First visit: Aug 2025
After Ridgway we took the gorgeous drive around Telluride and down to Cortez for a little thrifting. The landscape goes from stunning green mountains to boring arid desert pretty quickly once you drive through Dolores. I hadn't been to Cortez since 1994. There's not much to do or see there, but it makes for a nice stop. And 31 years ago I stayed overnight on my way to Tucson. We then headed over to southeast Utah, and our final destination was to be Bluff.
What a day we had for travel, though. If you read the Lazy Dog Saloon review, you'll have noted that we had a 90 minute delay due to a bad car wreck. Once we drove into Utah, the roads immediately got much better. Beautifully paved and newly painted. As we were gliding towards our destination, signs for road construction started to pop up. Uh-oh. Yep, they were of the worst kind: The one way road. There were about four of these, and one of them took close to an hour wait. It was just maddening. The kind of event where you just want to stop road tripping altogether. I certainly understand the need for new roads, as our infrastructure is crumbling everywhere. But do they have to do it all at once?
We finally arrived in Bluff. Late and grumpy. Now why would we go here in the first place? Glad you asked. Way back in 1997, about five months after Mrs. RJG and I were married, we took our first road trip together (our honeymoon in April was in Hawaii). We journeyed to New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Bluff was an unplanned stop from Prescott to Grand Junction, but it was late and we needed a place to sleep and have dinner. We stayed at a dive, but clean, motel complete with a dial TV and rabbit ears. In 1997? It wasn't 1967 but it felt that way. Bluff is a beautiful place if you love desert landscapes. The red rocks are stunning, though you would wish to see a plant or three every once in a while.
For dinner we went to a place called the Cottonwood Steakhouse. It was named for a huge cottonwood tree, which is quite a sight in this desert. The restaurant was essentially one guy cooking on some grills, and you sat outside on park benches under or near the tree. The patrons were all German, as the place was in their guidebooks. It was a great experience. The food was excellent and just the entire environment was fun and unique. We vowed to go back one day. 28 years later, we finally made it here again.
The Cottonwood is gone, but in its place is Comb Ridge. They spruced it up a bit with more sky coverage, and the kitchen is both indoors and out. On this day, it was also the only place in Bluff to get an alcoholic beverage. And boy did we ever need one, as my opening paragraph suggests. Remember we're in the heart of Mormon country, so such libations are frowned upon. Even our "resort" hotel, the Desert Rose, does not allow alcohol for their upscale restaurant. Much to the frustration of the Europeans I'm sure. And just like 28 years ago, that's exactly who was here at Comb Ridge: Germans.
Comb Ridge's menu is far more diverse than the old Cottonwood. On this visit I tried the pizza, and Mrs. RJG went with a cheeseburger. Not her favorite meal, as they once again failed to cook the burger well done. I enjoyed my pizza, though the crust wasn't crispy at all. But at least the beer was cold. :-)
I can't imagine us visiting Bluff again, since it's so far out of the way. However if we do, we'll try to be there when the barbeque place is open (Canyon Smokehouse). They also have beer, but are closed on Wednesday's.
8/6/25 (new entry)
Photo is from Comb Ridge
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