Round Trip Distance: 0.3 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6599 - 6675 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Perfect Granaries/10 Room
Fee: none
Attractions: cliff dwellings
The Perfect Granaries & Ruins site is located in the Beef Basin area just south of the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park about 67 miles northwest of Monticello, Utah. All of the cliff dwelling type structures at the site are in near perfect condition and easy to view.
To get there travel north on Highway 191 from Monticello, Utah for 14.3 miles and turn west at the signs for Newspaper Rock and Canyonlands National Park. If coming from the other direction the turnoff is about 40 miles south of Moab. Continue for another 20.2. miles and turn left onto CR 107, the Bridger Jack Mesa/Beef Basin Road. There is a restroom and staging area with lots of parking at the turnoff. Follow CR 107 for 25.4 miles and turn right onto CR 104/aka FR 093.
The sign at the turn onto CR 104/FR 093 says 12 miles to Beef Basin although we measured 9.4 miles to the sign in this photo. We strongly recommend 4wd with extra gas and since the area is so remote. The main roads in Beef Basin are generally pretty smooth but there are some rough spots in places. The spur roads can be sandy. It's never a bad idea to bring a shovel. From here zero your odometer and turn right toward Ruin Park.
At the 1.6 mile point from the last junction there are 2 roads that branch off on the right. Take the first road and continue for 0.8 miles to the trailhead.
Looking off to the left from the parking area it's not too hard to spot a couple of the granaries.
To get reasonably close enough for most cameras will require some minor slickrock scrambling. There are places where you can simply walk up onto the slickrock but we did notice at least one spot where someone had stacked up some rocks that was a little more adventurous.
Well off on the left is this nice little granary or room that is tucked neatly beneath an overhang that formed a small cave.
The obvious cliff dwellings that are visible from the trailhead are these double stacked ruins. The lower room appears to have been a granary. The upper room doesn't have any smoke residue so maybe it was also used for storage.
There is one more ruin that is in a shallow alcove off to the right. It can be viewed from below but the easiest route for a close up look is to stay on the little bench and follow the cliff around to the alcove.
This ruin is also in pretty good shape for its age.
