Red Rock Adventure Blog

(See more photos from this trip.)

Comb Ridge is a daunting barrier of nearly solid rock that runs north-south through southeastern Utah, from the Blue Mountains down to the San Juan River. It cuts through the heart of "Anasazi Country," an area where there are thousands of rock art panels and ruined cliff dwellings left by various ancient cultures over time.

I'm not making an overstatement when I say thousands, and my goal is to find and photograph every one of them. Ok, more realistically, to photograph as many as possible, focusing on the most interesting sites first. It is a fun hobby. I post photos and text descriptions of the sites here and so you can watch my progress. I'm getting a pretty good collection.

The sites are always unique, always interesting. With rock art, some similarities are often repeated and give clues to its origin. Some of the oldest images show imposing, god-like creatures in the Barrier Canyon style, attributed to Archaic tribes. The Anasazi and Fremont often created images depicting things important to their daily lives: big horn sheep and other animals suggesting successful hunts, powerful warriors guarding villages, great gods intervening on behalf of their people - that kind of thing.

So I was surprised and fascinated when I stumbled upon the guy shown in my photo at right. Locals call him the Wolf Man. He appears to be super-human, perhaps a deity of some sort. He is surrounded by fanciful forms that are totally unique - I've never seen rock art images quite like them anywhere else on earth.

To me, the Wolf Man doesn't fit into any of the normal categories. Who is this guy and what are those strange objects around him? Is that a smiling cat next to a fish skeleton? How about that flying fish? (See my gallery for more and larger photos.) Surprisingly different. That's part of the fun of hunting for rock art - you never know what you'll find.

Actually, I didn't just stumble upon him. I hunted him down by searching Comb Ridge's cliff faces and alcoves. If wasn't hard to find him. I had a good description of the area and he isn't far off the paved road. From the town of Bluff, drive west for about five miles, following Hwy 191 and then Hwy 163. Just before Hwy 163 cuts through Comb Ridge you will see a good dirt road heading north (San Juan County Road #262). Drive north on Road #262 for about 1 mile to a fence and information booth. At that point turn west onto a rough track that follows the fence line to the edge of Comb Wash. (You can drive right to the edge of the wash in a high clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle. If you are in a passenger car you will have to park along the route and walk, but the distance isn't great.)

The route becomes quite rough as it approaches the edge of Comb Wash. It crosses an area of solid slickrock and you have to pay attention to see where it goes. It is easy to lose the route in that area, but that makes little difference. Just proceed west to the edge of the wash and then hike south along the edge until you find a way down the cliff.

Proceed until you will find a natural rock ramp that provides easy access to a shelf about halfway down the cliff. Once on the shelf, look south and you'll see an alcove that obviously once sheltered an Anasazi structure (now crumbled to dust). Just down-canyon from the alcove you'll find the rock art.

If you are able to drive to the edge of the wash, the total round trip hiking distance is less than one mile. If you have to park along Route #262, you still won't have to hike more than 2 miles.

The weather was perfect for hiking when I visited the area on Nov 30, 2008. Sunny and mild. I was able to explore several ruins and rock art sites and I'll post information about them over the next couple weeks.

I'm now looking forward to getting back down there.

- Dave