Round Trip Distance: 0.2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6396 - 6409 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Farmhouse Ruin
Fee: none
Attractions: Ancestral Puebloan ruins
The Farmhouse Ruin is located in the Ruin Park area of Beef Basin just south of the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park and 67 miles northwest of Monticello, Utah. The large and extensive ruins were part of an Ancestral Puebloan farming community, that according to a sign at the site, dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries.
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 says 12 miles to Beef Basin. 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 maybe even a shovel. From here zero your odometer and turn right toward Ruin Park.
The turnoff from the Ruin Park Road to the Farmhouse Ruins is at the 3.7 mile point from the main junction. If you have just visited the Castle Ruins it will be the second road on the left. The first road being the CR 111 extreme 4wd route that travels back over the divide into Middle Park where it reconnects with CR 119 near the main junction.
About a quarter mile or so down the Farmhouse Road there is a short spur that branches off on the right that leads to a small ruin before returning to the main route.
At first the small ruin looks like a single round structure but on further inspection it can be seen that there was actually a rectangular room out in front.
Continuing down the Farmhouse Road to about the 0.4 mile point there is a fork in the road across from a water trough. The left fork leads up to the Hilltop Ruin while the right leads on to the Farmhouse Ruin.
The side road up to the Farmhouse Ruin is only about a tenth of a mile past the fork at the water trough. You can literally drive right up to the front door of this ruin. (If you knew where they put the front door.)
The Farmhouse Ruin is big. Compared to some of the other ruins in the area it is great house big. Not as large as some of the famous Chaco Canyon great houses but big none the less.
There are a few logs still in place that look larger than any of the trees in the immediate area so some effort had to have been expended to bring them here.
This doorway is even styled after some of the great houses.
Just down the hill a couple hundred feet to the east of the main buildings is this interesting circular structure that has a double wall with a gap between the inner and outer walls. There is at least one window type hole in the inner wall that doesn't communicate through the outer wall. We're thinking that it was some sort of above ground kiva structure but maybe not. Perhaps is was something like a sweat lodge.
