Butler Wash Petroglyphs and Ruins: Bears Ears N.M.

Ruins built into the wall of Butler Wash

Sometimes the best getaways are not planned -- that's kinda how this trip to Bears Ears National Monument happened. Steve and I had a couple of days without the kiddos and our short list of options required 1) Somewhere we've never been 2) Escape the heat of southern Utah.



We looked at maps and forecasts and decided to roadtrip up to Bears Ears, the newly designated National Monument under Obama. There are nearly 100,000 archaeological and cultural sites found in this southeastern corner of Utah.

Waving guy. I like him.

Gorgeous panel of petroglyphs, created with such precision.

close up of ruins -- lots of pottery and grinding stones nearby

My favorite panel -- cranes and ducks. And infuriatingly present are bullet holes by some Yay-hoo loser.

More petroglyphs -- you could find art nearly every flat wall we explored.

More faded glyphs

hmmmm some non-legit but equally interesting art

I love liberal tree-hugging Utahns

Not really part of our "escape the heat" plan -- but we did see some cool stuff

All of these ruins and glyphs were within 1 mile of our parking spot, literally right off of the highway. If it wasn't 1000000 degrees we could have hiked down the wash for miles. I can't wait to go back! Such a special place -- thankful for the protection it now has and deserves.