Information
Landmark: Comb RidgeCity: Bluff
Country: USA Utah
Continent: North America
Comb Ridge, Bluff, USA Utah, North America
Overview
Comb Ridge rises for about 80 miles through southeastern Utah into northeastern Arizona, a rugged wall of stone that forms a dramatic monocline-a single, steep tilt in the Earth’s crust, sharp as a knife edge against the sky.It juts abruptly from the flat desert, a long, straight ridge with jagged edges like a giant’s comb - the striking shape that inspired its name.For miles, the ridge rises against the sky, its rust-red cliffs cutting sharp lines around the valleys, mesas, and winding canyons below.Comb Ridge’s geology is mostly Navajo Sandstone, streaked with bands of Kayenta and Wingate rock that break the surface with rusty reds and pale gold.The ridge suddenly leans, its cliffs towering several hundred feet, while below, the ground eases into dry washes and sunbaked desert flats.Over the years, water has worn the ridge into a maze of side canyons, shaded alcoves, and snug rock shelters, where tight passages suddenly give way to wide, sunlit views.Flash floods, seasonal streams, and steady wind have carved smooth rock and etched fine striations along its length, like faint lines in weathered stone.Comb Ridge holds deep cultural and historical value, shaped by centuries of life from the Ancestral Puebloans and the Navajo, whose stories still echo in its sun‑warmed sandstone.Its slopes and side canyons hide clusters of rock art panels, cliff dwellings, and the crumbling remains of ancient buildings.You’ll find Fremont-style pictographs, faded handprints, and petroglyphs of people, animals, and abstract symbols, often hidden in small rock alcoves that feel cool and sheltered from the wind.Later, the Navajo and other groups moved along the ridge or kept close to it, following its narrow passes to hunt game, herd livestock, and settle for a season when the wind carried the scent of fresh grass.If you’re driving Highway 163 near Bluff, Utah, you’ll find several pull-offs where you can step out and reach the ridge, with red dust crunching under your boots.Walking the base trail and slipping into side canyons, you can duck into cool alcoves, study weathered rock art panels, and follow narrow washes that seem to disappear around the bend.The trail shifts from soft, sandy washes where your shoes leave deep prints to sharp, rocky slopes that demand a careful climb, giving you both gentle walks and heart-pumping scrambles.Photographers and landscape lovers flock to the ridge for its striking lines, especially at sunrise or sunset, when the orange-red sandstone seems to burn against the vast, pale desert sky.Walking near Comb Ridge, you catch the sweep of open sky and the hush of your own footsteps, a quiet that feels endless.The desert air drifts past, laced with the sharp hint of sagebrush and the dry warmth rising from sun-heated stone.Birds dart along the slopes as small mammals scurry past, while lizards cling to sun-warmed stone and insects slip into narrow crevices.Up close, you can spot thin mineral streaks, worn layers, and tiny fossil fragments tucked into the sandstone’s rough surface.You can see why they named the ridge-the sharp, tooth-like peaks and dark, narrow gullies look exactly like a massive comb laid across the earth.Comb Ridge rises like a jagged spine against the sky, where raw geological power meets thousands of years of human stories.It captures the raw beauty and rich heritage of southeastern Utah, giving explorers a hands-on sense of its history and the vast sweep of red sandstone desert.
