Round Trip Distance: 0.5 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4599 - 4660 feet
Cellphone: 1-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Highway 313 MM 2.7
Fee: none
Attractions: Rock art
The Intestine Man rock art site is located about 13 miles from Moab, Utah along Highway 313 at mile marker 2.7. The site is named for a Barrier Canyon style pictograph that appears to show the intestines within an anthropomorphic image. Nearby this unique panel of pictographs are some interesting petroglyphs that contain 3 images of bighorn sheep with oversized rectangular bodies.
The Intestine Man site is near the confluence of the north and south branches of Seven Mile Canyon. To get to the pullout along Highway 313 measure 2.7 miles from the Canyonlands/Deadhorse Point turnoff on Highway 191 north of Moab. A trail runs from the highway toward the cliff. The petroglyphs are a short distance to the right of this trail and the Intestine Man pictographs are to the left.
Besides the bighorn sheep there is also a 5 pointed star that catches your attention.
The images on the left seem to convey the idea of a map of sorts.
The consensus is that the bighorn sheep look like large screen televisions.
This petroglyph is on one of the boulders nearby. I only included it here because it looks just like a very old Archaic Period pictograph in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park that is done in a reddish orange color.
To see the Intestine Man pictograph panel head back to the west on the other side of the large boulder. It is above head level on the cliff.
The main panel is a little hard to photograph. This shot was taken in full sun. Sometimes rock art shows up better when the light is more diffused. We might try shooting it on a cloudy day next time.
Tracing these in red doesn't seem to do much to enhance the images. There seems to be an overall bird theme to the panel. There are several small to medium sized bird images that are easily decerned.
The images on the right might be 6 macaws sitting in a row. The long tail feathers are barely visible. A little lower on the left is an obvious bird. If you click on the image and view it in hi-res you can see its little 3 toed bird feet, a beak, and its feathered wing.
The image to the right of Intestine Man has two long feathers on each side and a bird above its shoulder. It is hard to tell if it is supposed to have bird feet also. Also is is possible that what look like arms might be wings.
The image to the left of Intestine Man has a bird in flight on the left side and 4 birds perched on the right side. The bottom of the image looks like feathers and it too has a bird foot. The base of Intestine Man looks like a feathered tail and there are feathers sticking up from its head. It might also have a bird that is perched in the middle of its head.
Intestine Man is an interesting site. A half million people drive by this spot every year. It would be quite the traffic jam if they all tried stopping. The only reason that I bring it up is that some people are disappointed that they don't see any rock art when they visit Canyonlands yet they unknowingly drive right by a couple of nice sites that are along Highway 313. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
