Round Trip Distance: 200 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6385 - 6535 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: 39.78492, -108.61420
Fee: none
Attractions: pictographs
The Cathedral Creek Pictographs are located to the east of Canyon Pintado about 28 miles south of Rangely, Colorado. Besides a large, over arching, red ochre figure the site includes a handful of red, white, and yellow carrot men images.
For turn-by-turn directions to the site enter 39.78492, -108.61420 into your driving app. From Rangely you will be directed south on Highway 139 for 17 miles where you will turn left onto County Road 27, the East Douglas Creek Road. In another 7.3 miles you will be directed left again onto County Road 28, the Cathedral Creek Road.
Follow the Cathedral Creek Road for 1.7 miles and you will be able to see the pictographs on your left. We drove past them a little to where the road is a little wider.
A little scrambling is needed to get up to the pictographs from the road. Enough is thought of the site that there is a sign reminding visitors of the laws protecting archeological sites. Be sure not to touch any of the images or do anything else that might damage the site.
The panel is dominated by a large headless monster looking figure.
Off to the right is what looks like a hideous head with a round open mouth. The head brings to mind images of masauwu who is sometimes referred to as the god of the dead.
Lower down on the panel are a number of carrot men images. Most of them are yellow, trimmed in red.
There is at least one of these that is red, trimmed in white.
Before the images were painted the rock was made smooth to create a recess into which the image was then inlaid.
Other images that are less distinct are also present.
