Round Trip Distance: 0.1 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4139 - 4150 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 15 mins.
Trailhead: Highway 128 MM 31.7
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
A large boulder adorned with petroglyphs sits above Highway 128, north of Moab, Utah, near mile marker 31.7. Easy access and a good assortment of petroglyphs makes this site a worthwhile stop for anyone that happens to be driving along the Colorado River between Cisco and Moab.
Highway 128 is the scenic byway that runs along the Colorado River between Cisco and Moab, Utah. If approaching from the north take Exit 204 on Interstate 70 and cross over to the south side of the Interstate as though heading to Cisco. Follow the road for about 3 miles as it parallels the interstate heading east. Turn south at the sign in this photo and continue on Highway 128 south for about 10 miles. There is a large pullout on the right side of the road just past mile marker 38. If you are coming from the Moab direction then measure about 32 miles from the intersection of Highway 191 and Highway 128. The pullout will be on your left a few miles past Dewey Bridge.
The petroglyphs that are on a large boulder are easy to spot from the highway.
There are around 50 images all total. To see them all you will need to scramble up the hillside a little.
There are also a few images on one side of the boulder.
Remember that it is illegal to deface archaeological sites in any way. It is also illegal to do any digging or artifact hunting around them. Please report any suspicious activity or vandalism that you see so that sites like this can be studied and enjoyed by our future generations.
We hiked up the mountain to check out what looked like a petroglyph from the road but it turned out to be some gringo graffiti consisting of the letter 'A' with a '79' below it.
While looking around the boulders for other petroglyphs we found an Orb spider that had spun a web several feet in diameter between a large boulder and the cliff. Any insects passing through the gap where it had spun its web were sure to be its next meal. Seeing that this site sits beside the Colorado River there are sure to be plenty of insects flying around at night. It is also interesting to note that an Orb spider is said to be able to spin its entire web in one night.
