Nearly two-thirds of Utah’s land is managed by the federal government. And nearly two-thirds of all of that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This month, Utah petitioned the Supreme Court for the state to acquire about half of that land. The stated goals include state control over the land including energy production and mineral extraction. Let’s begin a tour at sunrise.
Slot canyons carve into the edge of the San Rafael Swell, and some like Little Wild Horse Canyon you can easily hike into.
Little Wild Horse Canyon with Little Dog
BLM’s Factory Butte Recreation Area allows ATV access through the maze of eroded sandstone. I got a hint of the wildflowers that sometimes explode on the desert floor in the spring.
Factory Butte, Utah
Near Factory Butte, Goblin Valley State Park and Little Wild Horse Canyon are the Big Wild Horse Mesa and Middle Wild Horse Mesa Wilderness areas where no powered vehicles or man-made structures are allowed.
San Rafael Swell
Some BLM land like the wilderness area are challenging to access. Others are easy. A short drive from the city of St. George in the southwest part of the state is the Red Cliffs Dinosaur Track Site.
Red Cliffs Dinosaur Tracks, St. George, Utah
The Navajo Sandstone was formed during the Jurassic Period, and there’s evidence of others who hiked this area in that era.
Montezuma Canyon in southeast Utah offers interesting scenery, but the highlights are the archeological sites throughout the canyon. BLM has restored and maintained some, so that you can even climb atop and then down into kivas.
Three Kiva Pueblo, Montezuma Canyon
Nearby is another area filled with Ancestral Puebloan homes, petroglyphs and pictographs that runs along Butler Wash. The land is a hodgepodge of BLM, Forest Service and tribal lands managed together as part of Bears Ears National Monument.
Butler Wash, Bears Ears National Monument
Comb Ridge, that rise above Butler Wash, is filled with evidence of the Ancestral Puebloans who lived here. Many descendant tribes sought to have the land protected, and one of President Obama’s last actions was to establish the Monument through Executive Order under the Antiquities Act. Soon, as the first president to rescind an Antiquities Act order, the next president reopened much of the land to mineral extraction. While legal challenges wound through the courts, President Biden reestablished the National Monument designation when he came into office. This again is being challenged through the newly filed lawsuit by the Utah, though it is unclear what, if any, parts of Bears Ears may be affected.
Comb Ridge, Bears Ears National Monument
Near the Navajo tribal Monument Valley Park is a similar mesa filled with sandstone monoliths managed by BLM called Valley of the Gods. We’ll conclude our BLM tour and spend the night here as the sun sets.
Valley of the Gods, San Juan County, Utah