Round Trip Distance: 1 mile
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5010 - 5074 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead: 37.47716, -109.62680
Fee: $5/person/day
Attractions: ruin
The Corral Ruin is a minor site that is located on the east side of the Lower Butler Wash Road west of Bluff, Utah. The ruin is in an alcove that has a corral built in front of it. There is another alcove in the same area that also shows signs of habitation, although no obvious ruins, and possibly some black charcoal pictographs.
For turn-by-turn directions to the trailhead enter 37.47716, -109.62680 into your driving app. From the Bluff end of the Lower Butler Wash Road it is 15.7 miles from US-163 to the turnoff to the site and from the Blanding end it is 7.3 miles from UT-95. After turning off of the Lower Butler Wash Road it is only 0.13 miles to where there is a short spur that leads over to the wash where you can park.
The alcove with the ruin is easily visible about a quarter mile away. With a pair of binoculars you can see some ruins on the left side of the alcove.
A good trail leads down into the wash and easily up the opposite side but after that there at present is no trail at all leading over to the alcove.
We were surprised upon arriving at finding the entire alcove enclosed with a corral. On the left of the gate there is a feedbox that was lined with metal to keep rodents out.
Back in the day there may have been multiple rooms in the alcove but at present only one of them is evident. It's surprising that anything at all has survived from the effects of the livestock that were once closed within the corral.
The original builders of the ruin left their fingerprints in the mortar, maybe unknowingly, as enduring forensics of their once physical reality.
Around the corner to the east from the corral are 2 more shallow alcoves.
The alove on the left shows some faint signs of habitation. Judging from the color of this stack of wood it has probably been laying here for hundreds of years. The rough ends of the wood show that it was gathered rather than cut.
On the back of the alcove behind a juniper tree there are some black charcoal pictographs. What look like a couple of initials makes it almost impossible to say whether any of the markings are prehistoric.
If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
