River Panel Trail

The River Panel Trail is a 6 or 3 mile round trip into lower Butler Wash to the junction with the San Juan River. On the bluffs just east and upriver from the junction is a large petroglyph panel. The starting point is 0.2 miles south down the road that leads to the Bluff, Utah airport, five miles west of the town of Bluff on Highway 163 in southeast Utah.

I hiked the 6 mile version across the level desert area with spring wildflowers, but vehicles with 4WD or high clearance can follow the dirt road about 1.5 miles to the canyon rim and start there. The road has a few sandy spots and there is a confusing rocky area near the beginning.

From the rim, the trail descends toward the wash bottom over some spots where the old trail construction with bricklike stones is obvious. There is a large alcove visible on the opposite side of the canyon. I looked at it from several angles with binoculars but couldn’t see anything that made it clear that it was a ruins site. It looks like there is a side trail leading into it.

The trail winds in and out of the wash bottom. There was some flowing water in mid May and the bottom was thick with Tamarisks, Russian Olives, Willows, and a few Cottonwood trees. The Fort Bluff Historic Site information mentions that the early pioneer cabins were constructed using the abundant Cottonwood trees.

 It now looks like the Cottonwoods have been pushed aside by the invasive Tamarisks and Olives. There were a lot of cactus flowers in bloom. I saw some Single Leaf Ash trees higher on the canyon sides. About 10 minutes before the junction with the San Juan River there is an alcove with a small ruins site on the west side.

The petroglyph panel faces the San Juan River just east of the river junction. Most visitors will probably arrive via the popular rafting trips that start in nearby Bluff at the Sand Island boat launch. Sand Island also has a large petroglyph panel and the large Butler Wash Panel is only a few hundred yards downstream from the River Panel. This area is very rich in rock art sites.

There are several hundred images to view. Many are at eye level and some are higher in places where you wonder how they were able to work on them. 

Some of the higher level images include broad shouldered figures similar to the ones that stand out at the nearby Butler Wash Panel. There are four grooves that look like stone sharpeners mixed in with the images.

On the return hike I noticed a second small petroglyph panel on the west side of Butler Wash just before the canyon junction with the San Juan River. There is a side trail leading up. This side trail is more noticeable on the return hike.

There aren’t as many images at the second panel, but it includes an interesting one that looks like two stalks of corn. My total hike to the River Panel took 3:10 hours for the six miles that I hiked. The segment from the Butler Wash rim and back took 2:10 for 3 miles and the panel viewing. It was a 75 F degree mid May day and I drank 2 liters of water.

Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Utah

River House Ruins Trail at Comb Ridge

The River House Ruins Trail follows a sandy 4WD road along the southwest side of Comb Ridge for 4 miles to the San Juan River in southeast Utah about 7 miles west of the town of Bluff.

Besides the River House Ancestral Pueblo Ruins there are several historic sites along the trail associated with early pioneers and settlers. About 1.5 miles east of the Ruins site is the Butler Wash Petroglyph Panel.

The Trail Head is just to the west of Comb Ridge along Utah Route 163. There is an interpretive sign at the turnoff that introduces the difficulties that Mormon pioneers had in getting past the massive sandstone obstacle that Comb Ridge presented. A few minutes further down the trail is the Navajo Springs site.

The sign here describes the situation on December 27, 1879 when the starving Mormon scouts improved an Ancestral Pueblo Trail and made it over the Ridge. On the east side of Comb Ridge there is a marker for Hobbs Wash that describes the area where the scouts including George Hobbs spent that night before finally arriving in the area that is now Bluff.

The trail south is mostly flat, crossing a wash several times. The vegetation is mostly the invasive Tamarisk, though this tree offers a little shade that the native Rabbit Brush does not. About 3 miles south the trail starts to climb San Juan Hill; the area that the pioneers decided was the most feasible place to try to cross the rugged ridge. The interpretive sign describes how hard it was here on the animals and pioneers to labor up the steep rocky slope.

Further on is the area called the Rincone. In 1885 a trading post was established here at a point that was popular for crossing the San Juan River. Observing the terrain on the other side I wondered where anyone came from and where they went when they crossed at this point. It’s hard to see any travel routes on the other side. The bottoms area here is green with a lot of Cottonwood and Russian Olive Trees.

