Government Trail to Grand Gulch

The Government Trail is one of several that provide access to Grand Gulch in the Cedar Mesa area in southeast Utah. The access road is a west turn from Utah Route 261, 9.9 miles south of the Kane Gulch Ranger Station onto the road that appears to be marked as the Cigarette Springs Road. Then it is 9.2 miles to the trailhead.

There are three junctions where you stay to the right, two of them marked. The last 1.5 miles is narrower and much bumpier.

At the trailhead, there are some information signs and a trail register. The Grand Gulch area has a $2 per hiker permit fee for day hiking. There is a 2.5 mile or so segment along an old road through mesa top desert vegetation before reaching the canyon rim. A sign at the trailhead says 3 miles but I don’t think it is that far. Polly’s Canyon is visible on the right as the trail heads north to the rim.

It took me 0:55 minutes to arrive at the rim where there are views across to the formation known as Polly’s Island. From here there is a switchback constructed trail that leads about 0.8 miles to the canyon floor. This area is about 26 canyon miles downstream from the Kane Gulch Ranger Station trail head.

With binoculars, there is a ruins site visible just below the rim of Polly’s Island. Several doorways are visible and some open rooms are spread out along the ledge. There might be more ruins sites on top but it was hard to tell. 

There might be a ruins site on the northwest side of Polly’s Island but there is a lot of thick brush and a steep climb up the sandy banks. I went part of the way there but didn't go far enough.

The main attraction of this hike is the Big Man rock art panel up the canyon about 1.5 miles. After looking around briefly to the left I continued up canyon to the right. Most of the trail is along the canyon floor where it is mostly wide and smooth. There were several muddy spots where a recent flood had left pools of water.

Most of the extreme muddy spots had side trails around them but I think the flooding had disrupted these trails somewhat. Much of the vegetation close to the banks appeared to be pushed over by the flowing water. I by-passed the Polly’s canyon on the right where there is an arch. 

The Big Man panel is high above the trail on the face of a rocky point. I was checking the map frequently and even when I thought I was near it I didn't see it right away. The view up is obscured both by the angle and the many Cottonwood trees along the canyon floor.

I was slightly past it when I saw it. The trail to climb up is on the left side and is steep. The two large reddish figures catch the most attention.

There is an interpretive sketch in an ammo box at the site that identifies the male figure on the right as Tawa’ Ki and the female on the left as Tawa’ Ka. It points out that a spiral, scarf and handbag are associated with the female.

To the left, there some white figures and some red handprints but no interpretation is offered. It took me about 3:00 hours to arrive at the Big Man Panel. I didn't notice any other ruins or rock art along this section of canyon, but there may be some.

My return hike took 2:30 hours for a total hike of 5:50 hours for about 9 miles. It was about 70 F degrees in the morning and 82 F in the afternoon on a mid September day. I carried 3 liters of water and needed every drop. I didn't see any other hikers during my hike.

Todie Canyon to Split Level Ruin-Grand Gulch

Todie Canyon is one of the five or six entry points into the 51.7 mile Grand Gulch Primitive Area trail in the Cedar Mesa area of southeast Utah.

The Todie Canyon trail head is about 3.5 miles south of the Kane Gulch Ranger Station along Utah Highway 261, and then another mile down a dirt road. The BLM charges a $2 fee for day hiking in the Grand Gulch system.

The trail starts out as an easy walk along the canyon rim for about 0.5 miles and then descends very steeply to the canyon bottom. The route is a rocky jumble for about a mile and the going is slow, before smoothing out as it approaches the junction with the Kane Gulch Trail.

The junction is about 7.5 miles along the Kane Gulch trail, so Todie Canyon is a shortcut that allows a day hiker to view this more distant part of the Grand Gulch. There are several pools of water and huge boulders that require the trail to detour away from the canyon bottom for short distances. Take careful note what the route in and out of the canyon looks like as it can be confusing, though it is well marked.

The Todie Canyon has more small Ancestral Pueblo Ruins to view in the upper section than nearby Kane Gulch, though most of them are high on the canyon walls and inaccessible. There are at least five sites, one of the sites seems to be a series of granaries side by side.

