Upper Butler Wash & Target Ruin |

Cedar Mesa

Hiking Upper Butler Wash & Target Ruin - Cedar Mesa Hiking Upper Butler Wash & Target Ruin

Cedar Mesa

Overview

RATING: Easy Hiking
MAPS: HOTEL ROCK, UT

Sat

Partly sunny, with a high near 64. South wind 5 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph.

64 | 37

Sun

Rain and snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 54. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

54 | 39

Mon

A chance of rain showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 55.

55 | 32

Tue

Sunny, with a high near 61.

61 | 33

Wed

Sunny, with a high near 67.

67 | 36

View Full Weather Details
SEASON: Any
GEAR: Standard Hiking Gear
WATER: None.

Sat

Partly sunny, with a high near 64. South wind 5 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph.

64 | 37

Sun

Rain and snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 54. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

54 | 39

Mon

A chance of rain showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 55.

55 | 32

Tue

Sunny, with a high near 61.

61 | 33

Wed

Sunny, with a high near 67.

67 | 36

View Full Weather Details
Target Ruin

Target Ruin

With ruins dating from 500-1300AD, and easy access, Upper Butler Wash provides a great outing. This is a highly recommended hike that should be accessible to most anyone. Due to its short nature, and easy access from the highway, this is also an excellent choice during inclement weather.

Note: Indian ruins are very old archeological artifacts, some dating back well over 1000 years. Please be very respectful when visiting them. Do not touch petroglyphs or pictographs, as this results in damage. Also, please leave any artifacts you may find as you found them. Without careful preservation, these site can be destroyed. Follow the adage, "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints."
Upper Butler Wash Indian Ruins

Upper Butler Wash Indian Ruins

Getting There

To reach the trailhead, go south out of Blanding about 3.5 miles until the junction with Highway 95. Follow Highway 95 about 10.6 miles until crossing a bridge over Butler Wash. This is the trailhead for the main ruins, park at a small pullout on the west side of the bridge. (just before milepost 111) To reach the tourist ruins, continue just past milepost 111, to a signed paved road on the right. Follow this a short distance to the trailhead where parking and pit toilets are available.

Upper Butler Wash Tourist Ruins

Upper Butler Wash Tourist Ruins

Route

Rock Art and Historic Site Etiquette
Rock art and historic sites are fragile, non-renewable cultural resources that, once damaged, can never be replaced. To ensure they are protected, please:
  • Avoid Touching the Petroglyphs: Look and observe, BUT DO NOT TOUCH!
  • Stay on the Trails: Stay on the most used trails when visiting sites, and don't create new trails or trample vegetation.
  • Photography and Sketching is Allowed: Do not introduce any foreign substance to enhance the carved and pecked images for photographic or drawing purposes. Altering, defacing, or damaging the petroglyphs is against the law -- even if the damage is unintentional.
  • Pets: Keep pets on a leash and clean up after them.
  • Artifacts: If you happen to come across sherds (broken pottery) or lithics (flakes of stone tools), leave them where you see them. Once they are moved or removed, a piece of the past is forever lost.

Tourist Ruins
To reach the tourist ruins, simply follow the signed trail. It is a short hike, less than 1-mile round trip. There are some interpretative guides at the trailhead. Be sure to pick one up, as it provides great information about the area and the hike. The trail ends at an overlook where you can see several ruins down below.

Upper Butler Wash Ruins
For the Upper Butler Wash Ruins, cross the fence on the north side of the bridge from the trailhead. There is a trail register here. Follow the well-worn trail about 5-10 minutes to where the canyon and trail forks. Go left here, following the canyon bottom up as it deepens and turns to slickrock. About 30-45 minutes from the trailhead, you will see ruins on the left. The first ones you come to are quite impressive. Just up canyon about 5 minutes from the first set of ruins is a second, equally interesting set of ruins. There used to be a rickety ladder here, but as of 2018, it is missing.

Target Ruin
As you return from the ruins, watch for a side trail leaving the canyon on the right about 5 minutes down from the last ruin. This short side trail (5-10 minutes) climbs steeply up the bank, then levels out to a small side canyon. In this side canyon, on the north side, are some great ruins. They are not reachable from the ground. If you look closely, though, on the west wall, you can see a target painted. These are often referred to as the Target Ruin because of this painting. Also, notice in the slickrock below them two shallow holes. Presumably these were used to hold the bottom of a ladder in place for the Indians to access the ruins.

Granary
Finally, once back from Target Ruin to the main wash, head down the main wash for just a couple of minute to another side wash coming in from the right (looking down canyon). Follow a social trail up this for 0.20 miles to a granary. The trail is fairly well defined and leaves the wash bottom at times to avoid obstacles.

Return the way you came.


Maps

Tourist Ruins / 0.75 miles / Elevation Range 5,240 - 5,356 ft.
Other Ruins / 2.52 miles / Elevation Range 5,174 - 5,314 ft.
Printable Maps:
Tourist Ruin Trailhead

12S 620796mE 4153877mN

N37° 31' 26" W109° 37' 59"

Trailhead

12S 621112mE 4154120mN

N37° 31' 34" W109° 37' 46"

Target Ruin

12S 620307mE 4154717mN

N37° 31' 54" W109° 38' 18"

Small Ruin

12S 620248mE 4154948mN

N37° 32' 01" W109° 38' 20"

Ruin

12S 620149mE 4155151mN

N37° 32' 08" W109° 38' 24"

Ruin 2

12S 620103mE 4155264mN

N37° 32' 12" W109° 38' 26"

Granary

12S 620357mE 4154532mN

N37° 31' 48" W109° 38' 16"

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