Backpacking Destinations – Along Ancient Trails
Cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, ancient pottery-Utah’s Grand Gulch is thick with history
By Janet Marugg, December 1, 2000

Ever dream of exploring wild, remote lands in search of relics from ancient times? I have, and that’s why I headed to southern Utah’s Grand Gulch Primitive Area, where amateur archaeologists and history-minded hikers can get a taste of the real thing.

Hidden in the canyons below a piñon pine- and juniper-covered plateau, Grand Gulch contains some of the most fascinating Anasazi tribal real estate in the Southwest. The Ancient Ones inhabited the canyons from about 200 to 1300 a.d., when they abandoned the region for unknown reasons. Seven hundred years later, it looks like they just left. Stunning slickrock alcoves and amphitheaters hold the well-preserved remains of cliff dwellings, granaries, ceremonial kivas, and mysterious rock art. Pieces of shattered pottery litter the ground.

There’s only one way to experience Grand Gulch: Hike into it on the same trails the Anasazi did centuries ago.