There is a canyon floor level site just past the junction with the Kane Gulch Trail about 2.5 miles down the trail. This site doesn’t seem to have a name but has a number of small structures and a red geometric pictograph high on the sandstone wall.

The site isn’t completely obvious from the trail. The Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper trees obscure the view from the main trail, and it would be easy to walk past it. There are spur trails off of the main trail that lead to this site and the Split Level site.

About 3.8 miles down the route the highlight Split Level Ruins appears. About 100 yards before this south facing alcove site there is a small petroglyph panel. This petroglyph panel has two figures that look like long snouted mountain sheep standing up on their hind legs. They resemble the popular Kokopelli figures but without any sign of a flute.

The Split Level Ruin is also not immediately visible from the trail. The alcove is visible but the view is blocked by trees and you’re not sure if anything is there until you explore closer.

Split Level Ruin is one of the major sites in this area. It seems to feature a tower pressed against the sandstone wall, overlooking the low structures in front.

It took me 2:30 hours to arrive at Split Level Ruin. I had some trouble on the way back as I tried climbing out at the wrong point. I wasted about an hour and used about 6:00 hours for this 7.6 mile hike. There were very few hikers in this part of Grand Gulch on a 65 F, day in late April.

Kane Gulch Trail to Turkey Pen Ruins and Stimper Arch

The Kane Gulch Trail is a hiking and horse trail and is one of the five or six trail heads for the popular 51.7 mile Grand Gulch Primitive Area Trail in the Cedar Mesa area in southeast Utah.

The trail head is at the Kane Gulch Ranger Station a few miles south of the junction of Utah routes 95 and 261. Natural Bridges National Monument is nearby to this area. This is one of the canyons where the BLM charges a small fee for use of the trail.

The trail descends along the canyon floor with the sandstone walls gradually becoming deeper and massive. There are springs and water pools and some riparian habitat along the canyon floor and Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper and other desert vegetation along the canyon sides. A few of the narrow shady areas have some tall Douglas Firs.

In the first four miles I only saw one granary ruins high on the canyon side. Compared with nearby Arch Canyon near Comb Ridge, the canyon sides here are steeper and offer fewer sites for small ruins, at least in this upper section. The canyon floor seemed to be narrower and rockier.

At the 4.0 mile mark there is a good ruins site at the junction of Kane Gulch and Grand Gulch, known as the Junction Ruins. From the distance the upper level structures are visible. The wide lower alcove shelters several small structures.

It is a short climb up to view the low structures. The midden trash area in front of the site is more obvious than at most sites and has a chain around it to deter visitors from walking over it. The midden area has many pottery shards to view and a surprising amount of small corn cobs. I looked closely for rock art along the walls but didn’t find any here. The terrain at this deep canyon junction is wide and flat and very scenic and shady, a pleasant place to linger.

The Turkey Pen Ruins site is only 0.7 miles past the Junction Ruins. This is also a multi level site in a large elevated alcove. There is a squarish kiva like structure right at the entrance to the site, with several small structures pressed against the sandstone walls. During my visit the far half of the site was closed.

The Turkey Pen Ruins site is rich in pictographs, featuring many hand prints, with some big horn sheep and some humanoid figures. At least three colors are used here, white and red for the hand prints and brown for one of the broad shouldered humanoid figures. One of the big horn sheep was two toned in brown and white.

From the elevated area of Turkey Pen Ruins, it looked like there was a small arch visible across on the other side of the canyon, but it may have just been the light. The map I had mentions Stimper Arch 0.3 miles further around a meander on the canyon. After viewing Stimper Arch, I turned around here, at the 5.0 mile mark and returned to the trail head.

My total hike was 5:20 hours for the 10 miles I hiked. The going is uphill on the way back and I noticed the sandy sections more. The trail is a little harder to follow going uphill. Trail segments that aren’t part of the main trail can lead you astray. I carried three liters of water on a 70 degree F. mid April day and had a few swallows left at the end.