits.
Comb Ridge - 2018
This video is about Comb Ridge - 2018
Reflecting Pond at Comb Ridge, Utah
Aunt Kit talks about location photography at Comb Ridge, Utah
Cold Springs Cave, Comb Ridge, Utah. Cedar Mesa, Utah. Bears Ears National Monument
Cold Springs Cave has a surprising number of ruins within it, similar to Monarch. The pictographs and petroglyphs are equally impressive. Like many of the Comb Ridge hikes this one too, is short.
Comb Ridge Dugway Milk Flat Rd Hotel Rock
45 mile loop up Comb Ridge Dugway to Milk Flat Rd. past Hotel Rock and back down to Comb Wash. Start and end is about 18 miles SW of Blanding, Utah. Lots of very remote terrain and superb evidence of the Ancients that still remains accessible in the newly formed Bears Ears National Monument.
Fish Mouth Cave, Comb Ridge, Utah. Cedar Mesa, Utah. Bears Ears National Monument
Fish Mouth Cave is high on Comb Ridge although the walk is relatively short. There are a few ruins low in the canyon but the real prize is the monolithic cave above. The view from the cave is spectacular.
Ridge Soaring Comb Ridge
Brasov IS28M2
Rafting San Juan River Bluff, UT
Hwy. San Juan River is said to be the fastest flowing major river in the United States. It is also the “siltiest” which is why “sand aves”, a unique feature of this waterway, form. A great way to discover the San Juan River is via a river rafting trip, the put-in for which is a short drive from U.S. 191 -
GPS Coordinates: N37 15.477, W109 7.128. Several put-ins provide the opportunity to see ancient cliff dwellings and rock art up close.
Approaching Comb Ridge
Late afternoon drive from the west thru Comb Ridge on Utah Highway 95. Using a GoPro Hero 2. Sorry about the wind noise...lower the volume for easy listening.
2013-05-17 - Comb Ridge
Hiking along Comb Ridge near the 'Double Stack' ruins in southeastern Utah.
130703 UT Comb Ridge Drive Thru 1 6Mbps
Boondocking: Bluff, Utah BLM Land
Dispersed camping in SE Utah. Utah camping guides here:
Procession Panel, Comb Ridge, Utah. Cedar Mesa, Utah. Bears Ears National Monument
Procession panel sets close to the summit of Comb Ridge in Utah. The landscape is beautiful, as is the rock art.
The hike to the panel is similar to most of Comb Ridge canyons. This particular walk crosses vast expanses of slick rock which without the numerous cairns would require some route finding. The trip is short and exciting.