Driving Directions

See Trail Map for driving directions too.

A high-clearance vehicle with 4-wheel drive is a must!  If you do not have high clearance then you will high center many times and damage your vehicle.  We had a medium-clearance vehicle and got about 3 miles from the Comb Ridge turn-off and had to park and walk the remaining 2.5 miles to the Kachina Panel.  If you have a side-by-side or ATV you will have little problems getting there.  There are a few obstacles including a spot that will require your vehicle to go up about a foot but someone added some rocks to make it a little better.

There are some tricky spots as you go down Comb Wash.  If you don’t have experience doing any sort of off-roading then this adventure may not be for you.  If there are recent rains then I would not do this drive.  You drive down Comb Wash which can have a good amount of water with the spring run-off making this extremely muddy and impassable.

This is a very remote area, so bring extra fuel, full size spare, tire changing equipment, food, and water.

The Kachina Panel (Butler Wash Panel is the official name), is a very remote and special petroglyph panel located on the southern end of Comb Ridge.  The drive to the panel is precarious and enough to make some ill-prepared people turn back.  If you have a high-clearance vehicle with 4-wheel drive then you will make it to the parking area for the petroglyph panel.  This adventure was a very fun and unique experience that I will not soon forget.  If you love seeing rock art like we do, you MUST come visit the Kachina Panel!  You will pass by several other historical significant areas which we will talk about in other Treks.

This panel features hundreds (thousands?) of petroglyphs on a rock wall spanning about 100 yards!  There are so many different and unique types of rock art that it would be impossible to name them all.  Some look to be thousands of years old.  Please respect this place by not carving your own name, defacing the rock art, or even touching the rock art. Please just take pictures and enjoy them from a distance.

Where you park, there is a very short trail to where you can see the main panel.  On the way, you may see pottery shards and hints of prehistoric living in a clearing.  We found piles of rocks that made us think this was a very busy area.  You are literally steps from the San Juan river and this would have been an area visited by many different types of people back in the day.  There are lots of ruins and hogans all over the Comb Ridge area including nearby the Kachina Panel.  Remember it is illegal to take pottery shards or any other artifacts.  It’s actually illegal to move them to group them together on rocks too.

Just below the main part of the Kachina Panel you will see a sign.  This is what it says:

Butler Wash Panel

As you can see, this is a special place, sacred to both ancient and modern Native Americans.  The myriad of chiseled figures are typical of Native American rock art found all along the San Juan River.  Rock carvers have recorded their presence, thoughts, and dreams from archaic times to historic Navajo times.  What is not typical is the defacement of the panel by vandals.  Please respect both the ancient artists and the experience of other visitors by not adding to the wall’s desecration.

We welcome you to enjoy this site.  Take pictures, make sketches, have lunch.  Please remember that oil from your fingers speeds the erosion process, so avoid touching the petroglyphs.

Overnight camping is not allowed here.  This policy allows everyone a chance to appreciate the spectacular panel.

We met a local man here who told us that he has been here all by himself and then there were visits where dozens of people would arrive on rafts.  He seemed to be one of the unofficial stewards of this sight and seemed very knowledgeable and even pointed out some petroglyphs about 100 ft. up off the ground on the rock wall!

The trail goes down by the river and then circles up to the rock art.  You can see the rock art pretty well from below, but I wanted to get closer!  The hike up was easy, yet steep, but I was glad to do it!  I don’t know the next time I would be here.

Notice some of the petroglyphs are depictions of humans (anthropomorphs) and some are upside down without heads. You will also see what appear to be frogs, big horn sheep, elk, coyote, birds, and more.  Some of the anthropomorphs appear to have huge headdresses.  Or, are they depictions and symbolism for some type of spiritualism or status?  We don’t know the meaning, but these are incredibly unique!  I had so much fun seeing this panel in person I think I took over 300 pictures of this panel alone!

Many of these anthropomorphs have necklaces, earrings, and some types of belts.  Notice that some even have other anthropomorphs inside of them!  You will also see weapons including atlatls.  The main panel is the most clear and it’s located on the left side.  Some of the anthropomorphs have multiple crowns (?) headdresses (?) going straight up and then to the side.  I wish I knew what this meant.  Some type of power or symbolism of something else?