BLUFF FORT HISTORIC SITE
550 East Black Locust
Bluff, Utah 84512
(435) 672-9995
blufffort@gmail.com

Open Year Round
Summer Hours
April thru Oct 9
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM<
Includes Outdoor Kitchen & Snacks
Winter Hours
 Nov - Mar 1
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Closed Two Weeks at Christmas

Menu

Welcome to Bluff Fort Historic Site
and The Hole in the Rock Foundation

Promotional video





Nielson"If we have plenty of stickie-ta-tudy, we cannot fail."
-- Jens Nielson (Nielsen), 1879



Jones "There was something more than human power associated with it."
-- Kumen Jones



Sarah Perkins"The unity among the people, coming out with no conveniences, and yet they were just as happy as they could be."
-- Sarah Williams


Hole-in-the-rock trail

Hole-in-the-Rock crevasse In 1879-80, Mormon pioneers built a wagon road between established communities in southwestern Utah and the Four Corners area. They were fulfilling an assignment from their church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to establish a settlement in the area. Their journey turned into an ordeal of unparalleled difficulty as they blazed a route across some of the most broken and rugged terrain in North America.

Early Bluff settlers

 Charles Walton childrenOur online collection of biographies, journals, and histories convey the story of early pioneer life and the sacrifices, conviction, and determination of the pioneers who established a community in one of the most remote regions of the West.




Hole in the Rock Foundation

 Co-op circa 1900The Hole-in-the-Rock Foundation was organized to facilitate the ongoing development of the Bluff Fort Historic Site and interpretive projects throughout the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail.



Current Newsletter

The Hole-in-the-Rock Foundation publishes a newsletter at least annually.




Click here to download the February 2023 Newsletter pdf file.

Pre-2016 HIRF Website

Be sure to use browser BACK arrow at old version of website as some old links will have changed

Hole in the Rock Portrayals

  • 1. Impossible Journey
    • circa 1962 Utah Network for Instructional Television
  • 2. BYU Documentary
    • hosted by Gerald N. Lund; BYU Broadcasting, 2016
  • 3. Bluff Fort 'Ghost Town'
    • by Ken Gallacher, 'Ghost Towns and More,' 2022

    Visualizing Old Bluff City

    Not much remains of the original Bluff City, established in 1880. Organizing themselves for protection into a "fort" made of inward facing cabins, they began this isolated community. In one corner of the fort, the Bluff pioneers established a cooperative trading post.

  • 1. Bluff: A Closer Look
    • 2019 by David L. Walton (no audio)
  • 2. Bluff History Tour
    • from Bluff City website

    Rebuilt Jones Home Kumen Jones home

    Bluff Log MeetinghouseOld Bluff School and Meetinghouse

    Rebuild Co-opModern Co-op and Visitor Center

    A replica of that co-op, housing the Fort gift shop and visitor center, is open. The grounds include actual wagons and other artifacts from the Hole in the Rock journey. the rebuilt old log meetinghouse, replicas of cabins Ute and Navajo dwellings, the a partially rebuilt Kumen Jones home, and the original Bluff Relief Society building.