Horseshoe Canyon: Outstanding Hike to View Amazing Rock Art Panels This is one of the best hikes that I have made in southern Utah, but it is not for the faint of heart. Just getting to the trailhead is a bit of an adventure as it is a 30 mile haul along a gravel road. And the 6-mile round-trip hike is challenging but the views in the canyon are beautiful and the four rock art panels are not to be missed. Of course, the Great Gallery is the primary draw and is well worth the effort of getting there. This is a highly recommended hike. My group made the hike in late September, starting from Green River. We departed at 7:00 AM. It is about a 70-mile drive from Green River, the first 40 of which is on the main roads (a short stretch on I-70 west then south on route 24 toward Goblin Valley). Just past the access road to Goblin Valley State Park, we turned on to road 1010 and trundled the next 30 miles over a well maintained gravel road. We were fortunate that the road was in top shape, which is not always the case as I understand as the rain can wash out areas. I checked with the Rangers at the Hans Flat Ranger station the day before to make sure that the road was passable. No issues were reported. I took it easy on the way to the trailhead, and cruised along the dirt road at around 30 mph, but did slow down on the blind hills to ensure that there were no free range cattle loitering on the road just over the crest. And we did see several cattle along the drive. The only other big critter that we saw was a lone pronghorn that ran along with us for a few hundred yards. Otherwise the trip was uneventful, which was great, and we made it to the trailhead just before 9:30 AM, so a little less than two and a half hours from Green River. There were only two or three other vehicles at the trailhead when we arrived, so we should have the trail pretty much to ourselves which is always a plus. We all needed a little stretch after the drive. The pit toilet was also a welcome sight. We got our packs, poles and cameras in order and were on the trail just after 9:30. Right now it was pleasant, with bright blue skies and nary a cloud to be seen. Perfect hiking weather, but we knew it was be hot on the return trip. We knew that the trail was mostly exposed, so we had all taken the needed precautions; carrying lots of water, slathered on the sunscreen, hats, etc. I was hoping to go on a Ranger-led hike, but the Parks Service was not offering the Ranger-led hikes this fall due to budget constraints. Therefore, I had done some reading about this hike and found a couple of good websites with maps that marked the location of the panels and other points of interest. Since the Parks Service was not offering the guided hikes, the map would have to be our guide. My wife took on the role of Sacagawea and led us along the trail. She easily found all the cool stuff, but I think we might have missed a few highlights without the map. This turned out to be a classic hike in the desert as there were beautiful landscapes and other things of interest all along the trail. While it was no cake walk, the hike was actually a lot easier than I expected. Sure, the hike along the trail from the parking area down into the canyon was tough; certainly the hardest part of the trail, but it was not that bad. I think the fact that it was a “smooth” trial, that is very few uneven steps, really reduced the difficulty. But there were nice views down into the canyon almost from the start of the hike. Plus, we started seeing things of interest almost right away. Not far into the hike, we spotted a Jack rabbit. Then we stumbled over the dinosaur track. It is right in the middle of the trail and had a ring of rocks around it so it is hard to miss. Next we came across the old water trough and piping that had been set up decades ago to pump water up from the canyon. And that was all before we even got to the steep part of the trail. Again, the downhill part of the trail is the hardest, but not nearly as hard as a friend who had made the hike made it out to be. He made it sound like the Trail of Tears or the Bataan Death March. But maybe his warnings were a good thing, as I was prepared for much worse. Once down in the canyon, we just walked along the sandy wash and looked for cairns and other markers as well as the cues from the map. The trail is mostly out in the open, so we took advantage of every opportunity to walk in the shade of the canyon walls. Not a lot in the way of wildlife down in the canyon, just a few lizards and a nice size toad. We did stumble across the odd bone everyone once in a while. From the size, we guessed cattle or horse. But the draw for this hike were the four rock art panels, and we found them all. Each one is a little more impressive than last, but they are all fascinating. These panels are the namesakes for this style of artwork, that being Barrier Canyon as they are named for Barrier Creek which flows through Horseshoe Canyon. Each panel is a collection of anthropomorphic figures along with representations of animals. All of the panels are beautiful. The first is called the High Panel, as it sits well above ground level on the south wall of the canyon. It could be easily missed as it was in shadow and sort of blends in with the cracks in the sandstone as well as the desert varnish that paints the canyon walls. While this is the smallest of the panels, if does have some interesting features, in particular a winged figure that is above a figure that seems to be falling over backward. Does that suggest that the winged figure has some power over the other figure? Shoot, I reckon you could sit in front of these panels all day and try to figure out the stories they are trying to convey. But there was a lot more to see, so on to the next panel. Next is Horseshoe Panel and it is more or less across the canyon from High Panel so on the north wall. It has a slightly different flavor than the High panel in a few aspects. First the colors; the painting in the high panel were more red while the images on the Horseshoe Panel were mostly tan with some dark brown thrown in. The figures were a little more triangular in shape on this second panel, but still had the same general feel of the anthropomorphic beings. Plus there were a few more animals shown on this panel than the previous one. The artists chose well with the placement of their drawings as the images spanned along a lighter colored seam in the sandstone. The artwork then stood out on the lighter colored rock as well as being highlighted by the darker bands above and below. We had a bit of a walk to get to the next panel, the appropriately names Alcove Panel. But we enjoyed the views as we traipsed through the narrowing canyon. The desert varnish was particularly pretty as it draped over the sandstone walls of the canyon. As the names suggestions, Alcove Panel was painted on the back wall of a large alcove in the bend of the canyon. There were red and tan images painted here, the red ones more closely resembled those from High Panel and the tan ones looked to me to be more closely related to Horseshoe Panel, although some of the figures had a character all their own. It was a little more difficult to get a decent image of this panel due to the lighting in the alcove and the boulders in front of the panel. Part of the area around the panel was also roped off. But we did what we could do, and even if the photos were not great, we still got to see these amazing images from an ancient people. As usual, I was at the tail of the troop, which my normal location so I can take more photos. We came around a slight bend and into a wider section of the canyon and there off on the far wall I could see our final goal, the Great Gallery. Even from well over a hundred yards away the pictographs were impressive. What I had first noticed were the figures that make up “the Holy Ghost” panel. Wow. Just, Wow. We completed our hike to the foot of the huge panel and enjoyed the spectacle for a few minutes. This was worth every step o

