Cedar Mesa is a plateau in San Juan County in the southeastern portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. It extends from Elk Ridge in the north,

Comb Wash Comb Wash is a long narrow valley in south central San Juan County, Utah, United States. It runs from Elk Ridge in the north approximately to the south, where it merges with the San Juan River at an elevation of about . The eastern edge of the ...

to the east, the gorge of the San Juan River to the south, and Grand Gulch to the west, an area of over . The center of the mesa is located at approximately 37°26'N and 109°55'W, at an elevation of . The surrounding terrain has a typical elevation of just Most of Cedar Mesa is included in the newly declared (2016)

Bears Ears National Monument Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects of public land su ...

. This large difference in elevation has led to the formation of numerous canyons, cliffs, and other erosional features on the edges of the mesa. To the east are several canyons draining into Comb Wash, including

Arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

, Texas,

Mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

Owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, McCloyd, and Road Canyons. Scattered throughout these canyons are cliff dwellings of the Ancient Puebloans. To the southeast is an eroded area called the

Valley of the Gods The Valley of the Gods is a scenic sandstone valley near Mexican Hat in San Juan County, southeastern Utah, United States. Part of Bears Ears National Monument, the Valley of the Gods is located north of Monument Valley across the San Juan Rive ...

, and to the southwest is a deep gorge of the San Juan River, called the Goosenecks. High above, on the southern edge of Cedar Mesa, are Muley and Cedar Points. Cedar-mesa-moon-house - side

The west side of Cedar Mesa also includes large canyons, including John's and Slickhorn Canyons, and the combination of Grand Gulch and Bullet Canyon known as the

Grand Gulch Primitive Area Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...

. To the northwest is the

Natural Bridges National Monument Natural Bridges National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about northwest of the Four Corners boundary of southeast Utah, in the western United States, at the junction of White Canyon and Armstrong Canyon, part of the Colorado ...

and Stimper Arch.

State Route 95 Route 95, or Highway 95, may refer to routes in the following countries: __TOC__ International * European route E95 Australia * Great Northern Highway (Western Australia) * Fossickers Way (New South Wales) Canada * British Columbia Highway 95 * ...

crosses the northern part of Cedar Mesa, while

U.S. Route 163 U.S. Route 163 (also U.S. Highway 163, US 163) is a U.S. Highway that runs from US 160 northward to US 191 in the U.S. states of Arizona and Utah. The southernmost of its length are within the Navajo Nation. The highway forms part of the Tr ...

passes to the south. Running up the center of the mesa is State Route 261. Gravel and dirt roads provide access in dry weather to the individual canyons, through the Valley of the Gods, and to Comb Wash.

Archaeology

As early as 13,000 years ago Clovis people, who are considered to be the ancestors of most of the indigenous cultures of

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

,Sharon Bigley, "Ancient native boy's genome reignites debate over first Americans"
, Reuters, 12 February 2014

Clovis culture The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, named for distinct stone and bone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna, particularly two mammoths, at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in 1936 ...

hunted in Cedar Mesa using " Clovis points". One of the oldest known archaeological sites with Clovis tools in Utah is Lime Ridge Clovis Site.

References

External links

The Cedar Mesa Project

Friends of Cedar Mesa

Cedar Mesa Hiking & Canyoneering Routes
{{Authority control Mesas of Utah Rock formations of Utah Landforms of San Juan County, Utah Colorado Plateau Bears Ears National Monument

Archaeology

See also

References

External links