Alkali Ridge - Ruins and ATV Trails

Good news, we found the entrance to the actual Alkali Ridge National Historical Landmark.  Bad news, I'm not going to write about it in this post.  Good news, I am going to tell you where to find more of the ruins, and also some ATV trails for you four wheelers. If you refer back to my first post about Alkali Point Road and the Ridge area, you'll see my map, and I've added a few details.


Once again, I'm starting this adventure from the junction of Mustang Road (CR 207) and Alkali Point Road (CR 204).  Since we found the cliff dwellings by a trail on Alkali Point Road, we figured they were located on the cliff walls off of Mustang Road.  Now we wanted to find these mesa top ruins we'd read about and needed to estimate a comparison between both roads.  That didn't go so well; between miles 1 to 3; the land is open for hiking, but the canyon is fenced off.  Miles 4 to 6 is all private land, so no hiking at all.  Remember those instructions from the "Visiting the Ancients" site I quoted in my first write up about this area; yeah, still laughing over that.

 




It wasn't until we reached mile 10 that we hit pay dirt; literally!  There is a graded gravel road leading down into the canyon and when you've traveled only 1.1 miles along it, to the north you can make out ruins in the cliff walls.

The big question is, "How do we get up to the mesa top from the gravel road?".  We drove on further and noticed that the road split into three separate trails.  Two of the trails dead end at pump jacks; the third trail goes past the oil company buildings and becomes ATV trail CR 265 which primarily ends at Perkins Road (CR 206) with a side trail here and there along the way.

So, back to the mesa top question; that's when Roy says to me suddenly, "Hey, I noticed a dirt trail that split off from the gravel road before we saw those ruins.  We traveled back to the split which is 3/10ths of a mile from when we first turned off Mustang Road and onto the gravel road.  ATVs and 4-wheel drive vehicles will have no problem with this trail, or the trails that branch off from it.  The first trail that branched off was at 1/10th of a mile, but it only looped back around to the main trail.  At 3/10ths of a mile, a trail went up a steep incline and then balanced out; we went as far as we could and walked out towards the canyon we could see beyond.  Oh what a sight to see, and Eureka!, we found the ruins we'd seen from the gravel road.

First the scenery of the mesa top; it is quite similar to an alien landscape.  Open areas may have piles of rubble and this is possibly what may be left from some of the original ancestral ruins.  Pottery shards and cutting/scraping tools made from agate can be easily found; be careful to watch where you're stepping, so they don't get broken or crushed.

View of the gravel road

The climb down to the ruins is not difficult; watch out for loose sand and stones though.  The walls of this granary are completely intact; the opening in the rocks at the side of the granary allows you a further look inside than just the window.

Now here's a mystery we encountered; carvings on the wall that simply looked like lines going this way and that.  We are clueless as to whether they were made by the ancestral Puebloans, or is it vandalism by "modern day would-be artists"?

I cannot resist taking photos of the local plant life; delicate plants and flowers thriving in sandy soil and amongst the boulders along with the cacti.

Silvery Townsendia (sunflower family)

Woodsia ilvensis (rusty cliff fern0

Wooly Marigold (aster family)

Prickly Pear Cactus with Red Bloom

When I do my next write up on the Alkali Ridge and Canyon area, it will be about the National Landmark itself.

Mary Cokenour

San Juan County in Spring and Yes, it is Snowing.

Living on the east coast, the heat would be turned on October 15th and not turned off until April 15th; pretty standard and hardly ever deviated. Well this isn't the east coast anymore and living in the southwest makes you stay on your toes. When it comes to the weather, don't ever believe you can set your seasonal clock by it. Since March 20th, the official start of spring, we have had days up into the 70s here in Monticello; 80s in the more desert areas such as Moab (located in Grand County), Blanding and Monument Valley. Just as you believe you can finally turn the heat off, say hello to the snow. Yes, I did indeed say the "s" word!

