Geologic forces have squeezed up the earth's crust in a long ridge running 80 miles south from the Abajo Mountains into Arizona. Sheer cliff faces plunge 800 feet into Comb Wash on the west side. Engineering the highway took considerable effort. An overlook is between mileposts 108 and 109.

In 1923, the West's last shoot-out between Indians and settlers took place in the Comb Ridge area. Conflicts between the Ute Indians and settlers had been going on for 57 years, with the white men taking the Indian's land and the Utes taking the settlers' livestock. A group of renegade Utes under Chief Posey fled to this rugged area, knowing that the Blanding posse would have great difficulty in finding the few trails that existed then. The posse, however, caught up with the Indians, killing one of them. The disheartened Utes then surrendered. Old Posey, who had been shot earlier in Blanding, evaded capture only to die of his wounds about a week later, alone in a cave. The event drew national attention to the plight of the tribe, which was later given the White Mesa Reservation 12 miles south of Blanding.