Jack's Knob

Jack’s Knob is a lone spire of Entrada Sandstone along Sweetwater Reef in the San Rafael Desert, and it has been on my to-do list to visit the formation for many years. I started planning a trip in December but ended up waiting until January when Alan and Wade could also make the hike with me. It may be possible to drive almost all the way to Jack’s Knob from the north. However, we took what appeared to be a better road from the southwest along Sweetwater Reef, then hiked roughly two miles down the Reef. The descent was about 500′ and required a little routefinding over some small ledges. The small amount of snow on the ground didn’t hamper our efforts too much. On the way to Jack’s Knob I found mining claim papers that had been rolled up and stuffed into an aluminum can, and also saw some rockfall in a wash that exposed a huge root system for what appeared to be relatively short bushes.

Little Flat Top in the fog
Little Flat Top in the fog


Beginning the hike at the northern point of Sweetwater Reef
Beginning the hike at the northern point of Sweetwater Reef


Jack’s Knob peeking out over Sweetwater Reef
Jack's Knob peeking out over Sweetwater Reef


Sweetwater Reef and Jack’s Knob
Sweetwater Reef and Jack's Knob


Jack’s Knob
Jack's Knob


Penny and Alan
Penny and Alan


Rock pillar
Rock pillar


Fragile mining claim in an aluminum can
Fragile mining claim in an aluminum can


Roots revealed by rockfall
Roots revealed by rockfall


Hiking through the wash
Hiking through the wash


Arriving at Jack’s Knob, we began circumnavigating the huge spire. I expected to find some inscriptions and that we did! The oldest was a “C.W. 1893” inscription. Others of interest were “M.B.” from Price, Utah, and “Warren Beebe, May 19, 1912.” I found a few Indian artifacts on the south side of the monolith. Besides the many flint chippings, there was a broken grinding stone and a nice, round scraper.

Jack’s Knob
Jack's Knob


Wade climbing to investigate the cliffs
Wade climbing to investigate the cliffs


C.W. 1893 inscription
C.W. 1893 inscription


M.B. ’47, Price, Utah, Homestead
M.B. '47, Price, Utah, Homestead


Warren Beebe, May 19, 1912
Warren Beebe, May 19, 1912


Broken metate fragment
Broken metate fragment


Round scraper
Round scraper


The group headed straight south from Jack’s Knob toward some smaller but still prominent outcroppings of stone. We followed a two-track road that didn’t look as though it sees much traffic. Along the way I made a search for a “well” listed on the USGS topo map. What I found was an uncapped drill pipe protruding about 12 inches above the ground surface. The urge to drop a rock down the hole was too great to resist–it took eight seconds to reach the bottom. We reached the other sandstone spires after walking about a mile and found nothing interesting on or around them.

Jack’s Knob and old road
Jack's Knob and old road


Uncapped drill pipe
Uncapped drill pipe



Entrada formations south of Jack’s Knob
Entrada formations south of Jack's Knob


Entrada formations south of Jack’s Knob
Entrada formations south of Jack's Knob


After a brief lunch break we moved along to the west toward a canyon that drains out of Sweetwater Reef. At the canyon rim the group split up: Wade and his son followed the canyon rim south while Alan and I dropped into the canyon and explored it a short distance before climbing out and following our original route back toward the truck. We all joined back up at the truck without having seen anything else of interest. My GPS registered 7.2 miles and my legs protested that it surely must have been much farther.

Jack’s Knob
Jack's Knob


Inside a shallow alcove
Inside a shallow alcove


Deep undercut in the wash
Deep undercut in the wash


Cottonwood tree near a seep
Cottonwood tree near a seep


Entrada slickrock
Entrada slickrock


Entrada formations
Entrada formations


Alan and the dogs
Alan and the dogs


On the way out of the area we stopped at Rattlesnake Butte. I’d found an inscription there several years earlier and wanted to show it to Alan and Wade. Lawrence Christensen of Ferron, Utah, had been there 108 years before us and left mark, though he misspelled his first name. The drive into the area in the morning had been pleasant, with the tires quietly crushing fresh snow. The sun had been out most of the afternoon and so the drive out was a muddy mess!

Parked at Rattlesnake Butte
Parked at Rattlesnake Butte


Lawence Christensen inscription at Rattlesnake Butte
Lawence Christensen inscription at Rattlesnake Butte


Ferron, April 5, 1909
Ferron, April 5, 1909


Photo Gallery: Jack’s Knob
GPS Track and Photo Waypoints:
[Google Earth KMZ] [Gmap4 Satellite] [Gmap4 Topo]

2 thoughts on “Jack's Knob

  1. Dennis
    I’ve been following your trip reports for quite a while. I always like to see the awesome sights you come across, and document through your excellent photography. I just wanted to take time to thank you for all your efforts, and for allowing me the opportunity to live out some of these adventures vicariously. I can’t seem to get down there as often as I would like, but I really enjoy it when I can.
    See ya on the trail
    John

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