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Ruins in Utah and Colorado


Fremont-style anthropomorphic petroglyph at the McConkie Ranch, Vernal, Utah

Though the idea of Spanish missions in Colorado and Utah is not completely outside of the realm of possibility, there are simply none extant that I know of.

Native American ruins, on the other hand, abound.

As I have done with Arizona and New Mexico, I have included here most or all of the sites listed in various editions of David Grant Noble's Ancient Ruins of the Southwest.

Incidentally, Noble lists the following as among the earlier peoples occupying the Southwest (alphabetically): the Anasazi, Clovis, Fremont, Hohokam, Mogollon, Salado, and Sinagua.

I have visited a handful of these sites, however briefly, and will link to posts about them as I go along. (And if time permits, I may write a little something about the ones I haven't been to, as well. Ah, the wonders of the internet--and of an excellent library acquired to support my travels!)

Native American Ruins in Utah:
  1. Anasazi State Park (map / Wiki)
  2. Bluff Great House (map / Wiki / article)
  3. Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel (map / Wiki)
  4. Butler Wash Ruins (map / article)
  5. Canyonlands National Park (map / Wiki)
  6. Dinosaur National Monument (map / article) (portions also in Colorado)
  7. Dry Fork Canyon Petroglyphs (McConkie Ranch) (map / article)
  8. Edge of the Cedars State Park (map / Wiki)
  9. Grand Gulch Primitive Area (map / article)
  10. Hovenweep National Monument (map / Wiki) (portions also in Colorado)
  11. Mule Canyon Indian Ruins (map / article)
  12. Natural Bridges National Monument (map / Wiki)
  13. Newspaper Rock (map / Wiki)
  14. Nine Mile Canyon (map / Wiki)
  15. Sand Island Petroglyph Site (map / Wiki)
  16. Sego Canyon Rock Art Site (map / article)
  17. Three Kiva Pueblo (map / article)
  18. Westwater Ruin (map / article)
Just for fun, I may throw in some of the many historical American sites--ghost towns, the remnants of the Pony Express trail in Utah, a re-enactment of the "Golden Spike" ceremony, old cemeteries, etc.--that I visited while living in Utah in early 1995.

Native American Ruins in Colorado:
  1. Anasazi Heritage Center (Escalante and Dominguez Ruins) (map / Wiki)
  2. Chimney Rock Archaeological Area (map / Wiki)
  3. Lowry Pueblo Ruins (map / Wiki)
  4. Mesa Verde National Park (map / Wiki)
  5. Sand Canyon Pueblo (map (trailhead) / Wiki)
  6. Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park (map / Wiki)

Google Map:

Controls:
  • Use + /- or mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
  • Click to close the hand to move around.
  • (The two functions above are accomplished with two fingers on mobile devices.)
  • Click the square-with-arrow on the left to open or close the index of sites. (Works better if you zoom in first.)
  • Click the three-dot thingy in the upper right to share the map with others.
  • Click the "four corners" in the upper right to go to the full map.


Last updated June 11, 2019

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