Wooden Deck Ruin

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.9 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5771 - 5810 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead: Five Kiva Pueblo
Fee: none
Attractions: cliff dwelling

The Wooden Deck Ruin is located on the outskirts of Blanding, Utah near the confluence of Westwater Creek and Big Canyon. The ruins covers the opening in the cliff of a large cave that is 20-30 feet above the sloping canyon bottom. This post describes hiking along the east rim of the canyon from the Five Kiva Pueblo trailhead to an overlook where the ruin is visible.

For turn-by-turn directions to the trailhead enter Five Kiva Pueblo into your driving app. From US-191 you will be directed onto the paved Ruins Road, CR232, where it is 1.7 miles to the end of the road and the trailhead. From there begin hiking south along an old 4WD route.

There are several faint trails the leave the 4WD road and stay closer to the rim of the canyon. One of the first side trails even leads to good places to get through the fences without climbing over.

About a quarter mile or so before reaching Big Canyon you will be across from the Wooden Deck Ruin.

The ruin blends in with the cliff pretty well but is still pretty easy to spot. County Road 231 runs right along the rim above the ruin. That said, there isn't an obvious route from the road that would get you to the ruin. When the ruin was serving as a habitation it may have been accessed with a ladder from below via the wooden deck.

It's pretty amazing that they were able to get their masonry to stay adhered to the front of the cliff with all the load that it is bearing.

The central block of the ruin looks like it was 3 scrunched up stories high. Or  maybe 2 stories with a parapet. The small window and the 3 smaller holes were probably there to shoot arrows through. Like castles in Europe the main object for building in a place like this would have been strictly for defensive purposes.

At some point we will probably try to get a closer view of the Wooden Deck Ruin from below. There are some ruins in Big Canyon that we would like to explore some time or other that could be done at the same time. We looked for a route down Westwater Creek from the Five Kiva Pueblo but couldn't find one right off that would get us through the thick tangles of brush and trees. The view from across the canyon is a bit distant but still worth seeing for no more trouble than it takes. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.