BEARS EARS

HAMMOND CANYON

OCTOBER 2023

HAMMOND TOWER

THREE FINGER RUINS

SPIRE IN HAMMOND CANYON

HAMMOND TOWER

THREE FINGER RUIN AND HAMMOND TOWER

Hammond Canyon is a secluded, eight-mile roundtrip hike to a well-preserved set of ruins through a pleasant canyon containing more trees and water than are typical for most hikes in Cedar Mesa. The trailhead is located about twenty-two miles north of Highway 95 via a well-maintained gravel road that is accessible to low-clearance vehicles. However, due to the high elevation of the trailhead, the road can become impassible due to snow during colder months.

From the trailhead, you begin a long descent of roughly two miles to the bottom of the canyon. I'm not used to hikes beginning with such a prolonged downhill, so I was sure to save some energy for the climb back out. You can tell not many people hike this canyon, as the trial was a bit faint and hard to follow at times. I lost it around Hammond Tower, and had to bushwhack for while. Compared to the other hikes in the area, this was a very lush canyon with lots of trees and vegetation, and when I visited there was a fairly large stream running near Hammond Tower.

From Hammond Tower, you will need to make a fairly steep climb up the canyon wall to the Three Finger Ruins, which were very impressive and well preserved. The climb up to the ruins is not as difficult as it appears from the bottom. Once you start making your way up you will find some safe routes to the top.

I had the entire canyon to myself when I visited in October, 2023. While this hike requires a lot of effort getting down to the bottom of the canyon and back out, along with the scramble up and down to the Three Finger Ruins, it provides great scenery the entire way, with the trees, water and sandstone spires. Even on the climb back out of the canyon I was able to keep myself entertained looking for rocks along the trail.

CITADEL RUINS

MAY 2009 & AUGUST 2013

GRANERIES UP CLOSE

GRANERIES NEAR THE CITADEL

THE CITADEL

THE CITADEL UP-CLOSE

THE CITADEL FROM ACROSS THE CANYON

LAND BRIDGE LEADING TO THE CITADEL

The Citadel is a very cool ruin located in Road Canyon within Bears Ears National Monument. To get to the trailhead, you will travel down the 261 until you come to Cigarette Springs Road. Cigarette Springs Road is a fairly well-maintained road I was able to make it down in a Corolla. Just after turning onto Cigarette Springs Road you will come across a BLM sign asking you to pay $2 for a permit.

The first time I hiked The Citadel in 2009 it was difficult to locate, as there was very little information about its location on-line. After eventually tracking down its GPS coordinates, I just drove down Cigarette Springs Road until I got close and followed my GPS to them. However, when I visited again in 2013, there was a road leading north from Cigarette Springs Road to a parking area near the rim of Road Canyon. It appears people hiking The Citadel now just park here and follow the trail along the rim of Road Canyon. I've found that once a spot in southern Utah gets popular enough, the BLM will often concede and add a trail to prevent people from getting lost or causing damage to the surrounding landscape trying to find it.

The only way to The Citadel is by crossing a long land bridge jutting out into Road Canyon from the west. Near the beginning of the bridge, keep your eyes peeled for some granaries. You will need to scramble a bit to find a good route down to the bridge and once across, back up to the The Citadel. These are some very well-preserved dwellings located high on a cliff overlooking Road Canyon.

MOON HOUSE

FEBRUARY 2018

MOON HOUSE RUINS

GRANARY NEAR MOON HOUSE

MOON HOUSE

DWELLINGS NEAR MOON HOUSE

INSIDE MOON HOUSE

RUIN JUST OUTSIDE MOON HOUSE

NEAR MOON HOUSE

DWELLINGS NEAR MOON HOUSE

Moon House is a popular ruin site located off of highway 261 in Bears Ears. To get to the trailhead you will turn east onto Snow Flat Road from highway 261. You will then follow Snow Flat Road for about eight miles to the low-clearance vehicle parking. If you have a high-clearance vehicle you can continue an additional mile to the official trailhead. The eight mile drive to the low-clearance parking area is actually pretty rough. I made it in a Corolla, but I did scrape the bottom of the car a couple times. Luckily I didn't have anyone else in the car to weigh it down. Be really cautious if your vehicle is traveling low to the ground.

The hike is roughly five-and-a-half miles round-trip from the low-clearance parking area, and thee-and-a-half miles from the high-clearance parking area. The trail is mostly over slick rock, so watch for cairns. They can be a bit difficult to spot at times, so watch carefully. The cairns will lead you to the edge of a ravine, and guide you down a safe route to the bottom. From the bottom of the ravine it is just a short climb to the ruins above. Moon House is very impressive. You can actually enter into Moon House, where several interior rooms are accessed from a main hallway. There are also a variety of dwellings located just outside.

There is another set of really impressive, well-preserved ruins located about a half-mile to the right of Moon House. There is another small set about a half-mile to the left of Moon House that includes a kiva. However, these ruins are not very well preserved, and so were a bit of a let-down. I'd heard Moon House was becoming very popular, so I hiked it first thing in the morning during a trip in February. It paid off as I had the entire place to myself. In order to keep crowds down, the BLM actually requires a permit and limits access to 20 hikers a day from March 1st through June 15th and from September 1st through October 31st. So try to avoid those times.

