Cottonwood Wash Petroglyphs

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 3.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 4346 - 4537 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 4 hrs.
Trailhead: 37.28936, -109.55701
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs

The Cottonwood Wash trail is located on the north side of Bluff, Utah. Along the first couple miles of the trail we have identified over a half dozen panels of petroglyphs. All but 2 of them are right done next to the trail. Those 2, that we have labeled the High Horse Panels, require scrambling almost 200 feet up a rocky slope.

Golf Course Road Petroglyphs

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.5 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 5074 - 5157 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 1 hr. 30 mins.
Trailhead: 34.91236, -110.19702
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs

Along the Golf Course Road, in Holbrook, Arizona, on the way to the Hidden Cove Petroglyphs, are 3 other panels of petroglyphs that are well worth visiting. Getting close enough for good photos of 2 of the panels requires scrambling up moderately steep slopes while the 3rd, and best, of the panels is much easier to reach.

Alvey Wash Site 1

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.3 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6035 - 6063 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: 37.71767, -111.62854
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs, pictographs

Alvey Wash is located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument south of Escalante, Utah. Driving through the area it is easy to spot a handful of rock art sites that are within a short distance of the Smoky Mountain Road. This post is for the first site that we came across which is really kinda 2 sites in one.

Weavers Cave

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 5486 - 5739 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs. 30 mins.
Trailhead: 37.76696, -111.42706
Fee: none
Attractions: pictographs

Weavers Cave is a well known site that is located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument near Escalante, Utah. Found at the site are 3 shallow alcoves that each have large numbers of intricate Barrier Canyon Style pictographs depicting, among other things, what look like sewing needles and blanket patterns. A couple of former habitation sites can be found on the opposite side of the canyon, one of which includes a grinding slick, and another with a partial piece of masonry wall.

Sulphur Gulch Rock Art

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 1 mile
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4846 - 4880 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead: 39.26797, -108.25972
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs, pictographs

Sulphur Gulch is the northernmost of a half dozen or so canyons that drain into the Colorado River from the west as it flows through DeBeque Canyon before reaching Grand Junction, Colorado. At the point where the gulch reaches the river there is an island of cliffs that has a few very old petroglyph and pictographs panels of rock art that include both Archaic and Barrier Canyon Style images.