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Roaming The Reef: Ernie Point to Eardley CanyonRoaming The Reef: Ernie Point to Eardley Canyon

Roaming The Reef: Ernie Point to Eardley Canyon

Canyons of the San Rafael Reef IV | Saturday & Sunday, January 24-25, 2026

While I was initially just planning on just returning to the landscape surrounding Moab again this weekend like I typically do at this time of the year, as I was watching the winter storm unfold on Friday afternoon I saw that Moab was getting some rain and snow while the weather seemed to be completely missing the area around the San Rafael Reef, so I changed gears and decided to head over that way early on Saturday morning instead. Since I was looking to get in some decent elevation gain this weekend, I thought I might try hiking up to the Ernie Benchmark which is one of the highest points along the top of the San Rafael Reef. The drive to Green River early on Saturday morning was a bit slow with plenty of fog, snow and ice- but shortly after passing through Crescent Junction the snow and fog disappeared and the roads were dry for the remainder of the way. After topping off my gas tank in Green River I continued on to the base of the San Rafael Reef near the mouth of Ernie Canyon and prepared to start the hike. I had planned to start hiking from near the old drilling derrick, but apparently that road has now been closed since I was here last January and I would now need to hike a little further than I was expecting.

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The Canyons of North Wash IIIThe Canyons of North Wash III

The Canyons of North Wash III

West Fork of Butler Canyon & Death Canyon | Saturday & Sunday, December 13-14, 2025

This weekend I returned to North Wash so I could continue hiking all of the side canyons in the area, which is a project that I began back in 2022 when I realized that I don’t often get down this way. I wasn’t able to make it out to North Wash last year like I had hoped to, so I wanted to make sure that I got out there at least once before this year was over. This time I didn’t leave home until bright and early on Saturday morning, made my way through Green River and Hanksville, and then continued on past the Henry Mountains to Three Forks so I could start the day with a hike up the West Fork of Butler Canyon. I had hiked to an overlook of the West Fork back when I was exploring the Sandthrax Slickrock area and I was looking forward to getting a closer look down in the canyon this morning.

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Canyons of the San Rafael Reef IIICanyons of the San Rafael Reef III

Canyons of the San Rafael Reef III

Iron Wash to Mormon Tanks Canyon | Friday – Sunday, November 14-16, 2025

I was originally hoping to spend this weekend searching for ruins and rock art on Cedar Mesa, but a wet and snowy weather forecast wasn’t looking good for that area, so instead I decided to stay a bit closer to home and head over to the San Rafael Reef Wilderness where I could explore a few new canyons. I left after work on Friday afternoon, topped off my gas tank in Green River and then made my way over to the foot of the San Rafael Reef where I found a campsite after dark, read for a little while and went to bed early. On Saturday morning I got up before sunrise and started hiking up Iron Wash at dawn. Although I have hiked up Iron Wash before, I don’t recall going very far, and besides it was so long ago that and I don’t remember much about it and was looking forward to checking out this canyon again and going further this time.

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From The Maze to The Mesa, Again…From The Maze to The Mesa, Again...

From The Maze to The Mesa, Again…

Friday – Sunday, March 28-30, 2025

This weekend I met up with my friend Alan who was once again visiting the southwest from France for a couple of weeks this spring. Late last year while he was starting to plan out his trip we had made rough plans to hike together to a Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panel that is found in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, so that’s where we ended up starting our weekend off when we met up at a campsite late on Friday afternoon. After our rough drive and hike to the pictographs on Saturday morning we then made our way over to Cedar Mesa so we could explore a few sites before I headed home early on Sunday as I needed to finish getting prepared for an upcoming river trip into the Grand Canyon. Since this trip was a little reminiscent of my previous week spent exploring The Maze and The Mesa in 2011, I thought I would borrow the title again. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

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Canyons of the San Rafael Reef IICanyons of the San Rafael Reef II

Canyons of the San Rafael Reef II

Rock Art of the San Rafael Swell XX | Saturday & Sunday, January 11-12, 2025

It’s been a few years since I spent any time exploring the canyons of the San Rafael Reef and I’ve been feeling the need to get back this winter, so I left home early on Saturday morning, drove west into Utah, and then spent the entire weekend on the Reef. Not only did I hike and explore a few unnamed canyons that have carved their way into the Reef within the San Rafael Reef Wilderness which were completely new to me, but I also revisited a few places that I hadn’t been back to in almost fifteen years, so it was nice mix of old and new. Of course, I also saw plenty of rock art throughout the weekend, too. These are some photos from my weekend on the San Rafael Reef.

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