Butler Wash Archaeological District
Personal Notes
This page presents our personal notes on our visits to the Butler Wash Archaeological District in southern Utah.
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Sunday, May 4, 2008
Wolfman Panel
11:52 a.m.
The dirt road to the Wolfman Panel is known as Butler Wash Road (County Road 262). It heads north off of the highway between mile marker 40 and 41, directly across the highway from the sign pointing to the airport, which is to the south. There is no sign when coming from the east (Bluff), but there is a sign pointing to Butler Wash Road when driving from the west. Immediately there is a gate, but it is not locked. Leave it as you find it. If it was closed, close it behind you.
When driving in from the south, there is a two rut road to the left (west) just before a cattle guard, at about 1.5 miles from the highway. On the north side of the cattle guard there is a typical metal BLM historic marker and a larger wooden information kiosk. Turn down the two rut road. In a short distance you will come to a wide area that can be used for parking. Or, if you have 4-wheel drive, you can continue on down the road and across the slick rock to just above the wash. The GPS Coordinates for the parking area are: 37 16.561N; 109 38.728W; at an elevation of 4,452 feet.
The main ruins in this complex are directly to the west, on the far side of the wash. If you walk west you will see it. Everything is pretty much as described in other literature. As you stand near the edge you’ll see cairns to your left, across the slick rock. Follow the cairns until you see an area that is trending downwards toward a large split rock near the cliff face. If you squeeze down through that split you’ll see foot trails leading here and there.
From the split rock area you’ll see an alcove along the east side, to your left. The rock art is just beyond that alcove. There are only narrow ledges, so if you want to get up close, be careful. There is a reason it is called slick rock. You can get a good idea of the scope of the panel from below, but a close-up view is informative as well. There are always little images that aren’t always visible from farther away. Some of the petroglyphs here are quite impressive and unusual.
There is water in the bottom of the wash, but it does not seem to be flowing at this time. The temperature is probably over 70 degrees. The GPS Coordinates for the Wolfman Panel are: 37 16.499N; 109 38.789W; at an elevation of 4,467 feet.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Butler Wash Ruins Overlook
9:54 a.m.
We pulled into the Butler Wash Overlook parking area and laced up our hiking boots. We then walked out across the slickrock along a marked trail to the overlook. There is a really nice cliff dwelling there, as well as interpretive signs. It is one mile round trip.
Ballroom Complex
After walking back to the trailhead, we hiked off in search of the Ballroom Complex of ruins up Butler Wash. The trailhead is at GPS Coordinates (NAD83): 37 31.450N; 109 37.943W; at 5,231 feet in elevation.
There is a trail that passes near the sign-in book at the trailhead, along the inside of the fence. It eventually comes out near the highway bridge that crosses Butler Wash. We noticed that there is a parking area just off of the highway on the northwest side of the bridge. One could park there and save perhaps a quarter of a mile from the trailhead to this point, although a vehicle might be safer in the official parking area. The GPS Coordinates for this spot are: 37 31.575N; 109 37.766W; at an elevation of 5,237 feet.
We continued on up the wash, having to cross the shallow stream several times. The trail in this section is well defined. Then we came to a junction with a side canyon, at GPS Coordinates (NAD83): 37 31.766N; 109 37.829W; at an elevation of 5,209 feet.
We turned left, heading up this side canyon. The wash is made of up sedimentary deposits, that eventually become the type of sandstone you would expect for cliff dwellings. The trail gets confused in this side canyon, where there are low reeds and tall trees (with lots of web worms hanging about at this time of the year). Hikers have wandered all over this area, so the main trail is hard to track in some areas. However, there is no way to really get lost. Just follow the wash northward. It’s only a few feet wide.
Eventually we came to an area that had obvious footprints heading up a steep sandy slope. This matched the expected GPS Coordinates, so we headed up. Because it’s sand it can be tough going up, but just keep chugging away and you’ll make it. There is a small alcove with some minor ruins to see up there.
From there we came back down to the trail and counted off another 200 yards to an area where it looked like people had climbed up once again. We later found that it would have been better to have walked on a bit farther and climbed up a less steep slope. Anyway, we went up and found a small alcove with nothing of any real interest in it. But we did note a path leading from it to the next alcove, where we could see ruins. So we edged our way along there, through the trees, and came out below the Ballroom Cave Ruins. Contact us for the exact GPS Coordinates.
We poked around in there for a while. It’s quite interesting, with its hidden caves and ruins deep within the back. We had to use our cap lamps to see back in there. It was very dusty and cool and a bit damp. Closer to the front of the alcove there is a defensive wall and several small ruins, including a kiva, living quarters, and storage rooms. We saw several areas where they sharpened some of their tools, and I found a single panel of pictographs (mostly of anthropomorphic nature) above the obvious multi-story rooms to the north of the alcove.
12:54 p.m.
Due to other commitments, we had to call it a day and headed back to Blanding.
Saturday, October 11, 2003
Butler Wash Ruins Overlook
After visiting the nearby Mule Canyon Ruins, we stopped at the Butler Wash Indian Ruins Trail, another BLM site, around 5:15 p.m. From the parking area there is a one mile round-trip trail that leads across the hard sandstone surface, using cairns, to a fenced overlook which looks out over a shallow canyon. On the far, western, wall you can see several alcoves with the remains of dwellings. It's a very nice, well preserved site. The parking area has restrooms, but no drinking water.