Let me give you a prime example; the last week of April the temperatures in Monticello had been anywhere in the 60s and reaching 70 a couple of times.  On April 27th, Roy and I got up early so we could head out to Moab and have brunch at the Cowboy Grill at the Red Cliffs Lodge.  Holy Moly, who turned on the freezer!  Not only was it extremely cold outside, but an inch of snow covered our vehicles, lawn, walkway, street, everything.  We had just put away our thermal jackets and here we were pulling them out again.

On the way down Peters Hill, we had to stop and take photos; the snow, sun, shadows, clouds all painted an absolutely beautiful portrait of the valley below.

At the bottom of the hill, Dry Valley was a winter wonderland\; the play of shadows over the mesa tops and Church Rock was spectacular.



Church Rock

Dry Valley

Driving towards Lisbon Valley Road, the landscape and sky were so stark, we could see all the way to Big Indian (pillar formation).

Lisbon Valley Road

I couldn't resist this shot, most especially because of the gorgeous blue sky.

By the time we reached Red Cliffs Lodge, had brunch and returned (about 4 hours), the snow was almost gone and the temperature had warmed up a bit.  We then did our trek down Montezuma Canyon Road to map out the sites.  About halfway down, we were considerably warmer to the point of removing our jackets.  The temperatures though remained in the 50s until about Friday and the 70s are back again; except we're expecting snow in about two days.  Welcome to San Juan County in Spring.

Mary Cokenour

Mapping Montezuma Canyon Road - More Accurate, More Details, More Secrets Revealed!

While doing more research about Montezuma Canyon and sites along the road itself, I came across three photos of "Honeycomb Granary".  Only one person listed a mile marking of its location which I found out was very, very wrong; never would have found it with his misinformation (it is NOT 3.4 miles north of Perkins Road - CR 206).  So, on Sunday, April 27th, Roy and I decided to go on another ride along Montezuma Canyon Road; this time to find what we'd found already, find new sites and to map them out accurately.  We began at the Monticello Welcome Center and traveled exactly five miles on Route 191 South to CR146; just past mile marker 67 and there is no sign indicating Montezuma Canyon Road or CR 146.  We made the left onto the road, stopped at the cattle guard and reset our odometer to zero, and the adventure begins!

The best way to write this up is to post the new map and the sites are marked with a red capital letter inside a red diamond.  Underneath the map will be the Legend explaining what each letter is indicating: mile marking, name of site, a brief description.  Now to be able to get the entire legend onto the backside of the map when I printed, I needed to use a print size of eleven and couldn't write out every little detail.  Let me give you a good hint here; you will not see many of the items if you simply continue to drive, not stop and not leave your vehicle.  Many are higher up the line of vision than vehicle level; if you don't stop, get out and look, then don't be complaining that the map is wrong and you can't find things.  Oh, the mile markings are accurate if you follow the directions from the above paragraph; if you begin off Perkins Road - CR 206 however, you'll have to do a little math to figure it all out.

The Map -

The Legend -

MONTEZUMA CANYON ROAD (CR 146)

From the Monticello Welcome Center on Main Street (Route 191), it is five (5) miles south to CR 146; just past mile marker 67.  Reset your odometer to zero after you turn onto the cattle guard.  The entire road is 33.2 miles long; graded dirt and gravel with many twists and turns; average speed is thirty (30) miles per hour.  CR 146 is a San Juan County road; No Trespassing signs indicate private property east and/or west of the road itself.

Legend: each letter corresponds to its location on the map; (E) means facing east; (W) means facing west.

A - 5 miles; Abandoned Homestead and Cave Ruins (E).

B - 6 miles; Tracks Carved into Rock Face Leading Upwards to a Cave (E).

                     Tree Limb Snaking Up Wall Face (W).

C - 8 miles; Roadside Ruins and Home Built into Sandstone Hill (W).

D - 9 miles; Home Built into Sandstone Hill (W).

E - 10 miles; Vineyards (E and W).

F - 10.5 miles; Cowboy Cave (W).

G - 12.8 miles; Ladder Along Rock Face (W).

H - 14 miles; Small Cave Ruin Up on Wall (W).

I - 14.5 miles; ATV Trail Leads Up to Mesa Top; eventually to Long Canyon Road (CR 190) (W).

