Lone Warrior Panel

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 1.2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 7011 - 7040 feet
Cellphone: 0-2 bars
Time: 45 mins.
Trailhead: Lone Warrior
Fee: none
Attractions: rock art, scenic geology

The Lone Warrior Panel is located in the San Rafael Swell west of Green River, Utah. The panel consists of a single image that is holding a shield. There are other pictograph type images nearby along the same area of cliffs that are too faded and washed out to discern what they looked like originally. Petroglyphs can also be found some of which are a bit easier to read.

Getting to the Lone Warrior Panel requires negotiating multiple backcountry roads that require a high clearance vehicle that preferably is 4-wheel drive. That said, we have seen a Volkswagen bug and a Mini Cooper back in there in the past. From Interstate 70 take Exit 131 which is marked with signs for the Temple Mountain and Sinbad Roads.

From the interstate follow the Temple Mountain Road for about 3.9 miles and turn right on the Sinbad Road where the signs are also pointing the way to Swasey's Cabin.

Continue following the Sinbad Road, staying right after 1 mile, for about 5 miles to where there is another sign pointing the way to the Swasey Cabin that indicates you have driven 9 miles since leaving the interstate. At this intersection continue on the route to the Swasey Cabin. If you were to turn right and pass under the Interstate you would be able to get to Dutchman Arch and the Head of Sinbad Pictographs.

The Lone Warrior trailhead will come up about 1 mile from the Head of Sinbad intersection.

The half mile long road that leads the rest of the way to the Lone Warrior Panel has a lot of loose sand and it is washed out in places. We opted to hike the rest of the way to work the kinks out of our legs from the drive in.

The incredible scenery that you get to enjoy is typical of the San Rafael Swell.

The areas where there is rock art are fenced off to keep the cows from rubbing up against them. The fences have walkthroughs for people to enter them.

The first fenced off area has some pictographs that are too faded to tell what they were. It also has some petroglyphs that are a little easier to see but still pretty faint.

Here is the same panel with a rough outline that we did on the computer. Remember that it is illegal to chalk petroglyphs or to damage them in any way.

Off to the right there are a few more petroglyphs, some old signatures, and some sharpening grooves.

The Lone Warrior Panel is in the next fenced off area. This guy is pretty faded also but doesn't look too bad if you can catch it in the right light.

Judging from the height of the various images on the cliffs it looks apparent that the wind has blown in at least 3 or 4 feet of sand since the time when they were made. At the very end of the the little stub canyon is an alcove that shows signs of habitation like soot and rocks that have been reddened by fire That alcove is almost completely filled in with sand. As far as the Lone Warrior Panel goes, it is interesting but it doesn't come close to approaching many of the other Barrier Canyon style panels that the San Rafael Swell is famous for. There are a few other interesting places nearby like the Swasey Cabin, the Ice Box Foot trail and the Eagle Canyon Arch that can all be visited at the same time as the Lone Warrior Panel for a very worthwhile trip to the Swell. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.