Top of Comb Ridge Trail-Procession Panel

Comb Ridge is a massive wedge of uplifted sandstone that runs north and south for 80 miles in southeast Utah. The east side of Comb Ridge along Butler Wash Road has many eroded canyons that offer interesting hiking.

One of the trails allows a moderate route to the top of Comb Ridge and also has the Procession petroglyph panel.

Butler Wash Road starts about 5.0 miles west of Bluff along Highway 163, near the San Juan River. The trail that begins about 6.6 miles north of the south gate of Butler Wash Road offers a route to get to one of the high points of Comb Ridge offering wide views of the remote Cedar Mesa area, an area rich with small Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites.

 This trail starts on a short side road from the Butler Wash Road and doesn't have a BLM sign in box or any trail head information.

The trail is mostly over sandstone without a marked route. Head for the reddish ridge and stay to the south of the deep canyon, working along the south rim. There are visible trail segments on the areas that aren't bare rock.

The trail leads to a view point between two rugged peaks of Comb Ridge. To the right are some flat vertical south facing cliffs. The environment here is scattered Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper trees with Mormon Tea, Prickly Pear Cactus, and maybe Blackbrush. This area is very hot in the summer with spring and fall being the best times to visit.

To the upper west end of the cliffs is the Procession petroglyph panel. The trail doesn't lead directly to the petroglyph panel so you'll have to steer up to the right.

There doesn't seem to be any ruins in the vicinity of this panel, though ruins are present in the adjacent canyons. This panel features three long lines of small figures marching toward a circle along with several animal figures.

I notice that among the marchers are a few larger figures, with birds on their heads and carrying long staffs.

The nearby Sand Island petroglyph site has several flute player figures, and ducks on the heads of figures are also found there and  in several other sites.

The line of marchers extends around the natural corner of the rock and they keep coming. Another petroglyph site that appears to show a procession is along the Hidden Valley Trail near Moab, Utah.

Some of the marchers seem to be in particularly good spirits, waving to the viewers from across the gap of deep time. I spent about 2:30 hours on this hike and walked about four miles, including the walk past the petroglyphs to the top of Comb Ridge. At the top, there is a ruins site in view in one of the canyons to the north.