National park
National monument · Eastern Utah
Bears Ears National Monument
Twin buttes sacred to the region’s tribes, above canyons holding thousands of Ancestral Puebloan sites. The monument was cut by about 90 percent in July 2026; visit with care and respect wherever you go.
Photo: Bigbear213 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Bears Ears takes its name from twin buttes that rise above Cedar Mesa and are sacred to the Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute and Zuni tribes. The surrounding canyons hold cliff dwellings, granaries, kivas and rock art left by Ancestral Puebloans and earlier peoples, many of them unexcavated and unsigned.
A July 2026 proclamation reduced the monument from about 1.36 million acres to roughly 121,000 acres in two units. The Shash Jáa Unit includes the Bears Ears buttes and land around Comb Ridge, plus separate parcels around the Moon House and the Citadel on Cedar Mesa. The Indian Creek Unit includes Newspaper Rock and the dinosaur tracks of Shay Canyon. The reduction is being challenged in court. Places like Valley of the Gods and most of Indian Creek’s climbing walls are now outside the monument but remain public land.
This is an archaeological landscape first. Many sites are fragile and reached only by long hikes, and the rules are simple: look, photograph, leave everything as you found it. Stop at the Bears Ears Education Center in Bluff before you go.
Don't miss
- Bears Ears buttesThe twin landmarks above Cedar Mesa, reached by a scenic gravel road from Natural Bridges.
- Newspaper RockOne of the largest petroglyph panels in the Southwest, steps from Highway 211.
- Moon HouseA large Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwelling on Cedar Mesa; permits required.
- Comb RidgeA long sandstone spine hiding rock art, ruins and dinosaur tracks.
- Valley of the GodsA 17-mile dirt road among red buttes and spires, now just outside the monument.
- Indian CreekWorld-famous crack climbing on Wingate cliffs along the road to the Needles.
Good to know
- Many Cedar Mesa canyons and sites like Moon House require day-use or overnight permits from the BLM. Check the BLM site before you go.
- Never touch rock art, climb on walls or move artifacts. Even oils from your hands damage pictographs.
- Boundaries changed in 2026 and litigation is ongoing; check the BLM page for current maps.
- The Bears Ears Education Center in Bluff is the best place to learn site etiquette and current conditions.