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Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum
- Weather: Mostly Sunny, 33F
The Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum site is widely accepted as a prehistoric agricultural village occupied between approximately 750 A.D. and 1220 A.D., home to various ancient cultures including Ancestral Puebloans/Anasazi, Navajo, and Utes. Historians say that cowboys from nearby Bluff, Utah, were camping near the area in the late 1800s and named the scenic site due to its naturally occurring boundary on the edge of a forested region leading to a barren section to the south. Despite its name, the trees found in the forest here are actually Utah junipers, not cedars.
The Utah Navajo Development Council donated the 6.65-acre site to the Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation in 1974, and the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum is now listed on both the national and state registers of historic places and is a popular attraction for those interested in Native American history and heritage.
What's Nearby
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Bears Ears National Monument
Blanding, UT
A pair of towering buttes stand against beautiful scenery. The twin buttes are so distinctive that in each of the native languages of the region their name is the same: Hoon'Naqvut, Shash Jáa, Kwiyagatu Nukavachi, Ansh An Lashokdiwe, or in English: Bears Ears.
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Blanding
Blanding, UT
Blanding blends cowboy culture with Native American and prehistoric history. The Edge of the Cedars State Park & Museum features the largest display of Ancestral Puebloan artifacts in the Four Corners region, and the Dinosaur Museum, a federal fossil repository, showcases life-size models, skeletons, and a 250-million-year-old petrified tree.
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Bluff
Bluff, UT
Rich in human and natural history, Bluff is a central point along the Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway. It is a gateway to Monument Valley, Bears Ears National Monument, Valley of the Gods and Hovenweep National Monument.
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Canyonlands National Park
Moab, UT
Canyonlands is home to many different types of travel experiences, from sublime solitude in the more remote stretches of the park to moderate hikes through the Needles district to the opportunity to create your own version of one of the West's most photographed landforms, Mesa Arch.
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Mexican Hat
Mexican Hat, UT
Mexican Hat sits along the San Juan River among impressive rock formations. The town gets its name from a rock formation that resembles an overturned sombrero. Get free travel guides and maps for planning your next Utah vacation.
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Monticello
Monticello, UT
The southeastern Utah town of Monticello lies on the sheltered eastern slope of the Abajo Mountains, overlooking a maze of sandstone canyons and plateaus.
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Natural Bridges National Monument
Lake Powell, UT
As you start to descend toward Natural Bridges National Monument, the groundcover becomes more luxuriant and the trees taller. You cannot see the chaotic landscape of Natural Bridges from the highway– it is only revealed once inside the park.
What to Expect
The family-friendly museum complex houses the largest collection of Ancestral Puebloan pottery and relics in southeastern Utah, including an excavated and restored kiva (a partially subterranean ceremonial room within a pueblo), giving visitors a glimpse into the ancient life of Anasazi lifestyle and architecture. As you travel through the park, you will get to check out petroglyphs, Puebloan basketry, jewelry, pottery, tools, a Horse Rock Ruin basketry collection, a Macaw feather sash, and a loom from the middle of the first millennium excavated from San Juan County. The archaeological repository, with its archives and a research library, is used to house most of the archaeological materials excavated from public lands in southeast Utah.
Tours and Entry Fee
Guided tours of the ancient site are available, during which you will see the archaeological exhibits, walk or hike the interpretive nature trail, and visit the restored dwellings, exhibit halls, auditorium and gift shop. There are no facilities for food in the park, but all services are available in the city of Blanding.
Day-use entry fee required, purchase in-person or online. The Annual Utah State Park Pass is accepted for park entry.
The Voices of Bears Ears
Written By Visit Utah
10 minute read
Bears Ears National Monument is at the heart of southeastern Utah. These lands are imbued with layers of culture — layers of life. In this four-part video series, meet the locals who connect with the land in their own distinct ways.
Southern, Culture, History, Native American