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Sandhill Petroglyphs

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 1.6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 4366 - 4570 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 3 hrs. 45 mins.
Trailhead: Sandhill or Bluff Canyon
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs




The Sandhill Petroglyphs in Bluff, Utah run along the high base of the cliffs, on BLM land, on the northwest outskirts of town. The site includes at least 8 main panels of Basketmaker style petroglyphs and a very faint panel, probably Ute in origin, of a rider sitting on a horse.


The easiest approach is to drive 6 tenths of a mile west from the Bears Ears Visitor Center and turn right on an unmarked road where Sandhill is easily visible just to the north. We can't say who owns the land on the south side of the fence. It isn't posted but there are official looking signs that may have been put up by the town of Bluff that say no camping. The brown mylar posts on the north side of the fence say public lands. Near one of the markers you can see a trail that leads toward Sandhill. If this trailhead ever becomes closed the area can also be accessed from the Bluff Canyon trailhead.


The hike up Sandhill is easier than what you might expect for a colossal sand dune. Near the top of the hill there is a gap on the right that leads to the first group of panels. The second group of panels are on the cliffs to the right of an alcove that is across a small canyon where a faint trail up the talus slope provides good access.
 

When you are there in person the petroglyphs actually show up very well. Most of them are made up of thin lines that don't show up all that great on the computer unless you zoom in on them. As you can see, this panel is mostly of large rectangular bodied basketmaker type anthropomorphs. Notice the 2 lobed circles that represent the Warrior Twins.
 

There are some interesting images here on what you would probably call the Ladder Panel for which we have heard some almost bazaar interpretations. A ladder would have been needed to make a lot of the images of the Sand Hill panels.
 

This panel of images is to the left of the Ladder Panel.
 

You will probably notice a couple of flute players like those that show up on some of the other panels. Below the bottom rung of the ladder there are some dancers. While some contribute the bent legs to represent the motion of dancing it seems that they could also be interpreted in some case as sitting cross legged or 'Indian style'.
 

A good name for this group of images might be the 'Celebration Panel' because it has a festive aspect or the 'Fertility Panel' given the flute players erections. They are located above the talus slope to the right of the alcove. You'll need to click on the image to pop up the hi-res version to see it better. On the left is a tall plant that has 3 or 4 flute players on either side. Above the flute players on the left are 2 lobe circles representing the Warrior Twins. High up on the middle right is a big anthropomorphic image that is overseeing everything below.
 

Here is a closeup of the left side of the panel.
 

And the right side.
 

On off to the right of the last panel there are a lot of grinding slicks. Some of the surfaces that have been ground smooth were pecked with petroglyphs.
 

To the right of the grinding slicks are a large number of cupules and a few more grinding slicks that are interspersed with more images.
 

More smaller panels can be found to the right of the cupules.
 

And another panel past that one.
 

And one more for the road.
 

There are a lot more images at the site than what we have shown here but this is a good representation. At the point of the cliff to the right of the last images are at least 2 more panels. We would have had to hike back down to the bottom and up another talus slope to get to them. We have known about the Sandhill Petroglyphs for at least a decade prior to this visit. It's interesting that we took so long to get around to visiting them when they are so easy to visit. Of course, we can say the same for a thousand other sites that we know of but haven't visited yet either. If you would like to see the Sandhill Petroglyphs for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.