It is on BLM land just south of the boundary of the Horseshoe Canyon Unit of Canyonlands National Park.

[3] Though often mistakenly believed to be within Canyonlands National Park, Bluejohn Canyon is actually on BLM land southwest of the Horseshoe Canyon Unit of the park and 42 miles (68 km) south of the town of Green River.

The main fork of the canyon, approximately 11 miles (18 km) in length, runs north-northeast from the Robbers Roost Flats, and is a tributary of Horseshoe Canyon.

Bluejohn Canyon came to international attention in 2003 as the place where outdoorsman Aron Ralston was forced to amputate his own right forearm with a multi-tool after it became trapped by a boulder.

Ralston's five-day ordeal was described in his autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place[5] and was depicted in the 2010 film 127 Hours.