A Visit To This Ancient Utah Cave Will Take You Back In Time
By Catherine Armstrong|Published June 28, 2018
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Catherine Armstrong
Author
Writer, editor and researcher with a passion for exploring new places. Catherine loves local bookstores, independent films, and spending time with her family, including Gus the golden retriever, who is a very good boy.
We celebrate Utah’s pioneer history every July, but the history of people living here goes back much further than 1847. Long before the first white explorers set foot in the land that is now Utah, the Ancestral Puebloans lived and thrived here. Check out this cave that will take you back in time.
Comb Ridge is an 80-mile-long monocline made of Navajo sandstone and other rock that was formed eons ago, during the Triassic and Jurassic time periods.
The ridge was created 65 million years ago, when tectonic plates slipped, pushing up the ridge like a wrinkle in fabric. From high above, it looks like the sun-bleached spine of an animal, stretching across the desert. This region was home to Ancestral Puebloan people from approximately 700-1300 CE.
Comb Ridge is located in the far southeastern corner of Utah, near the town of Bluff. It's part of the Bears Ears National Monument.
In addition to the well-known House On Fire dwelling, you'll also find a magnificent cave with the remains of Ancestral Puebloan dwellings. It's called Monarch Cave, and it's absolutely stunning.
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To get to Monarch Cave, you'll travel along Butler Wash Road, which is unpaved and can be treacherous, depending on the weather and time of year.
While you can usually traverse this road very carefully in a 2WD vehicle, 4WD is recommended. Before you set off down this road, make sure that you have a spare tire and plenty of water. This is a remote part of the state, and if you get stuck it might take awhile before anyone can reach you. Cell service out here is spotty at best, non-existent at worst.
Not only will that be safer for you; it will also help preserve this historic site. If you do choose to get closer, please be diligent to avoid damaging the ruins and surrounding area.
If you decide to visit Monarch Cave, please be respectful. Don’t remove anything from the area, and take precautions not to damage these fragile ruins so that those who come along after you can also see and enjoy them.
