San Juan Wonderland

By Brian Wrabley

Owner - Treks West Tours

A visit to San Juan County, Utah is a fantastic adventure to a land full of the most stunning collection of natural wonders I know of! Other regions to be sure have their own beauty, but I can’t think of one county, by itself, that has more to offer in outdoor recreation than San Juan! I've been aware of the area since I was a little kid, when I’d become enthralled by the landscape of Monument Valley. The western’s directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne had captured my imagination, and came to symbolize the West to me. For the next 30 years I had no idea that Monument Valley was just one small part of this vast and stunning county. I first made it to the area in 2007, and made my pilgrimage to Monument Valley, it was then that I learned about all the other treasures there were here!

In exploring what San Juan County had to offer, I came across a veritable wonderland of natural creations! Fantastically sculpted sandstone, deep canyons carved by a serpentine river, jaw dropping views comparable to any I've ever seen! On top of the natural wonders, there’s a deep, rich human history here as well, to be found in the most amazing locations! The ruins, and rock art of the ancient Puebloans adds texture to this land! The Navajo, Paiute, and Ute people who came later and still reside here, show how life can be sustained, and thrive in this beautiful, but harsh landscape! The Mormon settlers who overcame amazing hardships to settle and carve out a place to live, and practice their faith! All these elements are woven together to create this fabulous tapestry of natural and human history, it enriches anyone who comes into contact with it! It was the inspiration from places like this that lead me to start my own adventure tour company, Treks West Tours www.TREKSWESTTOURS.com.  I knew I wanted a tour to Monument Valley, but the 2007 visit made me understand how many other great places there were to offer on the tour!

The array of places to see and things to do can overwhelm you! It’s good that once you come here you’ll be hooked, so you’ll keep coming back again, and again to experience more of it! The tours I offer are active ones with plenty of hiking, horseback riding, and river rafting in them and San Juan County has all of that and much more! In addition to Monument Valley the list includes Canyonlands National  NP, Natural Bridges NM, Lake Powell/Glen Canyon NRA, Hovenweep NM, Grand Gulch Primitive Area, Valley of the Gods, Moki Dugway, Edge of Cedars State Park, Goosenecks State Park, Cedar Mesa, Manti La Sal National Forest, 3 of the west’s most iconic rivers, the San Juan, the Colorado, and the Green, scenic views like Muley Point, and the Needles Overlook! This isn't everything, I touched on a few, but there are innumerable BLM lands with ruins, and petroglyphs, some of the best in the world! The hiking is phenomenal, with all types of terrain! A horseback riding experience in Monument Valley has no equal on the planet in my opinion! The Colorado is the most renowned river in the west, and runs through many states, but the San Juan is the heart of this region! A rafting trip on the San Juan from one day to a week is a special adventure you’ll never forget! Deep canyons, peace and solitude, ruins, and wildlife along the shore it is a seminal event! In addition to all of this, there’s biking, climbing, ATV touring, fishing, 4x4/jeep tours, hot air ballooning, boating on Lake Powell, and much more!

It was on my visit to the area last Spring that I got to try a new experience that had been on my list for a while, canyoneering! I had a chance to try it up in Moab a few years before, but the trip got canceled do to weather, and I didn't get to make it up. In researching my recent trip I came across North Wash Outfitters, and Jared Hillhouse. My wife and I were going to give it a try, and after telling Jared our particulars, age, experience, fitness level, he decided Blarney Canyon would be the right place to have our first canyoneering experience. Blarney is located in Glen Canyon NRA and take a while to get to, but the drive on its own is stunning! After arriving, and getting our gear on we hike up a steep slick rock slope to the canyon rim, from the top you have amazing views of the Henry Mountains! The rappels on this outing are long in the 25-40 foot range, perfect for a beginner! Jared and crew ensure your safety every step of the way, and instill you with confidence as you try something so new. It’s an amazing experience between the rappelling, and the scrambling and scurrying down through the narrow slot canyons, some that don’t get any sunlight! It’s not easy but it’s invigorating as you prepare for the challenges that await you around every corner. Long story short, our canyoneering experience was awesome, one of the most thrilling of my life! Needless to say canyoneering is now a part of my Monument Valley tour, I can’t recommend it, and North Wash Outfitters enough! In my business I work with a lot of outfitters in a various fields, non are any better than North Wash!

