Round Trip Distance: 1.4+ miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 4607 - 4671 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
South Trailhead: 45.00471, -108.50536
North Trailhead: 45.01652, -108.50181
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
Petroglyph Canyon is located just across the Montana border north of Lovell, Wyoming. Found in the canyon are a few rock shelters and the numerous petroglyphs for which the canyon gets its name.
Petroglyph Canyon has 2 trailheads. For this post we are beginning at the south trailhead which sits at the end of a narrow ridge. The north trailhead looks like it might be easier to reach but it might require more hiking. For turn-by-turn direction you can either enter the GPS coordinates for the trailhead you want into your driving app or enter "Petroglyph Canyon Montana" to see both trailheads from which to choose. The south trailhead is 18.5 miles north of Lovell by the shortest route. After turning off of CR 7.5 you will be on the Acco Mine Haul Road. In another 1.8 miles you will go right onto a high clearance 4WD road that is smooth for the most part but requires high clearance to cross a shallow wash. From there it is another 3.8 miles to the trailhead.
Looking off the ridge to the right you can see the route down to Petroglyph Canyon. The slope is gentle and the distance is short making it an easy hike.
The first large panel of petroglyphs are on the left side of the wash a little over 800 feet from the trailhead. The panel that we labeled P6 is only about 700 feet from the trailhead but we didn't see those petroglyphs until on the hike out.
The first panel consists mostly of human like figures with a few deer or sheep images in the mix.
The next images are on a large boulder that is down in the wash on the side that faces upstream.
After that there is a panel up on a terrace at the foot of the cliff on the west side of the wash.
The next panel up the canyon is in a similar location.
It includes an image of a person shooting an elk(?) with a bow and arrow.
There are also what appear to be 2 people that are dancing and 3 animals with long tails.
This panel has more human like figures of which one is a warrior, or hunter, with a bow.
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
Petroglyph Canyon is located just across the Montana border north of Lovell, Wyoming. Found in the canyon are a few rock shelters and the numerous petroglyphs for which the canyon gets its name.
Petroglyph Canyon has 2 trailheads. For this post we are beginning at the south trailhead which sits at the end of a narrow ridge. The north trailhead looks like it might be easier to reach but it might require more hiking. For turn-by-turn direction you can either enter the GPS coordinates for the trailhead you want into your driving app or enter "Petroglyph Canyon Montana" to see both trailheads from which to choose. The south trailhead is 18.5 miles north of Lovell by the shortest route. After turning off of CR 7.5 you will be on the Acco Mine Haul Road. In another 1.8 miles you will go right onto a high clearance 4WD road that is smooth for the most part but requires high clearance to cross a shallow wash. From there it is another 3.8 miles to the trailhead.
Looking off the ridge to the right you can see the route down to Petroglyph Canyon. The slope is gentle and the distance is short making it an easy hike.
The first large panel of petroglyphs are on the left side of the wash a little over 800 feet from the trailhead. The panel that we labeled P6 is only about 700 feet from the trailhead but we didn't see those petroglyphs until on the hike out.
The first panel consists mostly of human like figures with a few deer or sheep images in the mix.
The next images are on a large boulder that is down in the wash on the side that faces upstream.
After that there is a panel up on a terrace at the foot of the cliff on the west side of the wash.
The next panel up the canyon is in a similar location.
It includes an image of a person shooting an elk(?) with a bow and arrow.
There are also what appear to be 2 people that are dancing and 3 animals with long tails.
This panel has more human like figures of which one is a warrior, or hunter, with a bow.
We spotted these images and a few others while hiking back down the canyon. With hardly any patina on the boulder they are easy to miss. Similar images can be found on other boulders that lack patina.
These paw prints are hidden in a narrow joint on the backside of what we labeled P6. It was difficult to get a good photo of them due to the narrowness of their location
We hiked up the canyon well past the last of the petroglyphs that we've shown to the point where our map shows a side trail coming into the canyon from the north trailhead. Be aware that hiking in the canyon requires some scrambling around boulders that clog the wash in places.
As we were getting rained on while in Petroglyph Canyon it was easy for us to spot various rock shelters where we took refuge during the heavier rain. Several of these had images in them.
If you would like to see Petroglyph Canyon for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
If you would like to see Petroglyph Canyon for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
