Comb Ridge
Landform in Utah and Arizona, US
title: "Comb Ridge" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cliff-dwellings", "national-natural-landmarks-in-arizona", "landforms-of-apache-county,-arizona", "landforms-of-navajo-county,-arizona", "landforms-of-san-juan-county,-utah", "rock-formations-of-arizona", "rock-formations-of-utah", "bears-ears-national-monument"] description: "Landform in Utah and Arizona, US" topic_path: "general/cliff-dwellings" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comb_Ridge" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Landform in Utah and Arizona, US ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox park"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Comb Ridge |
| Tséyíkʼáán | |
| photo | Bluff UT - aerial with San Juan River and Comb Ridge.jpg |
| photo_caption | Comb Ridge from the air, above Bluff Utah and the San Juan River |
| photo_width | 310px |
| location | Utah and Arizona |
| nearest_city | Blanding, Utah |
| coords | |
| designated | 1976 |
| :: |
| name = Comb Ridge Tséyíkʼáán | photo = Bluff UT - aerial with San Juan River and Comb Ridge.jpg | photo_alt = | photo_caption = Comb Ridge from the air, above Bluff Utah and the San Juan River | photo_width = 310px | map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map_width = | location = Utah and Arizona | nearest_city = Blanding, Utah | coords = | coords_ref = | area = | designated = 1976 | refnum = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = | url = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Comb_Ridge_Utah_2020.jpg" caption="Another oblique view looking in approximately the opposite direction as the above photo"] ::
Comb Ridge () is a linear north to south-trending monocline nearly 80 miles long in Southeastern Utah and Northeastern Arizona. Its northern end merges with the Abajo Mountains some eleven miles west of Blanding. It extends essentially due south for 45 km to the San Juan River. South of the San Juan the ridge turns to the southwest and is more subdued in expression as it extends for an additional 67 km to Laguna Creek 9 km east of Kayenta, Arizona.
It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1976 as the only North American location of tritylodont fossils. Parts of the ridge in Utah are protected as part of the Bears Ears National Monument.
Geology
The geologic formations involved in the east dipping strata of the fold include the Jurassic aged Navajo Sandstone, Kayenta Formation, Wingate Sandstone, Chinle Formation, Triassic Moenkopi Formation and Permian Organ Rock Formation. The structure is the surface expression of a deep fault along the east margin of the Monument Uplift.
History
Traces of the Ancestral Puebloan culture can be found along the southern part of the ridge where it follows Chinle Wash. The Macomb and Hayden expeditions in 1869 and 1874–1876, respectively, were the first to publish maps and descriptions of this feature. The ridge and adjacent Butler Wash were given their current names in 1884, by P. Holmann.{{Cite news |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/comb_ridge.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519123138/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/comb_ridge.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 19, 2006 |title=Hiking Comb Ridge |work=National Geographic Adventure Magazine |last=Roberts |first=David |date=March 2006 |accessdate=2009-05-06}}
Numerous cliff dwellings are found along the ridge.
File:Monarch cave ruin.jpg|Monarch Cave Ruin cliff dwelling on Comb Ridge File:Monarch cave ruin close.jpg|Monarch Cave Ruin cliff dwelling on Comb Ridge File:House on Fire Ruin.jpg|House on Fire Ruin near Comb Ridge File:Eternal Procession.jpg|Procession Panel petroglyph ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/WolfmanPanelUtah-AttributeAs-PhilKonstantin.jpg" caption="Wolfman Panel petroglyph"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Comb_Ridge_from_US_163.jpg" caption="Panorama of Comb Ridge from US Highway 163"] ::
References
References
- Linford, Laurence D. Navajo Places: History, Legend, Landscape, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT 2000.
- [http://geology.utah.gov/surveynotes/snt44-2.pdf ''Geosights, Comb Ridge, San Juan County, Utah,'' May 2012, pp. 9–11] {{webarchive. link. (2012-11-26)
- USGS 30x60 quadrangle topographic maps: Blanding, Utah-Colorado; Bluff, Utah-Colorado; Rock Point, Arizona-New Mexico; Kayenta, Arizona
- "National Natural Landmark". National Park Service.
- [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/us/politics/obama-national-monument-bears-ears-utah-gold-butte.html Obama Designates Two New National Monuments, Protecting 1.65 Million Acres]. Davenport, Coral. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 28 December 2016
- Gregory, Herbert E.. (1938). "The San Juan Country, a Geographic and Geologic Reconnaissance of Southeastern Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 188". US Government Printing Office Washington.
- Roberts, David. "Sandstone Spine: Seeking the Anasazi on the First Traverse of the Comb Ridge". Mountaineers Books.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::