NATURAL BRIDGES

MAY 2009 & DECEMBER 2012

SIPAPU BRIDGE IN DECEMBER

SIPAPU BRIDGE IN MAY

STREAM BETWEEN SIPAPU AND KACHINA BRIDGE

KACHINA BRIDGE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL

KACHINA BRIDGE

KACHINA BRIDGE FROM BELOW

KACHINA BRIDGE

RUINS NEAR KACHINA BRIDGE

PICTOGRAPHS NEAR KACHINA BRIDGE

HORSE COLLAR RUINS

OWACHOMO BRIDGE

OWACHOMO BRIDGE FROM BELOW

The Natural Bridges loop hike is pleasant eight-mile hike which will take you from Sipapu Bridge to Kachina Bridge to Owachomo Bridge and back to your vehicle. The National Park Service has ladders, stairs and handrails to help you make the descent down to Sipapu from the parking area. I was there while it was raining and was very grateful for the handrails located on the steep parts of the slick rock descent. Sipapu Bridge is very beautiful and is ranked as the thirteenth-longest natural arch in the world. From Sipapu, it is a very pleasant three-mile walk along the stream to Kachina. While hiking this stretch, keep your eyes open for the Horse Collar Ruins located on the right side of the canyon. My first time hiking this stretch I was unaware of the ruins and walked right past them.

Once arriving at Kachina, you can continue past the arch along the right side of the canyon to see some ruins and pictographs along the canyon wall. After visiting the ruins, you will need to backtrack to Kachina and follow the canyon to the left without any water in it. The three-mile hike from Kachina to Owachomo is not as nice as the hike from Sipapu to Kachina. The canyon widens up and there is no running water until just before arriving at Owachomo. If you are trying to budget time and energy, you many want to hike Sipapu to Kachina, and then drive to Owachomo.

When I visited in May of 2009 I saw several people at each of the trailheads to the bridges, but on my six mile walk along the canyon bottom I didn't see anybody. The loop hike is a great way to experience the beauty of Natural Bridges while also feeling some seclusion.

I visited Natural Bridges again in December of 2012, and nearly had the entire place to myself. I was only able to make it part-way down the trail to Sipapu, before it became too dangerous due to ice. However, with a little effort, I was able to make it down to Kachina and Owachomo, as well as the ruins located at the canyon bottom.

CHEESEBOX CANYON

AUGUST 2013

NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE NARROWS

RAP 1 INTO A SHALLOW POOL

WATERY NARROWS

RAP 2 FROM ABOVE

RAP 2 FROM BELOW

DEEP WATERY NARROWS

SWIMMING SECTION

Cheesebox Canyon is a fun but desolate hike. It is in a very isolated region of southern Utah in the vicinity of Fry Canyon. To get to it you will take an unmarked dirt road coming off of the north side of the 95. The road is a little rough. I made it in a Corolla, but I remember being a little nervous driving some of the rocky sections. I arrived at Cheesebox the night before I hiked it and set my tent up along the road, just above the exit point of the canyon. There is no signage of any kind along the road, so you will want to use a GPS to make sure you are in the right place. I remember it being extremely windy that night and needing to put large rocks in the corners of the tent to get it to stay down.

In the morning I hiked up the dirt road to the entry point and worked my way down to the canyon floor. It is a pretty steep climb down to the bottom, and I remember it taking me a while to find a safe path down. Just after arriving at the bottom of the canyon, I found a small Anasazi ruin located in an alcove. After a while the canyon will slot up and you will enter the narrows. The hike requires three rappels total and several deep, watery narrow sections. I like to play it safe when I hike solo, so I wore a wetsuit and a life jacket, and stuffed several plastic balls in my pack to make sure it would float. I was really glad I had the life jacket as portions of the narrows were so deep I couldn't touch the bottom, yet so narrow I could barely move my arms. Being able to just float through the narrow sections without having to swim was a big help.

Eventually the canyon opens up and there is a point you can scramble up the canyon wall to get out. I hiked this canyon in August and had the entire area to myself. The only other life I saw were some large ravens that tracked me towards the end of the hike.

FALLEN ROOF RUIN

AUGUST 2013

FALLEN ROOF RUIN

DWELLING LOCATED JUST PAST FALLEN ROOF

GRANARY LOCATED NEAR FALLEN ROOF

The Fallen Roof Ruins are a three-mile round-trip hike into Road Canyon from a pull-off along Cigarette Springs Road. I remember the hike being a bit strenuous as you will go from the rim of Road Canyon to the bottom and back up again. I was also hiking it in the middle of the day in August, so it was pretty warm. However the heat kept everyone else away, as I only saw two other hikers on my trip. The pull-off and trail are not marked, so you will want to get a detailed description of the hike before you go. After arriving at the Fallen Roof Ruins, you can follow along the left-side of the canyon wall to see another dwelling and a granary.