BLUFF, Utah — Authorities are trying to protect the Moon House ruin on Cedar Mesa in southeast Utah by requiring visitors to get a permit from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Archaeologists have determined that migrating Puebloan people built the Moon House about A.D. 1262. It is in McLoyd Canyon in San Juan County.
The BLM started the permit system in March to control crowds at the Moon Room, decorated with painted stars and moons. Thirty-six permits can be issued each day.
The 1,600-acre site has been vandalized in the past, said Tom Heinlein, BLM Monticello field office manager. In the 1970s, a Boy Scout troop trashed it, and archaeologists have taken all artifacts from the site, he said.
“It’s been vacuumed,” Heinlein said of the site, which includes an open plaza behind a wall pocked with openings that was likely used for defensive weapons.
Hiker Richard Schwarz, a 53-year-old physician from New York, said he has mixed feelings about the new permit system.
“In a selfish way, I don’t like it,” Schwarz said. “On the other hand, I know (the permit system) will protect it better. You have to balance giving access and preserving.”
No camping, off-highway vehicles or pets are allowed at the complex.
The most visitors seen in a day since permits have been issued was 24. Ten permits a day is normal, Heinlein said, and 378 people visited Moon House between April 4 and Wednesday.
“It’s important to realize that during ‘normal’ years, access to Moon House is usually available in early to mid-March,” he said. This year, heavy snowpack delayed access for almost a month.
Visitors with permits get lessons at the Kane Gulch visitor station: Avoid prehistoric trash heaps called middens, don’t take artifacts, stay on trails and don’t touch or vandalize.
During the off-season, permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the trailhead. From spring through fall, they are available at the Kane Gulch visitor station.
