Elk Ridge Adventure
Uploaded by
The PetroglyphElk Ridge Adventure
Uploaded by
The PetroglyphOff The Beaten Path Maps
Adventures
July 2008 Newsletter
By Monte Wells
Elk Ridge
This is a great time of year to spend some time on Elk Ridge. With the temperatures
getting higher in the desert and canyon areas of southeastern Utah the coolness of Elk
Ridge is a welcome relief. Elk Ridge is located about 30 miles west of Monticello as the
crow fly's. There are several different routes that you can take to reach Elk Ridge like
North Cottonwood, the Causeway, South Cottonwood, or through the Bears Ears.
Depending on where your final destination is on Elk Ridge one route might be shorter
than the other. Elk Ridge sits at around 8000 -9000 ft above sea level. It is far different
than the lower desert country of southeastern Utah with Ponderosa Pine, Aspen patches,
scrub oak, Manzanita, and running creeks and springs. It is also a local favorite for
family drives to view the wild and domestic animals that live on Elk Ridge such as Elk,
Deer, Bears, Turkeys, and of course range cattle.
A couple of weeks ago we decided to take a drive
up to Elk Ridge to check on a report that we had
received that someone had burnt down a cabin
called "Ute Cabin". We started in Monticello and
drove down to Blanding where we tied into the
Causeway Road. It took about 1.5 hours to travel
to Elk Ridge but along the way we enjoyed the
magnificent views from the high mountain road we
was on down into Dry Wash, Allen's Canyon, and
South Cottonwood Canyon.
After reaching Sego Flat we headed south towards the Gooseberry Ranger Station where
we filled up a couple of water bottles. Then we traveled a little further down the road
where we turned off the main road and took a side road east. This particular less traveled
road takes you to some old cabins that are located at the far end of a meadow. From the
cabins you have the view of the Meadow to the west and a spectacular view of South
Cottonwood Canyon, and the Abajo Mountains to the east. The road is really rough and
not maintained and you have to have a high clearance 4x4 to drive into the cabins.
After spending some time at this cabin taking pictures and enjoying the view we loaded
back up and head back to the main road. We then continued south towards North Notch.
Once we crossed over North Notch which is the head of Dark Canyon we continued
further south. We eventually took a road off to our right and proceeded down to Ute
Cabin spring. It has been interesting to see all the fallen trees and we even had to move a
couple before reaching the spring. Once we dropped down the hill to the spring we could
see that the Cabin was still intact and had not been burned. It was a relief to see it
snuggled back in the Aspen trees in the same condition as I remembered it to be in from
past visits. As we got closer to the cabin we noticed that two large Aspen trees had fallen
on the cabin during the winter. The extra weight of the fallen trees will probably damage
the cabin if the trees aren't removed.
While at Ute Cabin we had several Deer wander into the spring and they really didn't
seem to mind that we were there. We spent some time looking around the cabin and
watching the deer before we decided to go. After leaving Ute Cabin spring we went to
the Kigalia Ranger Station where we got a big surprise. The Ranger Station was
destroyed. It appeared to have been burnt down by a really hot fire because everything
that could burn did. The picture shows you what it looks like. The fire burnt everything
right down to the foundation. We later found out that the forest had just done a major
renovation last year and that it burnt down last fall. They said that it was a possible gas
leak that had caused the fire, but that they were still looking into it.
While at the guard station we came across
the largest puff ball mushroom I have ever
seen. Puff Balls are really good eating
and this one was in perfect condition.
Needless to say I have enjoyed several
meals with mushrooms. The photo shows
my daughter kneeling beside the
mushroom and how big it is in comparison
to her hand.
When we left the Kigalia Ranger Station
we traveled down past Milk Ranch Point
to South Cottonwood Canyon and home to
Monticello. Upon arriving at home I
noticed that we had traveled well over a
hundred miles and it had taken us six
hours or so to make the loop. It was a
splendid drive with great scenery,
historical sites, and some archaeological
sites that I will write about in the next
newsletter. The route that we covered is
covered by two of the ATV Safari trails
the North Long Point, and Elk Ridge
Trials.
