Round Trip Distance: 0.2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6061 - 6085 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 15 mins.
Trailhead: MM 31.9
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
The petroglyphs in Nine Mile Canyon, near Wellington, Utah, that are near the 31.9 mile point of the Nine Mile Canyon Road come up just before the Balance Rock Site. There aren't a lot of petroglyphs here but a couple of them make it worth stopping.
For turn by turn directions you can enter 'The Great Hunt Panel' into your driving app and you will be guided both to the area and past all of the other sites along the way. A map, or Nine Mile Canyon brochure, will be helpful for what to watch out for and an GPS with our GPX file loaded will assist in pinpointing each site exactly. Even our file doesn't include everything there is to see but it is good to start with.
For parking there is a nice pullout on the left side of the road around the 31.9 mile point of the Nine Mile Canyon Road. From there it is simple enough to explore the cliffs for petroglyphs.
This panel of stars is higher up on the cliff and easy to miss.
One intriguing image is a large round shouldered figure for which a head is hard to define. Zooming in on the image shows the arms extending down to the waist, hands with fingers, and both legs protruding below a finely depicted apron or skirt. Staps can be seen running from the rounded shoulders down to the waist apparel giving a splendid picture the style of dress that may have been common at the time.
Please remember that it is illegal to leave your own marks upon the rocks whether there are petroglyphs all ready there or not.
A few panels can be found about 20-30 feet above the level of the road that are worth scrambling up to see.
There's something cute about a hunter with a bighorn head.
Near that is another panel with at least a partial hunting theme.
