Bluff is a tiny but unexpectedly cool town that's built a reputation for fun events. Like Moab, it doesn’t have a palpable Mormon feel, and it remains a mini–melting pot of Navajos, river rats, hippies, and old-time Utahans. Surrounded by red-rock mesas, its cell phone service is spotty at best.
Settled in 1880, Bluff is one of southeastern Utah's oldest towns. Mormon pioneers from the original Hole in the Rock journey built a ranching empire that made the town, at one time, the richest per capita in the state. Although this early period of affluence passed, several historic Victorian-style homes remain. Pick up the free brochure "Historic Bluff by Bicycle and on Foot" at any business in town. Most of the original homes from the 1880 town-site of Bluff City are part of the Bluff Historic District. In a dozen or so blocks, there are 42 historic structures, most built between about 1890 and 1905.