Most of the visitors to the River House Ruin arrive as part of rafting trips on the San Juan River. The trip from Bluff to Mexican Hat is popular. The ruins site is in the set of sandstone cliffs that are just above the river bottoms. There is a higher set of sandstone cliffs with a road below that could cause a hiker some confusion but these higher cliffs are well back from the river.

The River House appears to have about a dozen rooms and a circular kiva. It also has pictographs on the alcove walls including a large two toned snake. The left side of the alcove has several white hand prints and other figures.

There is a ledge trail from the west that leads to the ruins also. I followed the ledge trail by accident. About 100 yards west of the River House Ruin there is a small granary ruin site along the ledge trail. A hiker could arrive at the ruins and find no one here, or find a group of 21 rafters like I did.

The Butler Wash Petroglyph Panel is 1.5 miles further east from the River House. The 4WD road continues until the last 150 yards. There are several small petroglyph panels along the way giving a preview of the large and spectacular panel ahead. This area along the San Juan River is very rich in petroglyphs, the Sand Island site closer to Bluff being an easy site to visit.

The left side of the large panel seems to have the clearest images, featuring several large broad shouldered figures. The panel extends for about 100 yards to the right but the desert varnish appears to be recovering many of the figures making them harder to see.

I found at least one flute player here that appeared to use part of the natural rock for the headdress.

There is a shady area below the elevated panel with good views up and down the river. There is at least one small ruins site visible with binoculars on the south side of the river in this area. The Butler Wash Panel is a popular stop for the rafting groups.

I was 3:30 hours into my hike when I turned back to retrace my steps. It took me 2:30 hours to go the 5.5 miles back to my starting point and a total of 6:00 hours for the 11 mile trip. I carried 4 liters of water and drank it all. This early June day was a little cooler than average with the temperature about 65 F at 9:00 AM and about 85 F at 3:00 PM. There was some breeze in the afternoon that helped with cooling.

Goosenecks of the San Juan River

Along the rim of the Goosenecks of the San Juan River is a small State Park offering a spectacular view of the entrenched meanders, a thousand feet below the rim.

The San Juan River flows out of the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado and flows through the desert areas of the Four Corners area flowing west to meet with the waters of the Colorado River in Lake Powell.

Here the San Juan River has cut itself into a twisty course through layers of sandstone and shales of the Honaker Trail Formation and the limestone layers of the Paradox Formation. These are deeper layers of rock than are usually visible in the region.
There were some rafters visible way down there as I gazed over the edge. There is a one day raft trip from Bluff, Utah to Mexican Hat, but if you go past there, into the Goosenecks it is five days before you can get out.
 There is room in the park for some short hikes along the rim, gazing at the meanders from different angles. The terrain is treeless and probably has some desert wildflowers in season. There was a Navajo couple selling jewelry on the day I visited, a common sight in this region.

Sand Island Petroglyph Site

The Sand Island rafting and petroglyph site is about four miles west of Bluff, Utah along the San Juan River in southeast Utah is. Bluff is one of the few towns in this scenic but remote area that has some services for visitors. It is somewhat artsy and has a historic trail of preserved sandstone homes and buildings and also has the Fort Bluff Historic Site..

Sand Island is the launch point for raft trips on the San Juan River and has parking and campgrounds along with the launch ramp. The one day trip to Mexican Hat is popular.

The San Juan River is fed by snowmelt from the nearby mountains in Colorado and flows through the desert area westward to meet with the Colorado River in Lake Powell behind the Glen Canyon Dam.

The site has apparently been popular for centuries. A large panel of petroglyphs faces the river near the campground area. Mountain Sheep are popular in this panel as they are in many of the petroglyph panels in the region. Mountain Sheep aren't very common these days but they stand out in the rock art of the area.

The petroglyph panel has a clear fairly large image of the popular Kokopelli, a hump backed flute player. This image is used quite a bit commercially around the area There are Kokopelli bike shops, motels, and the image is a popular design on the jewelry that is hand made in the area.

This is probably the easiest place to find the flute players. Surrounding the obvious figure there are at least five more (three visible here). There are two flute players just below the large figure, and one above and to the right. In a wider view there is another to the left and the right. In another part of the overall panel there are at least two more for a total of eight.

Further west, past Mexican Hat are the Goosenecks of the San Juan, entrenched meanders that can be viewed from a small Utah State Park. The raft trip to Mexican Hat usually includes a stop at the Butler Wash petroglyph site near the confluence with Butler Wash. The River House Ruins site can also be accessed from the raft trips and can also be reached by hiking along the trail on the west side of Comb Ridge.