Great Gallery at Horseshoe Canyon
 

Is there an outfitter that will drive you down into the canyon to view the petroglyphs and pictographs in the great gallery without hiking down the canyon wall? It looks on the map like there is a road down to the bottom but I don't feel confident driving in that area.

There is not a road leading down into the canyon. The road in stops at the rim and you have to hike into the canyon and to the rock art. It's about 6.5 miles of hiking round trip.

The trail leading into the canyon is an old 4WD road which is why some maps probably make it look like there's a road. You can ride horses down but I'm not aware of any outfitters doing that trip.

There is old Jeep trail that is no longer in use (thank goodness). If you want to see petroglyphs without leaving your car, drive the Nine Mile Road outside Wellington. Another nice drive would be through the Buckhorn Draw in Emery County.

Thanks for the input. We are planning to get to nine mile canyon. Have a neat book that gives us directions to various places to see rock art and find some that are amazing. Guess the great gallery will have to wait until we're younger.

emalloy,
There is a ranger-led hike into the Great Gallery every weekend through the summer months. The hike is about 7 miles roundtrip and is mostly difficult because of the heat. We finally got in there in 2007 after several past attempts that were thwarted due to rain. We did the hike on our own, though. Here are some pictures from our trip into Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery. They are on pages 9-12.
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_tr&page=9

Sharondi

Did you stop at Temple Mt. wash when you were camping at Goblin? It is just a little way up the road and an easy view of petroglyphs and pictographs without a long hike.

emalloy,
Because of the weather, we didn't stick to our itinerary, which always happens to us on our Utah trips. So we didn't camp at Goblins at all but spent an extra night in Torrey instead. We ended up driving to the Great Gallery trailhead from Torrey and back again after the hike that day just getting out of Horseshoe Canyon before the big thunderstorms hit! It was a very exciting day!

We'll definitely check out Temple Mtn Wash on our next trip out there - hope that's soon! Thanks for the tip.

sharondi,

I'm finally going to make it to the Great Gallery this spring (weather allowing). I'm wondering how long it took to drive to the canyon rim for the start of the hike?

Debating on staying in Torrey at a B&B I like, vs. camping in Goblin. I've been to Goblin, but that was LONG before it had a campground!

Thanks my friend!

Dayle,

Check out the log with pictures sharondi gave in the first response on 02/02/09. there is a description of the dash out on the dirt road as well as some neat pics.

Dayle, as I recall it took sharondi & I a little less than an hour to get from Torrey to the turn off then another hour + to drive the 30 miles of dirt road to the trailhead. Figure on 2 hours. The dirt road isn't too bad but has sections of washboard. I think a car could make it but I was glad I was in a Jeep when we hit some of the sandy stretches closer to the trailhead.

As emalloy said, our description of our Horseshoe Canyon adventure starts at the bottom of page 9 in the trip report though I think you've already read it.

Here's the link then click on page 9.

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_tr

Peter & Sharon,

Thanks for the drive times. I did read your trip report way back when. Pics are so great!

Remember, you still have a standing invitation to visit!

Hey, you never know!!

Thanks Dayle :>)