I'm returning to southern Utah in late September to see some things I didn't a year ago (at the same time). Can you recommend some petroglyph (or rock art) sites that (A) don't require extreme 4 wheeling and (B) are within 2-3 miles of a trailhead...a not-too-strenuous hike?

I've seen references to the Grand Gallery at Canyonlands; some options in Capitol Reef, Newspaper Rock, as well as some on Potash Road out of Moab. Any other top choices?

My route is Vegas to Zion to Bryce to Capitol Reef to Moab to Mexican Hat to Page to Kanab and back to Vegas.

As I remember it, we made several stops along Potash Road to see the artwork, and all were quite easy to see from the road.

Capitol Reef petroglyphs are right on Hwy 24, there is a sign and parking.

Newspaper Rock State Park is on the drive into Canyonlands Needles District and is an easy stop right on Hwy 211.

There are a number of petroglyphs along the Potash Road, Hwy 279 out of Moab Utah. There are some signs but be careful when parking off the road. Just across the Colorado River is Kane Creek Road and there are more petroglyphs along that route too. If you keep driving on the dirt road you can go for a little while without needing 4 wheel drive and see other petroglyphs.

Sego Canyon is not far off your route and is well worth the time to drive there. On the way to Moab, stay on I-70 for about 5 more miles and exit at Thompson, Utah. Take Sego Canyon road north for about 3 miles. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ut-segocanyon.html

If there are more in this area, I'd be interested too!

Utahtea

There are some near the cabin at the start of the trail out to to Delicate Arch in Arches. There are some dinosaur tracks north of Moab if you are interested in seeing them.

Valley of Fire, in NV, has some nice ones. Got an album at http://tinyurl.com/yzjvmxm . It's less than an hour NE out of Vegas.

I second the Sego Canyon sites, some very nice stuff there which is much easier to get to and that equals the Horseshoe Grand gallery, (which is down a long dirt road and about a 6 mile round trip hike).

If you have some extra time you could check out the Buckthorn Wash panel northwest of Green River.

The only other ones that comes to mind are the Sand Island Panel south of Bluff easily seen from the campground there.

And the Butler Wash panel. The Butler wash Panel is usually seen from the river, but some friends were able to find a way to some others in Butler Wash from the airport road. I didn't go with them so don't know how long the hike was, though I understand it was fairly steep coming back up.

Thanks for the fast and useful replies. These forums and people like you are great resources.

If you are interested in venturing beyond Utah, one of the best preserved and largest concentration of petroglyphs is in Little Petroglyph Canyon on the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, CA - Nearest "big" city is Ridgecrest and nearest "bigger" city is Lancaster/Palmdale.
You have to be a US citizen and get a Navy-approved escort. Weekends only. The local Maturango Museum offers scheduled tours www.maturango.org for details. You can also try to arrange private tours with the Navy. The Public Affairs Office will provide a list of approved guides for you to contact and an explanation of the process.

I'll second the recommendation for Valley of Fire. It is an interesting park with easy-access to trailheads and they make it very easy to see the Petroglyphs. We arrived too late in the day for the Visitor Center, but the ranger at the entrance happily gave us advice about easy walks, hikes, petroglyphs, etc. It is only 30 min. off the highway from Vegas to St. George (is it I-17?).

All of the suggestions are very good ….. but I do want to embellish on what InSandy said about the Butler Wash panel. There IS a trail that you hike from the airport road down into Butler Wash heading south towards the San Juan River. But that is NOT the one we call the Butler Wash panel. Hard to explain…by boat you can reach both together. But hiking you have to go in a different way to see each one The water from Butler Wash and the San Juan river prevents you from walking across to each panel.

To get to the one they have designated ‘Butler Wash Panel’ you have to drive down the west side of Comb Ridge in the dry stream bed of Comb Wash south from Hwy #163 to the river. You drive pass the old Rincon Trading post (lots of history there) then drive east, parallel to the river right past Snake House Ruin (River House Ruin), keep heading east a mile or so and you will come to the parking area for the Butler Wash Panel.

Another GREAT glyph that many people are just now starting to discover since I posted photos of it on my site is the ‘Big Crane’ Basketmaker petroglyph.
It is not too far from the famous Wolfman Panel in Butler Wash.

Also while you are in Moab…..you can take a hike into Seven Mile Canyon. It may be 7 miles ….but you only have to hike about 2 miles in total to see ….’Snake in Mouth’, ‘Supplication Pane’ , ‘Fishman Panel (Centipede Alcove) and ‘The Shaman’ Easy flat hike in dry stream bed….but it is very sandy.

You can check out photos of all of these glyphs (except the Supplication Panel) on my websites. Just scroll down and you will find them. Drop me a line if you would like more info on them.

http://www.theanasazi.com/

http://www.beyondmesaverde.com/

I agree with the suggestions above and also would add Parowan gap to the list. It is a half hour or so north of St. George, about 5 miles west of I-15. We plan to visit and re visit petroglyph and pictograph sites on most of our trips out west. If you want to venture up to northeastern corner of the state, Dinosaur NP has some fantastic sites that can be reached without a 4wd. If you click my name you can read a couple of trip reports and can find pictures of some at www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009/sets in most of the trips

reddirtdog,

We got a new handheld GPS mainly so I can find the petroglyphs & pictographs sites easier next time. I will be contacting you about the Moab area for this year!

Utahtea

I appreciate all the suggestions, links, and photos. Thank you. Reddirtdawg....any maps of the Butler wash you could reference?

bobwalt ~ drop me a line at ~ [email protected] and I should be able to help you out.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...0IatW7FqybsWFO

The above link is to photos from my trip to The Great Gallery in Mid-October. It also includes Cap Reef, Goblin Valley, and Little Wildhorse Canyon. The Great Gallery begin on photo #36

The 30 minute trip on a dirt road begins basically across the hwy from where you turnoff to Goblin Valley State Park. It was a piece of cake for us in a small rental car, but could be bad if the road washed out.

The hike is moderate. You have to descend(then the ascent back up on the return is harder of course). A lot of the trek is in sand, which slows you down. You will see 3 or 4 other very good galleries before arriving at the main attraction. There is a ranger-led hike normally on Saturdays. We did it on our own though.

BTW, this is the canyon that Aaron Ralston hiked out of. A family found him while they were hiking to the Great Gallery. Horseshoe Canyon(where the GG is) connects to Blue John Canyon where he amputated his own arm.

From everything I have read and seen this is the best example and biggest. It is what most others are compared to.

I am no expert and have only seen 9 or 10 places in UT with the petroglyph/pictographs(which I'm not even sure the difference of those). We just enjoyed the hike. I am sure there are many many other great sights to see. I would leave the serious questions to dirt dog.

Another site in UT is at Moore, the Rochester Rock art site. It is an easy hike from the parking area.