BEARS EARS: GOVERNMENT TRAIL

NOVEMBER 2021

BIG MAN PANEL

GRAND GULCH

POLLYS CANYON

GRAND GULCH

Government Trail is a nice access into a section of Grand Gulch containing many ruins and the famous Big Man Pictograph Panel. The road to the trailhead is fine for low-clearance vehicles up until the last mile. If you don't have a high-clearance vehicle, you'll want to walk the last mile like I did. The trailhead and register are located next to a pond, from which it is a fairly flat, three-mile walk to Grand Gulch.

You'll see your first ruin when you reach the rim of Grand Gulch, located across the canyon high up on Pollys Island. The trail down to the bottom of the canyon is fairly nice and marked with cairns. Just after reaching the bottom, I headed up-canyon to see the Big Man Panel, which was really impressive. I then started heading back down canyon and found a ruin located on the right prior to reaching Pollys Canyon. I decided to go up Pollys Canyon for a bit to see Pollys Arch, and a small ruin located below it.

Next, I decided to hike around Pollys Island, as I had heard there were some ruins around it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see any. I hugged the island pretty tight all the way around, and I think I may have needed to instead followed along the western canyon wall of Grand Gulch. I then continued further down Grand Gulch and was able to find several impressive sites. Based on the trip reviews I read, I know there were a lot of sites I missed, but that's part of hiking in Cedar Mesa. Almost nothing is marked, so you just find what you can, and don't expect to see everything. It's surprising how well-hidden some of these sites can be when you're down in the bottom of the canyon due to all of the vegetation.

I hiked this trail in November, 2021, and didn't see anyone else while I was there. The weather was perfect, and the leaves in the canyon were turning yellow and falling down. Grand Gulch is so pretty by itself, it would almost be worth the effort hiking it even without all of the archeological sites located within it. Hiking in November you do need to be aware of how early it gets dark. I remember rushing a bit at the end, wishing I had more time to explore, but also wanting to get back to my vehicle before dark, as the trail and even the last mile of roadway were a bit faint, and could be hard to follow after dark.