Round Trip Distance: 50 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4934 - 4944 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 15 mins.
Trailhead: Desert Mtn. Rd. mm 0.4
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
Desert Mountain Site 1 is the first, and smallest, of 4 petroglyph sites that can be found along a primitive road on the south side of Desert Mountain about 30 miles due north of Delta, Utah.
Turn-by-turn directions can be followed to the general area by entering 'Desert Mountain' into your driving app. Basically you just drive north out of Delta toward the power plant. County Road 1948, aka 1000 West, is a paved road that leads almost straight to the power plant. Once you reach the Brush Wellman Road turn left. Just west of the power plant will be a Desert Mtn. sign where you will turn north onto a gravel road.
At the 14.2 mile point from the Brush Wellman Road turn right.
As you head east for 4.2 miles to where you will turn left you will be driving parallel with Desert Mountain and will be passing the petroglyph sites that are all along another more primitive road that is across the flats near the base of the foothills.
A little over a half mile past the last left turn there is a primitive route that doesn't seem to come all the way out to the gravel road that you are on. The road is a little uneven in places but during dry conditions it doesn't require high clearance or 4wd.
After turning onto this primitive road it should only be about 0.4 miles to the first petroglyph site which is an outcrop that is right up against the road.
There aren't a lot of petroglyphs at Site 1 but it's not like you have to go to much trouble to see what is there.
Being on basalt some of them are naturally hard to photograph.
The side of the outcrop facing the road has the most images.
This stick figure is a little faint but you can make out 2 horns. The arms look like someone imitating the 'how big is a beach ball' thing when showing off their muscular physique.
If you walk all the way around the outcrop you will probably see all the images that we were able to find.
Desert Mountain Site 1 is the smallest of the 4 sites that we have identified along this 2.6 mile stretch of road. The remaining sites have significantly more images and are of a wider variety. We believe there are at least 3 other petroglyph sites in the area that we haven't come across as yet. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
