Comb Ridge is an incredible archeological and historical treasure trove.  This area is filled with rock art and cliff dwellings created by the Ancestral Pueblo  some 700-1200+ years ago.  Please respect this area by not stealing or taking artifacts and relics including arrowheads and pottery shards.  Do not carve your names on the rocks and do not lean or rest on any ruin walls.  If you are hiking with pets, remember that pets are not allowed inside or near archeological sites.  Do not touch rock art.   Watch where you step so you don’t step on artifacts or relics.

As I was driving up Butler Wash Road, I noticed a very large alcove in Comb Ridge.  I got out my 300 mm telephoto lens and saw ruins in the same alcove!  They looked significant enough that made me want to hike up to them and so I found a parking spot and headed on up.

I knew nothing beforehand about these ruins.  They have another name, but for the sake of this Trek, I will stick with Alcove Ruins.

The dirt parking area had spots for about 4-6 vehicles and my car was the only one there when I arrived.  I saw hints of a trail going up the canyon to the alcove, but most of the trails were created by cows (as evident by the hundreds of cow pies everywhere).  You can’t actually see the alcove from the parking, so make sure you know which canyon to enter for the ruins.  I was hiking in a slightly southwesterly direction to enter the canyon.

From the parking, the trail will go down a big sandy hill into Butler Wash.  It was bone dry during my visit and that made it nice to hike to the other side.  Still, I had to traverse through some thick bushes and tall cottonwood trees before I was able to hike from the wash back to level ground again.  It wasn’t difficult hiking, but there are plenty of thistles, stickers, and thorns that ended up in my socks.

Once on the other side, I just followed a cow trail to the entrance to the actual canyon.  The canyon isn’t narrow and doesn’t provide many obstacles.  It was still easy hiking.  The alcove is hidden from view until you are well inside the canyon.

After hiking in the canyon for a bit, you will see the large alcove above you to the west.  There are actually several very large alcoves in this canyon, but the ones we are hiking to are high up still.  From where I could first see Alcove Ruins from within the canyon, I looked to my right and saw a nice slanted slickrock ramp leading up to the ruins.  I decided to skip the trail and hike up this ramp to make my ascent easier.  It looked though that if I continued hiking along the canyon trail that the trail would eventually zigzag up to the ruins.  You can try the other way, but I wanted to try this way.

As I was hiking, I saw other caves and alcoves that looked interesting.  I could see remnants of more ancient structures, but my main focus was on the big ruins I saw with my telephoto lens.

I was getting close to the alcove and had the sudden visual in my mind that this area was once a busy and thriving community.  I could envision many ancient people making their way to these structures and all over this canyon.  I’m not expert, but it seemed like dozens of people called this area home.

After stopping for a quick break, I realized that I would need to traverse near the cliff edge in order to get to Alcove Ruins.  As I approached the cliff, I began to doubt if I really wanted to do this.  It’s steep and exposed enough to make anyone second guess their decision.  Make no mistake.  This part is dangerous and could be deadly.  The ledge you need to cross over is about 6 ft in width, but is steeply slanted with very few objects to hold on to.  After assessing the situation, I built up some courage and crossed over the exposed area.

Alcove Ruins area amazing!  There are a bunch of structures still in great condition.  Be careful where you step as the ground has pottery shards and rubble spread around.  Take notice to the many layers that were built up to hold the structures.  It wasn’t obvious, but I found evidence of a circular structure that could indicate it was a kiva.

Admire the masonry and craftsmanship of the ruins.  Rocks were stacked and cemented together with a type of mortar to keep the structures intact and sturdy.  It’s amazing to think that these structures could be 700+ years old!

  They have unfortunately seen better days and many of the artifacts that were originally left here by the Ancestral Pueblo have long been destroyed or looted.  I hope some of these artifacts ended up in museums, but sadly, some are probably in random people’s basements.

Some of the ruins are snug right up against the alcove wall.  Notice on the ground surrounding the ruins that there are carved steps.  These carved steps gave the ancient inhabitants traction and footholds in order to enter and exit their dwellings.  I found about 20 of them.

The ruins are in an alcove that faces south.  This is to provide maximum sun exposure to heat up the dwellings in cooler months.

After exploring the ruins, I went back over the scary ledge and explored a nearby cave.  I didn’t find much in the cave except for a few small seeps of water.

Instead of going back down the slickrock ramp, I went another way and found some Moki Steps!  I used the steps and hiked down an easy way to my car.