Hiking/Backpacking

Utah, United States

time : Sep 25, 2014 9:10 AM

duration : 4h 52m 47s

distance : 9.2 mi

total_ascent : 2051 ft

highest_point : 5302 ft

avg_speed : 1.9 mi/h

user_id : OhioHick

user_firstname : Allen

user_lastname : Arrington

Horseshoe Canyon: Outstanding Hike to View Amazing Rock Art Panels This is one of the best hikes that I have made in southern Utah, but it is not for the faint of heart. Just getting to the trailhead is a bit of an adventure as it is a 30 mile haul along a gravel road. And the 6-mile round-trip hike is challenging but the views in the canyon are beautiful and the four rock art panels are not to be missed. Of course, the Great Gallery is the primary draw and is well worth the effort of getting there. This is a highly recommended hike. My group made the hike in late September, starting from Green River. We departed at 7:00 AM. It is about a 70-mile drive from Green River, the first 40 of which is on the main roads (a short stretch on I-70 west then south on route 24 toward Goblin Valley). Just past the access road to Goblin Valley State Park, we turned on to road 1010 and trundled the next 30 miles over a well maintained gravel road. We were fortunate that the road was in top shape, which is not always the case as I understand as the rain can wash out areas. I checked with the Rangers at the Hans Flat Ranger station the day before to make sure that the road was passable. No issues were reported. I took it easy on the way to the trailhead, and cruised along the dirt road at around 30 mph, but did slow down on the blind hills to ensure that there were no free range cattle loitering on the road just over the crest. And we did see several cattle along the drive. The only other big critter that we saw was a lone pronghorn that ran along with us for a few hundred yards. Otherwise the trip was uneventful, which was great, and we made it to the trailhead just before 9:30 AM, so a little less than two and a half hours from Green River. There were only two or three other vehicles at the trailhead when we arrived, so we should have the trail pretty much to ourselves which is always a plus. We all needed a little stretch after the drive. The pit toilet was also a welcome sight. We got our packs, poles and cameras in order and were on the trail just after 9:30. Right now it was pleasant, with bright blue skies and nary a cloud to be seen. Perfect hiking weather, but we knew it was be hot on the return trip. We knew that the trail was mostly exposed, so we had all taken the needed precautions; carrying lots of water, slathered on the sunscreen, hats, etc. I was hoping to go on a Ranger-led hike, but the Parks Service was not offering the Ranger-led hikes this fall due to budget constraints. Therefore, I had done some reading about this hike and found a couple of good websites with maps that marked the location of the panels and other points of interest. Since the Parks Service was not offering the guided hikes, the map would have to be our guide. My wife took on the role of Sacagawea and led us along the trail. She easily found all the cool stuff, but I think we might have missed a few highlights without the map. This turned out to be a classic hike in the desert as there were beautiful landscapes and other things of interest all along the trail. While it was no cake walk, the hike was actually a lot easier than I expected. Sure, the hike along the trail from the parking area down into the canyon was tough; certainly the hardest part of the trail, but it was not that bad. I think the fact that it was a “smooth” trial, that is very few uneven steps, really reduced the difficulty. But there were nice views down into the canyon almost from the start of the hike. Plus, we started seeing things of interest almost right away. Not far into the hike, we spotted a Jack rabbit. Then we stumbled over the dinosaur track. It is right in the middle of the trail and had a ring of rocks around it so it is hard to miss. Next we came across the old water trough and piping that had been set up decades ago to pump water up from the canyon. And that was all before we even got