J - 15.4 miles; Wagon Rod Ranch aka Dalton Ranch; county road continues through property      

                         that is (E) and (W) of road; no trespassing on either side of road.

K - 17.5 miles; Indian Brave Rock Formation (W).

L - 20.6 miles; Small Cave Ruin (W).

M - 21.3 miles; Rock Art of "The Sun God" and "The Hand" (W).

N - 22.2 miles; Ruins (W).

O - 22.5 miles; Honeycomb Ruin and Granary (W).

P - 22.6 miles; Arch Formation (W).

Q - 23.2 miles; Riverbed; easy to moderate hike into back canyon (W).

R - 23.6 miles; Bradford Canyon Ruins; a dirt trail loops to ruins and back to CR 146; ruins are behind a chain link fence (W).

S - 23.8 miles; Deadman Canyon Road (CR 2381); leads to Bradford Canyon Road (CR 202) which is an ATV trail, or to Alkali Point Road (CR 204) (W).

T - 25.2 miles; Dirt Trail to Cliff Ruins; dead ends at corral or loops back to CR 146 (W).

U - 25.6 miles; Slick Rock Dried Riverbed (E and W).

V - 26 miles; Three Kiva Pueblo; self guided; maintained by the BLM (W).

W - 27.4 miles; Formation Up on Hill Similar in Structure to the Seven Sailors at Valley of the Gods (E).

X - 28.2 miles; Cliff Dwelling; located on private property; no trespassing (E).

Y - 29.6 miles; Ruins (W)

Dirt Trail immediately past leads to ground level Ruins and Rock Art possibly depicting the pioneers coming to San Juan County (W).

Z - 32.4 to 32.6 miles; Rock Art Along Bottom of Walls (W).

AA - 32.9 miles; Dirt Trail Leads to Corral; Rock Art Behind Corral; more Rock Art and Carvings  South of Corral (W).

33.2 Miles - Perkins Road (CR 206); west to Blanding; east to Hovenweep National Monument or  

Colorado

This can't get any simpler to follow, but you could always hire me as a guide; I don't come cheap though.

Now to give you some eye candy of many of the new sites we've found; of course all the other photos of sites you'll have to read about in this blog.  Simply click on the UTAH tab at the top, scroll down to San Juan County and look up all posts with Montezuma Canyon Road (CR 146).

Local Road Committee; talk to them nice and they will moooove over for you.



Mile 6; tracks up the rock face (E)

Mile 6; snaking tree limb (W)

Mile 20.6; small cave ruin (W)



Mile 22.2; Ruins

Mile 22.2; side view of Ruins

Mile 22.5; Honeycomb Ruin and Granary



Mile 22.5; Honeycomb Granary

Mile 22.5; Honeycomb Ruin

The textured roofing of the ruin and granary are definitely the handiwork of Mother Nature.  There are two speculations about the causes though; the first is simply natural erosion; the second is the broken and petrified remnants of mud swallow nests.  Once you get down to mile mark 32.9, you will see a colony of mud swallow nests underneath the ledges as you look up at the Rock Art.




At mile mark 22.6, we found this unusual arch like formation, and nearby is the second photo of the overhang where the walls look like someone sliced off the rock with a knife.  Mother Nature's artistry is amazing!

 

 



Mile 23.2; dried out river bed perfect for hiking to a back canyon

We only hiked about a half mile in, but it continues on much further from what we could see ahead.  We weren't prepared for a long trek; but next time it'll be a fair amount of bottled water in backpacks, and a picnic meal to enjoy along the way.  Did you even doubt there would be a next time!?!

No wild roses along the way, but do stop and take time to appreciate the flowers growing up from the sandy soil amongst the rocks.

Desert Paintbrush

Nakedstem Bahia (sunflower family)

I would love to say that this is the end of our adventures along Montezuma Canyon Road, but that would be a bold faced lie.  Roy and I are looking forward to finding more sites along the road itself, and hiking into the canyons beyond.  Till then...

Mary Cokenour