You can read more about the other things I did on my road trip around Vernal, Utah, and Dinosaur National Monument in my blog post here! I drove south from Vernal through Myton, but you can also drive north from Price; the later route is a touch easier because of the mile markers. I followed this guide created by Road Trip Ryan to help me locate dozens of petroglyph sites. Read the guide I followed through Nine Mile Canyon here! Here are the petroglyphs I found listed with their nearest mile marker: The Great Hunt - 46.3 I started on the east side and worked my way west. The first petroglyph I found was The Great Hunt. I put this into Google Maps and found the parking lot well-marked with a sign. There was a nice, short trail that led right to the art. This panel was very well-kept and preserved, and I walked around as much as I could. It was a great piece to start!  The Great Hunt at mile marker 46.3 Big/Pregnant Buffalo - 46.0 Another easy piece to find was the large buffalo. This was marked with a sign and another short walk led me right to it.
Daddy Canyon - 44.15 This BLM site was full of art - both petroglyphs and pictographs. (Petroglyphs are carved into the rock walls while pictographs are painted using dyes and paint). This area has many more petroglyphs than pictographs, but if you walk around and look hard enough at Daddy Canyon, you will find both along the trail and down in the wash.
 A panel of pictographs in Daddy Canyon. Rassmussen’s Cave - 44 This formation has a tragic story. The owner was tired of people trespassing to view it, so he hired some boys to paint “No Trespassing” in the cave. He apparently didn’t give them clear directions, and the boys stenciled the words right on top of the petroglyph. It is such a shame.  Rassmussen's Cave at mile marker 44. Across from Nutters Corral - 39.3 At this point, the petroglyphs started to be difficult to find. Many required steep hikes including this one right across from Nutters Corral and after the oil well if you are driving east. I flew my drone up to this location before hiking up to see it. I wanted to make sure it was worth it, and it sure was!  I flew my drone up to this panel across from Nutters Corral at mile marker 39.3 At The Cattle Guard - 38.8 Park at the cattle guard and go over it if you are traveling east. Look up, and start hiking. This was another spot where I flew my drone to survey before actually hiking. Once again, it was worth the short, steep scramble up to the petroglyphs.  The petroglyphs above the cattle guard at mile marker 38.8 Pictographs - 37.2 There is a nice panel of pictographs at this location. Like I said, pictographs are not as common in the canyon as the petroglyphs, so this is a good one to visit. A short, easy trail takes you to it.  The pictographs below the petroglyphs at mile marker 37.2 The Big Crocodile - 35.9 I flew my drone up to this spot as well. The hike up was short, steep, and rocky, and I was tired of walking around in the heat. It was very cool to look at, and I wish I had walked up, but when there were hundreds of other places to see, I had to start picking and choosing.  The Long Line with The Weird Hand - 35.5 This took a short, steep hike to get to like many of the other unnamed locations, but it led to a very interesting formation with a very long line carved across multiple rock faces. It was one of the most intriguing pieces.  The Snake - 35.2 This panel included a huge snake on one side that continued around to many other rocks. It was easy to find after a short hike up to the canyon wall.  The Owl Panel - 35 This was the last named parking lot area where I stopped. It was very easy to walk from the car and follow the path to the panel. There are petroglyphs on every single face of the rocks, so I encourage walking around and viewing more than just the Owl Panel!  Harmon Junction At Harmon Junction, I just viewed the art from my car. I used binoculars and my camera’s zoom to see the panel from the comfort of the air conditioning. I did this at several of the next locations, but none were anything spectacular, so I didn't photograph them. Balanced Rock - 32.475 This was the very last area I visited on my self-guided tour. There are petroglyphs on either side of balanced rock. I parked on one side of the rock and walked to the other. These were some of the more weird images. One looked like someone getting sucked in a portal, and the other looked like a character from the 90’s tv show, “The Real Monsters”.  I decided, after being weirded out by these pictures, that it was time to go. The sun was beginning to set, and I was exhausted from the exhilarating day of searching for ancient artifacts. This was an incredibly fun day of self-guided exploration, and it was one of my favorite parts of my entire road trip. See more from the entire day in my video below, and see more from my solo Dinosaurland, Utah, road trip here!
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Talkin' 'bout Tacos:
I'm Taylor, aka Tacos! I am sharing my journeys and experiences from across the world, hoping to inspire travel and adventure in all who read! Archives
July 2024
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