In Canyonlands National Park, it’s not hard to stumble on a lesson in ancient history. The park — the entire American Southwest, really — is riddled with remnants of the past. An adventurer can easily cross paths with an incredible pictography panel, spy an ancient granary stuccoed beneath a rock ledge, and tour a cowboy cave, all on the same trail.
Among the many pictographs (paintings), petroglyphs (carvings), and cliff houses scattered through the canyons of the Four Corners, the quality of some stands high above the rest. Such is the case for Newspaper Rock and the Great Gallery, two of the largest and most magical rock art panels in Utah.
A visit to both sites can be easily added to a trip to Canyonlands National Park. Here’s how to see them — and why they’re worth your time.
Petroglyphs of Newspaper Rock
I almost crashed my 1991 Roadtrek conversion van to see Newspaper Rock. Driving down Indian Creek Canyon on Utah State Highway 211, I didn’t suspect the turn off to the petroglyphs as I headed towards the Needles district of Canyonlands. The 200-square-foot rock art panel caught the edge of my vision, and I slammed on the brakes to see it before we whizzed by — a move my 30-year-old Class B didn’t quite appreciate.
I swerved on rocking suspension into a small parking lot, greeted by a historical marker and pit toilet. While my wife used the latrine, I marched right up to the fence protecting the rock art, taking it all in.
Newspaper Rock, which is located in Bear Ears National Monument just south of Canyonlands, is a truly spectacular window into 2,000 years of human presence. It is one of the largest, best preserved, and most easily accessed petroglyph panels in the entire Four Corners region.
The Desert Archaic culture was the first to “peck” images into the desert varnish. The Fremont, Ancestral Puebloan, and Navajo people continued the practice in the following millennia. Even Euro-Americans scratched their markers on the rock, stretching its use all the way into the historic period.
This stunning conglomeration of more than 650 images — which includes humanoids, feet with extra toes, and flying squirrels — is named Newspaper Rock to reflect how these symbols were used by the ancient people of the Southwest. The historical marker next to Newspaper Rock explains its Navajo name “Tse’Hone” — rock that tells a story. “These images are more than adornments hung on the landscape. They are communications between people across time, written not with letters but with visceral, vital imagery,” writes the National Park Service.
If you’re visiting Canyonlands Needles District, Newspaper Rock is impossible to miss. It’s massive, worthy of all the attention it demands, and certainly a great spot to enjoy both a snack and the cultural history of Utah’s canyon country.
Pictographs of Horseshoe Canyon
Mirroring Newspaper Rock, a second spectacular petroglyph panel hides just outside the primary northwest boundary of Canyonlands. In 1971, the detached Horseshoe Canyon unit was added to the national park for one purpose: to protect one of the most ethereal pictograph collections in the entire state.
Horseshoe Canyon’s claim to fame is the ghostly Great Gallery. Unlike most rock art depictions of humans, the figures painted on the walls of Horseshoe Canyon are more than life-size. The largest stands seven feet tall, their limbs tucked into their torso and decorated with intricate patterns. These humanoids belong to a unique pictographic style, identified by art historians as Barrier Canyon Style (the former name of Horseshoe Canyon). The Great Gallery is the best example of Barrier Canyon style, whose intricately detailed anthropomorphic figures stretch across Canyonlands and the San Rafael Swell.
The stylized humanoids of the Great Gallery were likely produced during the Desert Archaic. During this period, more than 4,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers roamed these canyons in search of game, edible plants, and stone tool resources. A broader analysis of the region around Horseshoe Canyon reveals that mankind has inhabited the landscape since 9,000-7,000 BCE.
Unlike Newspaper Rock, the Great Gallery can be difficult to access. The detached unit is more than two hours from Moab, Utah, and requires traveling unpaved roads. Additionally, visitors will need to hike seven miles round-trip to see the Great Gallery. The National Park Service has provided detailed travel guidance on the Canyonlands website.
Whether you opt for the easily accessible Newspaper Rock or embark on a desert adventure to see the Great Gallery, a visit to see these ancient pictographs is sure to add a sense of wonder and deeper appreciation for ancient cultures to your trip.
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