Hobbs Wash Exploring

Hobbs Wash is a short tributary to Lower Butler Wash, about five miles west of Bluff in southeast Utah. There are no official trails into the wash but the area has some Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites and petroglyphs to hike towards and the distance is short.

I started my hike at the Historical Marker that is on the west side of Butler Wash and still east of Comb Ridge on the north side of the highway. Crossing to the south side of the highway, it is a short walk down into Hobbs Wash, but quickly the wash reaches a pour over point.

I explored further south along the rim looking for an easy route down, but didn't see anything reasonable, though I think others have found an easy way.

To the right of the pour point, there is a rocky slope that isn't easy, but is feasible to descend to the canyon floor. It is a little tangled going down the small wash but once you reach the junction with Butler Wash, there are some hiker made trails up and down Butler Wash.

At the junction, I turned left, or north and hiked back towards the highway. There are some alcoves in small Hobbs Wash that look like feasible sites for ruins but I didn't see anything still standing. I did notice one small petroglyph on the north wall. Looking to the south, I think there must be another ruins site nearby, but I didn't go that way to see it.

A few hundred yards to the north I found a small site. This site is very close to the highway and vehicles can be seen racing by. The sandstone layer here sits on top of a thick layer of soil that has eroded into steep dirt cliffs with sluggish water flow winding in between.

The bottoms area is thick with vegetation and there is a meandering stream. Even though the distance is short back to the highway it didn't look very hikeable.

This site has two small structures and a reddish pictograph on the back wall. The historical marker on the highway commemorates four scouts that sought shelter in this area on December 27, 1879. The scouts were exploring a route for Mormon Hole in the Rock pioneers.

I retraced my steps without searching further south along the Butler Wash, climbing up the rocky slope. I spent about 2:00 hours on this hike, much of it looking around on the rim for the route down.

I don't think I visited the better known Hobbs Wash Ruin. This is an area where it might be good strategy to spot the sites from the east side of Butler Wash first.