Sight · Canyonlands National Park
A stone tower above a sweeping bend of the Green River.
Overview
Fort Bottom Ruin is an Ancestral Puebloan stone tower on a butte above a bend in the Green River. It's a rewarding stop if you're already planning the White Rim backcountry route: the marked hike to the ruin is 3.4 miles round trip, about two hours, with 418 feet of elevation change. The walk is moderate, exposed, and rocky; the final approach climbs the back of the butte and ends in a steep scramble through a notch. The separate ranch cabin lower in Fort Bottom adds a longer spur, so don't count that detour as part of the ruin's listed hike.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs it worth the detour?Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Canyonlands Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Canyonlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Canyonlands audio tour“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Getting to the trailhead means driving the permit-required White Rim Road in a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle with low-range gearing. Conditions on this backcountry road can change quickly after rain or snow. The trail is uneven and not wheelchair accessible, and dogs aren't allowed. Bring food and water for the hike and drive; there is no food or water service at the trailhead. Once at the ruin, stay back: entering, touching, or climbing on the archaeological walls is prohibited.
The tower marks a home built by Ancestral Puebloan people centuries ago. The main round tower joins a lower room, with remnants of other low structures around the butte. The exact construction date and original use aren't established, so take the masonry for what it is rather than labeling it a signal tower or lookout.
The trail follows a narrow peninsula into the river's looping bend, with water coming into view on both sides at the ridge's narrow points. From the butte, look back along the peninsula toward Island in the Sky. For a photo, keep some of the ridge or river in the frame with the ruin so the setting reads; a tight masonry crop loses the scale of the landscape.
Wildlife
48 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
47 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsWestern RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
18 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateFort Bottom Trail3.4 mi · 2 hr · 1.1 mi awayA narrow mesa walk to an ancient tower above the Green River.
ChallengingUpheaval Canyon Trail7 mi · 3.5 hr · 2.3 mi awaySeven miles round trip along a remote, sandy canyon wash.
Campground · 1.4 mi awayHardscrabble Camping AreaTwo river campsites, deep on the demanding White Rim loop.
Campground · 2.5 mi awayLabyrinth Camping AreaTwo remote campsites on a rugged, permit-only White Rim trip.
Campground · 2.7 mi awayPotato Bottom Camping AreaA remote overnight for a long, demanding White Rim trip.Parkwolf’s Canyonlands ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
