Driving Directions

This is a very remote area that will require some route finding just in case your GPS doesn’t work.  In fact, nearby Canyonlands National Park says that you shouldn’t use your GPS for navigation out here.  Make sure you have extra fuel, food, water, and some tire changing equipment.  The road to BlueJohn’s Canyon is dirt yet graded.  I got to Blue John’s Motel 6 in a 2-wheel drive vehicle, but it could be impassible if there was recent rain or snow.

BlueJohn Canyon is a remote part of Robbers Roost in the San Rafael Swell, Utah.  This canyon was made famous by Aron Ralston who was trapped for several days and had to amputate is own arm in order to escape.  For more information click this link to the Wikipedia article.

But, for this Trek we will not be going inside the canyon.  We will be exploring the cabin remnants and also the nearby Granary Spring!   BlueJohn was an outlaw who lived, or hid(?), out here.   He was named BlueJohn because he had one blue eye and one brown eye.  His real name is John Griffith.

The cabin would be a welcome sight for someone who had been on a horse all day travelling across the desert to get to this place.  There are three rooms in the cabin and it looks like campers and visitors still use it to this day.  I saw some signatures on the walls of the middle room and there was an old Coleman camp stove on the ground.   Someone painted a large “BJ’s Motel 6” on the front of it.  The place is surprisingly still in decent condition.  Please respect these historical relics and do not write your name or deface or destroy the structures.

About 50 ft. away is a dugout structure.   It has been overrun by packrats, but I opened the door and took a peek inside.  This looks more like a cellar than a shelter.  It’s built right in the side of a mound of dirt.

I then hiked the 0.10 mile to Granary Spring.   I never did find a granary but I did find where there was a little water seeping out from the ground.  It has been fenced, but part of the fence has been destroyed and cattle have been getting direct access to the source of the spring.  On this particular visit I saw a trailcamera on one of the fence posts.  It smelt like a cow pasture and I saw a few cows near the springs waiting for me to leave.

This little amount of water would have been lifesaving and you can see why BlueJohn built a shelter here.

While you are in the area you should check out Horseshoe Canyon.