When planning our trip to Cedar Mesa, the two ruins we most wanted to visit were
The Citadel and Moon House. In order to see Moon House we had to be fortunate enough to get four permits of the twenty that were allotted for Friday's hike. When we checked Recreation.gov to make our reservations we found only four left. We quickly made our request and were excited when our permits were confirmed. Today is the day we are going to explore one of the most unique and well preserved ruins on Cedar Mesa . . . we can't wait to see what McCloyd Canyon has to offer!
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Within a few minutes of leaving the trailhead, we were on the rim of McCloyd Canyon . . .
McCloyd Canyon was lush with beautiful greenery and water from our very wet winter |
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| Following rock cairns, we made our way down into the canyon by traversing several sandstone ledges |
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This section was the crux of the hike . . .
A five-foot high slickrock pour off that was coated with a thin crust of sand that ended on an unstable pile of rocks . . .Yeah, we could make it down, but the real question was could we make it back up??
(Fortunately, we found a slightly easier route that bypassed this area when we returned) |
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Almost immediately, after circumnavigating the pour off, we could see Moon House across the canyon . . .
It, along with several other ruins, blended right in with the sandstone |
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After descending into the canyon bottom, we crossed to the other side and began climbing
up to the ruins . . . for the most part this was fairly straightforward and easy |
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| A couple of fun little windows looking back across the canyon from where we have come |
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| Mormon tea in bloom . . . apparently the male plants produce these yellow cones |
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We have arrived at Moon House!
We signed the register and studied the literature . . . Now we are excited about going inside! |
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| We carefully made our way up the rock steps and through the little door that acts as a portal to the inner rooms |
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This is an example of jacal construction . . .
Walls made of mud and poles going both vertically and horizontally |
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| Some of the moon pictographs painted on jacal walls |
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| There are three cliff dwellings spread out along ¼ mile of the canyon with a total of 49 rooms! |
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Here's one of the things that makes Moon House so unique . . . A wall that provides a sheltered courtyard . . .
Kent, Allison and John inside the courtyard |
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| Moon House ruin gets its name from this room with the moon painted on the wall |
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These ruins were constructed between 1242 and 1265 AD . . .
It was interesting to note the different methods of constructions . . .
In the picture above, one side is brick and mortar and the other seems to be stucco |
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| Pictographs on the sandstone walls |
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We were the only ones at Moon House Ruin!
Twenty people are allowed each day with a permit |
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| The openings in the wall on the right must have provided light and ventilation |
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| This opening is looking back, across the canyon, at the rim we came down |
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| Easy in, easy out! |
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| This structure was rounded with an interesting pedestal at the door |
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| This wall consists of mud and poles tied together with willow branches |
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| Looking back you can see how expansive Moon House really is! |
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| This is one of the other cliff dwellings to the southeast of the main Moon House |
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| It was interesting to see the little white stones used in the chinking |
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| A close-up of more decorative stones |
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Talking with a group of Utah Department of Natural Resources officers, on the canyon floor
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We had talked with these men the day before, as we were leaving The Citadel, and they had told us they had permits for Moon House for today, as well. We were actually glad to see them. Why you might ask? Because the last mile of the road to Moon House had no places to pull aside and let another vehicle pass and they had four trucks. At least now we were fairly certain we could get out without having to back up!
The Moon House ruins were everything we had hoped (and more) they would be! There's quite a process that needs to be completed in order to hike into Moon House that includes reserving permits and meeting with a Kane Gulch ranger to have them validated. Make sure to plan ahead if you're going to do this hike . . . and we hope you do! For more information you can start by clicking
here to get a link for Road Trip Ryan's website on Moon House Ruins. His information is a little out of date, but it will give you a good starting point for making plans to visit this special place!
