Sand Island Rock Art Panels

There are two large concentrations of rock art to see. The West rock art site is very large and easy to see, as you can park right in front of it and get out and walk in either direction to view it.

The East Rock Art Site takes a short walk to reach and the site stretches out over an even greater distance and features a controversial petroglyph that looks like a wooly mammoth to some people.

Archeologists believe due to the sheer amount of petroglyphs located here and built up over at least 1000-2000 years or more, this location must have held some significance for ancient people.

The earliest artwork is Basketmaker and continues through Pueblo III more recent Ute and Navajo. You can see more modern themes in some of the images, depicting wagon wheels or riders on horses with cowboy hats.

Look for literal figures, mythical figures, horses, elk, spears, shields, twins, Kokopelli, horned animals, people with headdresses, flutes, and much more.

Notes

Dogs okay
Binoculars really help to see the artwork up close

Getting there

4 miles west from Bluff on Highway 191, turn left to the Sand Island boat launch area.

Parking

West rock art site – large parking area directly in front of it ( 37.262736, -109.609069 )
East rock art site – drive toward the river and then east, passing the ranger station, to the end of the short road, and park. ( 37.261617, -109.618854 )

Distance

West Rock Art Site – you can park right in front of it
East Rock Art Site – 1.3 miles total out and back

West Rock Art Site

The panels are behind chain fencing, and there is a rough trail leading along the front of the fence, the more you look the more you will see, the site is quite large and there are hundreds of individual images everywhere.

East Rock Art Site

The East site (sometimes referred to as the Upper site) stretches out over a greater distance than the West site and contains rock art from different time periods and a petroglyph that looks like a wooly mammoth. However, if they were mammoths that would predate the site by 10,000 years, and while a popular mythology, archeologists don’t believe they represent mammoths.

What you see today was mostly covered with overgrowth of tamarisk for most of modern times. In 2012 a BLM fire prevention program cleared much of the overgrowth and exposed much of the rock art you can see today.

Researchers have counted 65 individual petroglyph panels at this site.

Route

From the parking area follow the road onto Loop A for several hundred feet. The trail is to the right of the campsite at the end of the road. From there follow the trail east along the cliffs and after another 100 feet or so you will come to the trail kiosk.

There is information on the kiosk mostly about the research, but some about the actual artwork. The pictures explain the volunteer work that went into restoring the site and removing the overgrown tamarisk to reveal the artwork, photographing and sketching to record the individual panels.

There is an initial small panel to your left right when you start the trail to wet your appetite for what is to come.

The first panel along the Sand Island east site

There is another panel shortly after the first one it’s very hard to see it’s in the dark desert varnish. The easiest way to locate it is to look for some concentration of small holes in a pattern, once found look around from side to side and see if you can see and identify anything.

Some of the petroglyphs are faint and hard to make out

The main panels are further down the trail they’re obvious because they’re behind a big wooden fence on your left.

The woolly mammoth image is located about 3/4 of the way down the fence.

The best and most interesting concentration is to the far right end of the fence. Look for a rock pile that you can climb up and get a great view. Keep looking because there are hundreds of images here but they’re not all obvious at first.

Elk and bear paw representations in the Sand Island rock art panels

To identify this area with a big concentration look for the round holes that have been carved into the rock face where the Indians had wooden poles for a structure at one time.

Human figures, elk, bighorn sheep and claw hands

Explore Nearby...

Hikes...

Arch Canyon and Walnut Knob

Arch Canyon has ruins and three arches, explore Walnut Knob to see amazing petroglyphs of hunting parties and game

House on Fire Ruins in Mule Canyon South Fork

There are many ruins in the canyon, but House on Fire ruin is the most famous of them, getting its name from the effects that the sunlight has on the sandstone cliff of the overhang that it is built under

Fallen Roof Ruin in Road Canyon

Road Canyon contains many ruins, granaries, and kivas. “Fallen Roof Ruin” derives its name from the elaborate pattern created by the missing sandstone slabs of rock that fell out of the roof of the alcove in front of it.

Butler Wash Ruins

Choose to view the ruins from an overlook or hike up the wash and explore the ruins close up

Lower Butler Wash Road - Hikes

Lower Butler Wash Road is a unique area of Comb Ridge, home to a dozen unmarked trailheads not published by the BLM or marked with signs. All are short hikes (1-3 miles round trip) that lead to amazing ancestral sites, caves and alcoves with 800-year-old ruins, petroglyphs, pottery shards and more.

Pedestal Rock Ruins

A large intact ruin on top of a 400-foot rock pedestal with views out over Comb Ridge

Monarch Cave

Hidden up a side canyon of Comb Ridge is an impressive ruin complex with petroglyphs, pottery sherds, corn cobs, sharpening grooves, and grinding metates.

Wolfman Panel

Hike to see multiple rock art panels with one with a unique wolfman like figure, across the canyon are ruins you can continue to

Butler Wash Dinosaur Tracksite

See two sets of Allosaurus dinosaur tracks from 160 million years ago

Fishmouth Cave

A short easy hike to a large cave with handprints and metates, there are a number of smaller ruins to see along the trail.

Split Level Ruin

The hike to a ruin split over two ledges is filled with hundreds of pictographs, large rocks covered in metates, sharpening marks, pottery shards, and painted handprints

Goosenecks State Park ...

How to photograph the San Juan River’s double Goosenecks at Utah’s Goosenecks State Park

The park’s viewpoint overlooks the meander of two giant bends (goosenecks) of the San Juan River. Geologists consider this part of the river to be one of the finest examples of “entrenched meanders” anywhere in the world.

Scenic Drives...

Arch Canyon Overlook

Sit 400 feet above Arch Canyon and enjoy a great sunset

Recapture Pocket

This is a little visited but interesting location full of goblins and hoodoos contained in three main groups of formations relatively close to each other

Petroglyphs along highway 162

On Highway 162, stretching for 3 miles east from Bluff there are multiple rock art sites sitting right next to the highway.

Planning your visit to stunning Valley of the Gods in Utah

Valley of the Gods is a beautiful treasure waiting to be discovered, unlike Monument Valley, it is free, and you can explore without having to hire a tour guide