Rattlesnake Pueblo

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.5 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6502 - 6509 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Alkali Point Rd. mm 4.4
Fee: none
Attractions: rubble pile pueblo, potshards

The Rattlesnake Pueblo is located off of the Alkali Point Road east of Blanding, Utah. Found at the site is the rubble pile remains of a small pueblo like structure, numerous fragments of pottery and, on the day that we made our visit, several rattlesnakes.

From Blanding drive north on US-191 for about 8.7 miles and turn right onto the unmarked Alkali Point Road. The turnoff comes up just after the turnoff on the opposite side of the highway for the Devil's Canyon Campground. Follow the graveled Alkali Point Road for about 4.4 miles, staying left at the fork with the Mustang Road. Just before where the road makes a 90 degree left turn there is a side road that heads straight toward an old wooden structure where there is room to park on the outside of the fence.

The easiest approach is to walk along the left side of the fence for around 550 feet and then go left toward a little knoll for another 320 feet.

What I did at first was cut across through the snakeweed and sagebrush and as often happens in this area I came across a midget faded rattlesnake. Normally I would have been wearing my rattlesnake gators but in this case I had only stopped for a few minutes to check out a mound that I thought might have a ruin. While standing there playing around with my zoom lens and recording some footage there was a second good sized rattlesnake that went right by me within a few inches of my boots. The snake that I was filming was rattling its tail but the other one wasn't which was surprising because I was shifting my feet back and forth and moving about a little while filming the first snake. While midges usually don't get much over 3 feet long their venom is more toxic than most rattlesnakes due to having both a neurotoxin and a mytotoxin. The name comes from the fact that they tend not to get very long and that their colors fade as they get older. I've seen some that were old enough that all their patterns and colors had faded away until they were one solid color. As you can see this snake has been eating pretty well and appears to be every bit of 3 feet long or maybe slightly longer.

The little knoll did in fact have a small 2 or 3 room structure at one time made of dry stacked stones.

While a pile of rocks, even those that once formed a pueblo, might not be all that exciting the assortment of potshards did end up being pretty interesting.

This was a rim piece of a corrugated vessel that had a small button sized decoration.

Here is a painted piece with an interesting design.

There was actually a large amount of painted pieces with a good variety of designs. It should go without saying but be sure to leave everything where you find it for others to enjoy.

This plant is what we are referring to when we say snakeweed. Other names for it are broom snakeweed and whiskbroom snakeweed with the scientific name being gutierrezia sarothrae. If you were to bind a sheath of the stalks together and let them dry you would then have a makeshift little broom that you could use to sweep the dirt floor of your cabin.

I've been around rattlesnakes my entire life. Most of them have been the same species as I encountered on this hike. I try to force myself to wear my gators because I am always stepping on them, walking right over them or very close to them before I actually see them and that is even when I am trying to watch for them. Once when I was younger and doodle bugging a group of us were sitting in the shade of a caterpillar eating lunch and when we stood up one started rattling. The cat skinner had pinned one under the sagebrush that he was sitting on and had it pinned all through lunch. If you are out hiking and you see lizards then remember to watch for snakes. If it is hot and sunny they are probably in the shade. Sometimes that shade is under your vehicle like we found one time at the upper Rattlesnake Arches trailhead in Grand Junction, Colorado.

We should also mention that even though at present there aren't any 'No Trespassing' signs at this site our BLM map seems to indicate that the area on the west side of the Alkali Point Road in this area is private property. The map that we have doesn't show the road very well so it's hard to tell for sure.

If you would like to see the pueblo for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.