We stumbled upon Fishmouth Cave when we were exploring for ruins nearby.  We noticed a large cave high up on Comb Ridge and decided to park and hike to it and see what we could find!  The trail starts off dipping down into a dry wash and then crossing over until we came to the canyon opening.  The trail was very easy and there were lots of cairns to point the way.  Just be watchful as there are many other social and game trails that lead all over.  You can see the large cave for almost the entire length of this trail, so if you do get lost just look up to see where that cave is located.

Right when you enter the canyon, look to your right along the short cliffs.  You will see remnants of ancient structures built by the Ancestral Pueblo some 700-1000+ years ago.   These structures have been broken, ransacked, and destroyed by people and the elements.  Only parts of the walls of these structures remain.  They are really neat to see and set the stage for the rest of the hike.

The trail will continue to wind around tall cottonwood trees and through a dry wash.  The trail will then come out of the wash and you will have two options: turn right or turn left.  Continue left to enter the smaller canyon.  From the first ruins to the second ruins it’s about a 1/3 of a mile.  Once you hike the 1/3 of a mile, look in the cave and you will see many ruins, some in excellent condition!

These appear to be ovens!  What do you think?

Keep in mind that this is still an open archeological area and it is forbidden for you to go through the sites searching for objects.  Please watch where you step and do not pick up anything.  Some people have already collected pottery shards and placed them on rocks.  The BLM does not want hikers to do this.  Just leave things as they are.   There are many structures in this cave here.  The roof of the cave has smoke from ancient fires!  It’s fascinating to imagine this place full of activity when it was inhabited.

We continued on and found several other small caves along the trail that hold more ruins and neat things to see!

Most people do not hike up to Fishmouth Cave since it is steep and difficult terrain.  We just knew there would be amazing things waiting for us in the cave and we were right!  We continued our slow hike on up until we got in the cave.   There are several smaller structures and walls inside the cave and even just on the outside of the cave.  We found tons of ancient corn cobs along with pottery shards, pictographs, grinding grooves, and even graffiti from recent hikers.  Please leave everything as it is.  Please do not carve your name on the rocks like so many careless visitors have done in the past.

There is evidence that this cave was probably where many people would grind corn into meal for baking and cooking.  There were so many grinding spots and corn cobs that it was almost impossible to go a few feet without seeing a corn cob!

We saw pictographs of ancient hand prints!  This was such a great hike!  We were glad we made the hike into the cave and discovered more ancient treasures!  We spent a good 1/2 hour here exploring, resting, and enjoying the views!

There are hundreds of carved and painted names of recent hikers.  Please do not be like them.  Please respect this beautiful and amazing place and do not deface the rock.