Bullpup Canyon

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 6175 - 6253 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs. 30 mins.
Trailhead: CR #215 mm 0.48
Fee: none
Attractions: cliff dwellings, pueblo

Bullpup Canyon is located 4 miles northeast of Blanding, Utah off of US-191. All along the south rim of the canyon can be found a half dozen cliff dwellings of various sizes. One of them is still in perfect condition with all the walls and roof still intact. On a knoll in the middle of the canyon there is even the rubble pile ruins where a pueblo once stood that has a number of potsherds scattered about.

Measuring from the Visitor Center in Blanding drive east on US-191 for about 3.6 miles and turn right after crossing the dam of Recapture Reservoir.

Drive up the hill on the well maintained gravel road for another half mile to where a 4wd road branches off on the left. Vehicles with 2wd can park out of the way at the top of the 4wd road.

Those with 4wd vehicles may either park and hike down the road into the canyon or continue driving for another half mile or so. On our trip we chose to hike so that we could more easily look for ruins. Note that we did see both bear and mountain lion scatt along the way.

We had trouble with the bright sunlight when trying to get photos of the first minor ruin that we noticed.

The next ruin that is in pretty much perfect condition sits up on a ledge and is easily missed from the road. We had hiked up toward the base of the cliff to get closer to Ruin #3 when we saw this one off to the right. It takes a lot of scrambling through brush and boulders to get close to ruins 2 and 3 but it seemed well worth the effort.

Ruin #3 is easily visible from the 4wd road and even from US-191. There are only 3 small stub walls remaining but if you get up high enough you might notice some grinding slicks on the top of the boulder on the right and what might be some rock art on the back wall.

These are the 3 stub walls that each once formed small rooms or storage bins.

What we are calling Ruin #4 is better seen in its entirety from a distance. Unless you hike all the way up to the ruin the view is mostly blocked by trees.

Ruin #6 might be accessible from the rim of the canyon but probably not from down below. It looks to be in pretty good condition.

We didn't see Ruin #5 until we were hiking back to the trailhead. The intact wall on the right is partially obscured by the trees but also appears to be in pretty good condition and half again larger that what is visible in this photo.

 

There is a knoll that we walked out on to get closer photos of Ruin #6 where there are erected some of the poles for the power lines that runs down the canyon. We happened to notice a pretty good scattering of pottery on the ground which led us to notice some of the rubble that once formed the walls of a pueblo that actually covered a large area. It's interesting to think about the amount of activity from building the powerline and whether they regarded the ruins or not.

Here is a sample of a couple of the fragments of pottery. Be sure to leave all artifacts like these where you find them for others to enjoy as well. Keeping in mind, of course, that it is illegal to remove artifacts anyway.

A person could probably spend a full day exploring Bullpup Canyon and studying its ruins. We only tried to get up close to Ruins 2 and 3. It isn't easy at all to get around after you leave the 4wd road. Up the side draw past Ruin #6 there is a large cave at the head of the canyon with another large cave higher up by the rim. Both caves looked worth getting a closer look at on some future trip. As far as the ruins that we mentioned above if you would like to see them for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.