Bluff Utah Part 1

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After 46 nights in New Mexico, we head 113 miles from Farmington NM to the small town of Bluff Utah. We have never visited this part of Utah in the southeastern corner of the state. We’ve spent time in eastern Utah back in 2019 but 100 miles to the north in the Moab area. We selected a small private campground in town and reserved a site 3 months ago for a full week. Cadillac Ranch RV Park is near the center of “town” - if a population of ~250 people constitutes a town. Bluff sits in a valley formed by several large washes and the San Juan River. It is surrounded by 300 foot tall cliffs which is scenic but does make us wonder how safe we would be if some monsoon rains hit nearby. As we pulled in, we saw the car that likely gave the campground its name.

Nice View from Campsite

Cadillac Ranch's Namesake

Our route this season has provided some rather hot weather.  We had wondered what we were thinking selecting such a southerly route in the middle of the summer. However, we saw how recently parts of Montana were well exceeding 100 degrees so there’s no guarantee that we would have been any cooler up north. We had discovered that one of our two rooftop air conditioners was no longer working. We had replaced the front unit back in early 2025 and at that time the rear one was still operational. But early in our travels this year, we discovered that the rear AC was no longer functioning. Our travel plans were not going to make replacing the unit easy but just one AC was inadequate to keep the rig cool during 100+ degree days. Before we left the “big” city of Farmington, I had purchased a small (6000 BTU) standalone air conditioner. Ducting the unit was the challenge since the parts provided with the unit are intended for conventional square corner house windows, not rounded corners like our motorhome has. I also have limited woodworking tools with me to make something out of plywood. The solution I came up with was a bit of a hack but functional and actually rather easy to fabricate. A 2 foot by 2 foot rigid styrofoam sheet was easy to cut and trim to fit the small flip out window in the bedroom at the foot of the bed. Between the one rooftop AC and this portable unit, we have been able to survive some of the 100 degree days we are going to have here in Bluff and at our next stop in Page Arizona.

Portable Air Conditioner in Bedroom

Close-up of Rigid Insulation Panel

The next morning, we get an early start to go explore Natural Bridges National Monument about an hour’s drive from camp to the northwest. The park is a little over 7600 acres and has just one access road into it. When we made it to the entrance and visitor center early enough that it wasn’t open yet. That was okay with us since we were able to stop to use the bathroom and then continue on to the 9 mile, one way,  scenic loop road through the park named Bridge View Drive.

Natural Bridges National Monument

There are about a dozen stops along the loop with small parking lots at both overlooks and trailheads. There are three natural stone bridges along the way. We first walk out to the Sipapu Bridge overlook to check it out. It’s not quite a half mile from parking. The views are rather amazing. The bridge is clear from the viewpoint. There is also a trail that leads down to the bridge but we opted to skip this one and do the hikes to the other two bridges.

Sipapu Bridge

A stop at Horse Collar Ruin Overlook parking leads to a 1/3 mile trail to the overlook. The views along the way of the canyon below are pretty nice here as well with the bottom over 700 feet below us. The trail itself isn’t a level paved trail but not too challenging.

Canyon Below

At the overlook is the view of the old Pueblo ruins. They are visible but on the other side of the canyon fairly far away so you don’t get a great view of them to sense their size or condition.

Horse Collar Ruin

Zoomed In on the Ruins

About 2 miles further down the road is the Kachina Bridge parking area. There is a viewpoint about a quarter mile from the parking area. There are nice views from here but we plan to hike down to this bridge to get an up close view. The turn for this trail is quite obvious and starts out easy enough and we see Kachina Bridge across the valley.

Beginning of Kachina Bridge Trail

Kachina Bridge

After a short distance, we start to hit the serious downhill portion of the trail. There are several switchbacks and the trail is cut into the side of the cliff. I wasn’t positive Chris was going to be okay with some of the more exposed areas. But the trail surface was in good shape and had decent traction so we didn’t feel like we were going to slip. As we descend, we see we are now more even with the bridge.

Nice View of Stream Below

Narrow Section of Trail

Kachina Bridge

There are some broad expanses of rock and whenever it is steep, there are steps carved into the rock and some sections even have railing that definitely helps. When we make it to water level, we find there is a minimal amount of water in the creek but the edges of it are quite muddy and slick looking. We try to follow the path but know we need to get to the opposite side. We eventually find a place that wasn’t quite so wide and we get across with only mud up to our ankles!

Chiseled Stairs

Muddy Stream Bed

It was only 10:30 but starting to get warm so it was nice to get into the shade under the bridge. We cooled off and had a snack while enjoying the beauty of it all.

Kachina Bridge

View Beyond the Bridge

After relaxing for a bit, we head out, successfully cross the muddy creek and work our way back up. We see the turn for the trail that will head to the next bridge - Owachomo Bridge. If it wasn’t such a hot day, we may have considered hiking this 5.7 mile loop but we decide to go back to the car and drive to the next parking area where we can get to it in a half mile walk. This hike came in at 1.85 miles with 500 feet of elevation gain.

Muddy Waters

Owachomo Bridge is a much easier hike. It’s the bridge that’s easiest to see and access because the stream that formed this bridge is no longer flowing.