The moral of this story is, if you’re looking for an awesome western experience and don’t want to have to drive hundreds of miles in between, look no further than San Juan County! There is so much to see and do you could spend a lifetime visiting and not do it all!   

Moonhouse Ruin as a Fortress in the Desert

Moonhouse Ruin

Moonhouse Proper

     It seems I can reach out and touch the low-hanging grey clouds that promise moisture on the mesa as I turn off the pavement onto one of the rut-covered sandstone trails that passes for a road in San Juan County, Utah. Driving in San Juan County is an experience that enlivens all of the senses: the stunning contrast between the harsh sandstone and the gentle curve of the sage leaf, between the spine-covered prickly pear cactus and the delicately painted yellow of the yucca flower, delight the eye. One hears the slithering sound of the wind through pine and cedar, over sandstone and soil, beating on the window and carrying with it sand demanding to be let in. The smell of the high desert is unlocked as sage releases its scent and the all-important moisture on the air is often smelled long before it is seen. The seemingly smooth sandstone jostles and jerks any vehicle that dares attempt to cross it. The subtle taste of soil, sage, sand, and cedar creates the sauce that covers this high country desert.

Contrast along the trail.

     All of this can be found as one traverses the trails that snake across the mesa. It takes little imagination to look across the mesa and see the ancient farms that would have been here. Corn, beans, and squash were grown here, irrigated from the canyon bottoms and tended with an eye towards the harvest. With that harvest came the plenty that all societies hope for when the seed is planted. These staples were stored against the lean years that would inevitably follow. The ruin I sought on a foreboding day in April was, at least toward the end of its life, used as this kind of depository for the harvest. Any who view this site recognize its defensive position. The overlook provides a wide-angle view of the site and it is easy to imagine this ruin protecting not only the people who built it but also the staples they stored there. Their food was a resource that had to be guarded and stored in a way that would keep out not only the pack rats, mice, and other rodents, but also those who would raid and seize the staples that were deposited in the canyon walls

View from the overlook.

So well-fortified is the site that a Twenty-first Century traveler must negotiate many of the same obstacles that were no doubt valued by the ancient inhabitants for their defensive qualities. High on the opposite canyon rim one can see that the slick rock rim extends as far as the eye can see both up- and down-canyon. This would funnel all approaching traffic down-canyon or across-canyon, forcing them onto one of two paths leading to the Moonhouse ruin proper. One path leads through a narrow window situated under a huge hoodoo, the other up a narrow crack that would require stemming and climbing with both hands.

Guardian on the path to the Northwest.

     Once the observer enters the site, a path leads west to a kiva and easily identified water seeps. Sealing this end of the canyon off is the window under the hoodoo. To the southeast are rooms so uniform the local rangers have named them “Motel 6.” Chinking with white rock and a footprint in the mortar lend flair to these rooms. This path quickly ledges out.

Kiva to the Northwest

Motel 6

     The most iconic collection of rooms-six rooms, including the Moon Room for which the ruin is named-is found behind a formidable façade. The façade is pocked with loop holes to view any friend, foe, or eager hiker approaching up- or down-canyon. Petroglyphs decorate this important space. On the inner courtyard wall, facing out, is a white band 14 or so inches high with downward facing triangles on the bottom and dots along the top. It is as magnificent as any Monet. In a time when elsewhere in the world gunpowder was being invented, the Song Dynasty was passing, and Genghis Khan’s rule was ending with his death, here in San Juan County some ancient was putting paint to sandstone canvas with a human-hair brush.

Inner courtyard wall

      Found on the far end is a T door to a treasure room. Here, inside the Moon Room itself, a similar white band encircles the space. But instead of the geometric design found in the courtyard, you are greeted by a crescent moon in inverted white and brown facing a full moon. This room is completely captivating. The light is filtered through strategically-placed windows and shines along the band, illuminating the painted moon.

I understand farming, cooking, hunting and other daily tasks that the ancients would have performed. I also understand that there is a sacred nature and ritual that gives life direction and suggests that souls yearn to be taught, to seek favor, to find meaning. I see this room as special, though I cannot tell exactly why and even the most educated and informed observers of today can only hazard a guess. This room and rooms like it hold different meanings for different people. That is the real power: that 800 years later this room still bids the traveler to ask questions and to seek meaning-not just from books and research, but from the canyon, and from our own souls. In that way Moonhouse is still as significant to us today as it was to those who built it.

"Full moon"