Moonhouse Ruins
The Cedar Mesa area in southeastern Utah is a remote area that has lots of good hiking/scrambling trails, canyons, and Ancestral Puebloan ruins to explore. Moonhouse Ruins is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, requiring a permit from the Kane Gulch Ranger Station (4 miles south of the junction of Highways 95 and 261).
From the Kane Gulch Ranger Station drive 6 miles (10km) south and watch for a turn onto Snow Flat (dirt) Road. There is a kiosk about 8 miles down the route, but the last section is on a rough road, requiring a high-clearance vehicle.
From the parking area at the rim of McCloyd Canyon, we can spot some of the ruins on the other side. The trail is a steep descent into the bottom of the canyon and then back up the other side (3 miles return).
We can climb right to all of the ruins, which sit in a high alcove under sandstone cliffs. There are over 80 rooms to explore. One section has an exterior wall, probably built for defense 800 years ago.
Behind the wall is a kind of alleyway with the living rooms back against the wall. A few of the ruins are painted/plastered white and phases of the moon are displayed in the paint.
We were able to spot pottery shards and some old dried corncobs, preserved for centuries in this dry climate.
Families lived within a “room” that measured about 6-8 feet on each side, with a single window/door for each one. Some of the spaces were also used for storage and as granaries, sealed off from rodents. Larger spaces were used for ceremonial purposes,
The ruins are still dry under the overhanging alcove ceiling, but the inhabitants needed water too in this high desert area (at 6400 feet), so they were built above a reliable stream. In late April there was water in pools and protected low spots, to be replenished by rain and runoff from higher elevations on Cedar Mesa. Crops (corn, squash, beans) would have been grown on the shores of the stream below.
The ruins extend along the long line of the alcove in either direction, inviting a hiker to spend half a day in the area.
Some of the rooms/spaces require some scrambling to get a good view. Ancestral people built ladders to access the “upstairs apartments” which could be quickly removed for better defense.
We returned back down to the bottom of McCloyd Canyon and back up the other side to the parking area.
In the area of Cedar Mesa are a number of other ruins to explore – Arch Canyon, Fish and Owl Canyons, Grand Gulch, Johns Canyon, Moki Dugway, Mule Canyon, Mule Canyon Ruin, Road Canyon, Salvation Knoll, and Slickhorn Canyon.
We are planning our return visit to Cedar Mesa for more exploration.