Overlooking Owachomo Bridge

Ground Level View

Since the area beneath the bridge is dry rock, we explore underneath and on the backside to see a bit of the trail that comes in from Kachina Bridge. The loop trail we are skipping definitely looks like it would be an interesting hike.

Below Bridge

Behind Bridge

This walk was about 1 mile and minimal elevation change by the time we got back to the car. There are a few more pullouts along the last several miles of the loop. One of them is a viewpoint that explains where this whole part of Utah got its name - Bears Ears National Monument. There are two buttes in the distance that apparently look like bears ears.

Bears Ears

By the time we make it to the visitor center, it was open so we go in to see what other information they have. This was one week after the US government reduced the size of Bears Ears National Monument by about 90%  The park ranger on duty would not comment on the change, but the volunteer from a conservation group had plenty to say about it. We grabbed our lunch from the car and found a picnic table in the shade to eat. Natural Bridges isn’t a big place to explore but worth the visit if you’re in the area.

Natural Bridges Visitor Center

We still had a full afternoon and weren’t looking forward to heading back to the motorhome quite yet. We head to the town of Blanding Utah - west of Natural Bridges and about 25 miles north of camp. The plan is to visit The Dinosaur Museum on the south side of town. Admission is just $5 for seniors. We hope to spend an hour or two in air conditioned comfort and learn about dinosaurs.

Allosaurus

It wasn’t at all busy so the guy working the desk led us to the back corner of the large building and gave us a little summary of what they have on display. He was particularly proud of some of the feathered dinosaurs that reflect newer takes on how some of these animals may have looked - feathers and all.

Feathered Dinosaur

He heard another visitor come in so he left us to tour on our own. There was one large room full of movie posters with a dinosaur theme. We have heard of several of them like “One Million Years B.C.” Of course I likely remembered that one because of Raquel Welch more than the dinosaurs. We took notes on several other ones to see if we can find them on some streaming platform.

Movie Posters

Other rooms in the museum have the more traditional dinosaur forms with skeletons and full size models. We found it interesting but the air conditioning was not working very well so there were fans scattered all around the rooms so it wasn’t the chilled conditions we were hoping for. In about an hour we headed into Blanding to pick up some supplies at a hardware store and treat ourselves to ice cream at a local shop.

Classic Dinosaur Skeleton

Styracosaurus

Microraptor

The following day, we drive east to Hovenweep National Monument. It’s a rather desolate location just a couple miles from the Colorado border. This is another one of those sites with ruins from ancestral Pueblo people that are fairly common in the desert southwest. We pull into a nearly empty parking lot and head into the visitors center.

Visitor Center at Hovenweep

We start talking to the ranger about what we should see here and he suggests the roughly 2 mile loop that starts out of this location. He tells us we should do the hike now before it gets too hot. He says it has been rather quiet here this morning with us being the 4th and 5th visitors of the day. We go back to the car to get our desert hats and water bottles. While we were gearing up, about 8 vehicles pull into the parking lot one after another. They were mainly large SUVs and a couple of full size passenger vans. Out jump a couple dozen people - mainly high school or college age students. We hustled to the loop trail down from the visitor center and head counterclockwise since the large group appeared to be going the other way around. In this direction the trail leads down into the canyon with some fairly narrow section between large boulders. At the bottom of the canyon, we can see some of the many buildings lining the canyon walls.

Start of Our Hike at Hovenweep

Narrow Passageway

Looking Up the Canyon

It’s a bit of a climb up the other side of the canyon to the southern rim. From here, we can see the large group making their way around. We made a good choice to head this way instead. The first building over here are the Twin Towers. These two buildings are side by side but not connected. The thing is they are right on the edge of the cliff which would make for some dangerous approaches for the people living here back in the 1200’s.

Coming Up Out of the Canyon

Twin Towers

The next building is the Rim Rock House. We saw a backpack sitting by the building and realized there was a woman working on repairing some of the mortar. We stopped and chatted for a bit and found out there were several workers on the crew trying to make sure these building remain standing for decades to come. It is definitely a very pretty area but it seems like living here would have been quite the challenge.

Looking Across Canyon

The canyon doesn’t extend as far to the west, so there really isn’t much of an elevation change. By now we have crossed paths with the large group so we will have the rest of the ruins to check out without interruption. There are some very neat buildings here. The Square Tower sits down in the canyon and is two stories tall. The building has a bit of a twist to it which catches the eye.

Square Tower

There is a spur trail that leads to the section of the rim that juts into the canyon and gives a very good view of the canyon. Since the canyon isn’t that wide, we get a chance to see how some of the buildings are built on large sandstone boulders. It’s not clear how the residents entered and exited them. I’m also not sure I would want to be tasked with mortar repair of some of the buildings.

Round Tower

Looking Across Canyon at Twin Towers

We head back to the visitor center to watch the movie and check out the displays. We find out that the group was a team of students and a few adults that have been working on repairing buildings in the general area and today was their day day off to explore. We sat and ate lunch in the shade of a shelter before heading out. Hovenweep is a worthwhile visit.