to the steep part of the trail. Again, the downhill part of the trail is the hardest, but not nearly as hard as a friend who had made the hike made it out to be. He made it sound like the Trail of Tears or the Bataan Death March. But maybe his warnings were a good thing, as I was prepared for much worse. Once down in the canyon, we just walked along the sandy wash and looked for cairns and other markers as well as the cues from the map. The trail is mostly out in the open, so we took advantage of every opportunity to walk in the shade of the canyon walls. Not a lot in the way of wildlife down in the canyon, just a few lizards and a nice size toad. We did stumble across the odd bone everyone once in a while. From the size, we guessed cattle or horse. But the draw for this hike were the four rock art panels, and we found them all. Each one is a little more impressive than last, but they are all fascinating. These panels are the namesakes for this style of artwork, that being Barrier Canyon as they are named for Barrier Creek which flows through Horseshoe Canyon. Each panel is a collection of anthropomorphic figures along with representations of animals. All of the panels are beautiful. The first is called the High Panel, as it sits well above ground level on the south wall of the canyon. It could be easily missed as it was in shadow and sort of blends in with the cracks in the sandstone as well as the desert varnish that paints the canyon walls. While this is the smallest of the panels, if does have some interesting features, in particular a winged figure that is above a figure that seems to be falling over backward. Does that suggest that the winged figure has some power over the other figure? Shoot, I reckon you could sit in front of these panels all day and try to figure out the stories they are trying to convey. But there was a lot more to see, so on to the next panel. Next is Horseshoe Panel and it is more or less across the canyon from High Panel so on the north wall. It has a slightly different flavor than the High panel in a few aspects. First the colors; the painting in the high panel were more red while the images on the Horseshoe Panel were mostly tan with some dark brown thrown in. The figures were a little more triangular in shape on this second panel, but still had the same general feel of the anthropomorphic beings. Plus there were a few more animals shown on this panel than the previous one. The artists chose well with the placement of their drawings as the images spanned along a lighter colored seam in the sandstone. The artwork then stood out on the lighter colored rock as well as being highlighted by the darker bands above and below. We had a bit of a walk to get to the next panel, the appropriately names Alcove Panel. But we enjoyed the views as we traipsed through the narrowing canyon. The desert varnish was particularly pretty as it draped over the sandstone walls of the canyon. As the names suggestions, Alcove Panel was painted on the back wall of a large alcove in the bend of the canyon. There were red and tan images painted here, the red ones more closely resembled those from High Panel and the tan ones looked to me to be more closely related to Horseshoe Panel, although some of the figures had a character all their own. It was a little more difficult to get a decent image of this panel due to the lighting in the alcove and the boulders in front of the panel. Part of the area around the panel was also roped off. But we did what we could do, and even if the photos were not great, we still got to see these amazing images from an ancient people. As usual, I was at the tail of the troop, which my normal location so I can take more photos. We came around a slight bend and into a wider section of the canyon and there off on the far wall I could see our final goal, the Great Gallery. Even from well over a hundred yards away the pictographs were impressive. What I had first noticed were the figures that make up “the Holy Ghost” panel. Wow. Just, Wow. We completed our hike to the foot of the huge panel and enjoyed the spectacle for a few minutes. This was worth every step o