One other nearby “attraction” that we felt obligated to visit is Four Corners. This is the location where the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona all touch at a point.

Four Corners

We’ve actually visited here once before - 35 years and 11 days ago to be exact. We were on our cross country bicycle trip and were coming from Kayenta Arizona heading to Cortez Colorado. Our route took us on US Route 160 and the detour was only a half mile to come get our picture taken at Four Corners. We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing during that 7 week trip but we felt we could spare the time and distance to fit this stop into our 123 mile day. It is a LOT different today in terms of how commercialized it has become. There were just a few vendors back in 1991 but now there are several dozen vendor booths in buildings surrounding the point. They even charge a fee just to come in and park. I guess $10 is a small price to pay to reminisce about the days when we were really in shape. Four Corners is one of those tourist stops that anyone passing through the area should probably visit. It’s not the type of place to visit frequently - maybe we will make it back for a third visit in another 35 years!

With Our Tandem in 1991

Back Again in 2026

The next day we walk over from our campsite to the main attraction in the town of Bluff. It’s only a block from the campground entrance - Bluff Fort. We didn’t really know much about this place other than it was a historic site. We walk in and are greeted by several volunteers working the main visitor center. They ask if we’ve been here before and when we say nope, they offer to show us a video that will explain the history. We tend to enjoy videos of places we are visiting so we sit down and watch the 20 minute show.

Bluff Fort Historic Site

I’ll admit I had low expectations for the video given the size of this site and its remote location. But it turned out to be a very well produced and informative video - much better than the quality we have seen at some National Park visitor centers. This is the site of an original settlement of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  AKA the Mormons. They traveled 250 miles from Escalante Utah across the Colorado River back in 1879-80. The 70 families, 83 wagons and 1000 head of cattle had a very rough journey and it took them twice as long to make than they anticipated - 6 months. The most famous section of the route is dubbed the Hole in the Rock Trail nowadays. There was a crevice in the 2000 foot cliff leading down to the river and with shovels, pick axes and limited blasting powder, they enlarged the crevice to permit the wagons to be carefully lowered down 25 to 45 degrees slopes. The video did an amazing job of recreating the journey. All I can say is that we would have given up and never completed the mission.

We head outside to tour the grounds. There are about 2 dozen buildings on the grounds. Nearly all of them are recreations of the original log cabins.

Original Wagon from Journey

Inside Schoolhouse

There are lots of other display like wagons, a water wheel and example of the farming tools the settlers used.

Wagon

Farm Implements

Water Wheel

Descendants from the various families that settled here have furnished each of the log cabins with pieces from the family or things that are period related. Many of them have old photos of the people as well as their family trees.

We were impressed with the number of displays and information. It takes a fair amount of time to do the place justice.

Another Wagon

Bluff Fort is very well taken care of. The gardens are obviously planted, maintained and likely harvested throughout the season. There is one original cabin still standing. It has a roof structure build over it to try to get it to withstand the harsh elements.

Garden Growing

Original Building from 1880's

As we wandered the grounds, we started to talk with one of the volunteers that works here. They definitely know their history and are passionate about keeping the Bluff Fort a vibrant place. There was a newer building that we check out and Chris found her dream shop. The sewing center had a wide variety of sewing machines and a long arm quilting machine that was huge. She chatted with the two women working about all the equipment and what it’s like to work here.

Blacksmith Shop

Long Arm Quilting Machine

After finishing up the outside displays, we go back into the main visitor center to see what there is inside. The upstairs room has an enormous number of quilts on display - likely sewn on the grounds. When we first walked over, we thought we might spend 30 minutes or so here. It turned out, we likely spent 2 hours wandering around Bluff Fort this morning and it’s well worth the visit.

Quilt Display

After lunch, we set off to see Goosenecks State Park about 25 miles southwest of camp. There is a $5 day use fee per vehicle and even have primitive camping spots. What is the draw of this place? The amazing views of the San Juan River as it snakes through this part of southern Utah. The park sits 1000 feet above the water and river has carved an incredible canyon. It is similar to Horseshoe Bend near Page Arizona which is about 1200 feet deep. But this place has a series of similar horseshoe bends in a fairly short distance. I pulled a snapshot from Google Earth of the goosenecks. The image is represents an area about 6 miles wide and 3 miles tall but the river covers nearly 19 miles over that area.

San Juan River Below

Google Earth Image of Goosenecks

All along the rim of the canyon are primitive campsites that even a motorhome our size could get to. Given Chris’ fear of heights, I’m not positive she would want to have our front door open up to the 1000 foot drop but it could be done. We decide to walk the path along the rim out to a point overlooking one of the horseshoe bends. As we proceed out the nearly mile long drive, we realize that our rig probably shouldn’t go all the way to the end but smaller rigs definitely have come out near the end. When we look across back to the park entrance, we can see the rental RV that is camping there. On our way back, we follow a side trail to another section of primitive camping sites. We definitely wouldn’t be able to make it back here but it would provide more privacy.

Motorhome Sits at Edge of Rim

We still have a few more nights at our campground in Bluff, but I’m half tempted to leave a day early and spend one night here. I bet the night skies are incredible.