Guide to the Potash Road Rock Art Sites

Just a few minutes from downtown Moab, on the Potash road running along the Colorado River is the opportunity to see a half dozen sites that hold hundreds of petroglyphs and even some dinosaur foot prints

Head north out of Moab on Highway 191, after crossing the bridge over the Colorado River it’s 1.3 miles to the left turn onto Utah Scenic Byway 279 (Potash Road). Reset your trip odometer when you turn onto Potash Road.

Note

Binoculars are helpful because so much of the rock art is high up on the walls on your first stops
If you want to explore the full length of Potash Road use the Potash Road Guide

Paper dolls

5.0 miles ( 38.544571, -109.600048 )

This section of the Potash Road is popular with rock climbers, go slow and watch out for them. Look for the “Indian Writing” road sign and the large pull-out on the river side of the road with interpretive signs.

The petroglyphs are going to be along a 125-foot section about 30 feet up the rock face. There used to be boulders and rubble piles along the bottom of the cliff but this was cleared out when they built the road which explains why the rock art is so high up. You can see the white marks along the cliff face that show how high the rocks once were.

The round holes carved into the sandstone underneath the left side of the petroglyph panel once held the roof poles of an ancient structure that was excavated by archaeologists prior to road construction. Some of the petroglyphs are around corners from the cliff face and are easily missed.

At first glance, the sheer amount and variety of figures can be confusing. You should notice a theme of lots of big horn sheep, elk, hunters with bows and arrows, centipede-like objects, human figures holding hands in lines, and shaman-like figures.

Interpreting the artwork

Things will become clearer once you start thinking about the concept and importance of game drives.

This area you are in was a natural choke point, with the cliffs on one side and the river on the other.
Above you is Poison Spider Mesa, a large area that once held lots of game, rabbits, deer, elk, bighorn desert sheep.
Just down the road from here a short distance is a natural draw that leads up to the mesa top.

Game drives involved tribe members pushing game in a planned direction toward natural or man-made fences to funnel the game to a final destination where it could be harvested.

Look at the Paper Dolls petroglyphs and instead of this representing possibly some sort of tribal dance, think about the more logical artistic representation of it just being tribe members holding hands in a long line to drive game.

Now look at the ‘centipede-like drawings, notice the animals within them, look at the hunters, are these not just representations of fences strategically placed to guide or trap game?

Most of what you are seeing points toward honoring or illustrating the use of this area where tribe members periodically or seasonally harvested game, driving them across Poison Spider Mesa above us toward the draw nearby into this natural choke point where they were harvested by the tribe. The ancient ones were just illustrating what went on here, the shamans are part of their beliefs in hunting spirits providing for a successful hunt or honoring a successful hunt.

The Bear Hunt

( 38.542318, -109.600840 )

Continue another 500 feet down Potash road to the next pull-out with an interpretive sign.

Across the road, you will find “The Bear Hunt” a famous panel that has been said to retell the story of a huge bear being hunted by three hunters with bows and arrows, one of which is bravely shooting the bear in the snout.

Careful observation is going to lead to another conclusion somewhat less dramatic.

The first thing to notice is the half-sheep right in front of the bear’s chest.
Next, keep in mind what you’ve learned about what this area was used for and notice the similarities here to what you saw at the first stop “Paper Dolls” — look closely hunters with bows and arrows, a large herd of sheep and deer.

It is easy to see that this originally was another panel telling the story of hunting sheep and elk.

Again, notice the bear and the half-sheep right in front of its chest. Petroglyphs don’t typically ever use perspective, objects don’t appear in front of or behind others, and bigger depictions of animals in the front with smaller depictions of animals in the back to represent distance just don’t show up in Fremont rock art.

The logical conclusion is to consider the bear was added long after the elk hunting scene existed. Another artist just chipped his big bear on top of the existing elk hunting scene, the hunters with bows and arrows really have nothing to do with the bear.

This is a good thing to remember when trying to interpret rock art panels with lots of individual images. It’s easy to think of the panel as a unified piece where most or all of the elements were completed by one artist over a relatively short time, but in reality, it would be more logical to believe there were many individuals and the artwork appeared in waves, applied over time, perhaps hundreds of years.

Artistically I think it is logical to consider how the earliest artists to a site would have chosen the most advantageous position for their artwork on what would have been a blank canvas, and that when others added their artwork over the years would have to fill in toward the peripheries and fringes of the panel.

So when looking at a big panel consider where would the first art have appeared, then where would following artists have placed their creations from what space was left.

Potash Road Dinosaur Tracks

At 6.0 miles ( 38.532883, -109.608683 )

Continue less than a mile and turn right at the Poison Spider Mesa trailhead. From the large parking area, the dinosaur and rock art is at the far end near the bathrooms.

Poison Spider Mesa petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks 3

This is a short easy loop trail that switchbacks up a couple of levels to the various things to see with views over the Colorado River. There are two large rock slabs of dinosaur tracks one lower and one upper.

The lower one is on a tilted rock slab at a 45° angle, while the upper slab is perpendicular. Both of them are thought to have broken off from the cliff top above and fallen into their current positions.

With all the rocks and boulders piled on each other, you have to wonder what else is buried here?

Poison Spider Mesa petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks 1

The upper slab is on a bench with petroglyphs running for about 150 feet in different panels, with the upper dinosaur tracks on a slab around the middle toward the left.

The Allosaurus dinosaur walked across a muddy sandbar. Water then buried the tracks with sediment, which hardened into sandstone over millions of years before they were exposed by erosion.

Poison Spider Mesa petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks 2

Poison Spider Mesa petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks 5

Dragonfly Canyon Entrance Petroglyphs

10.4 miles ( 38.578492, -109.636047 )

Just past the Corona Arch trailhead on the left side of the road is a large gravel area for the Dragonfly Canyon trailhead. The access to the canyon is through the culvert tunnel across the road under the railroad tracks.

However, to see the petroglyphs head up the inclined path to the right of the culvert up to the top to the railroad tracks then head right a short distance to the large boulders.

They are covered with faint, hard-to-make-out rock art images and unfortunately a lot of graffiti.

Jug Handle Arch

At 16 miles ( 38.548634, -109.647366 )

From the entrance to Long Canyon head to the Jug Handle Arch parking area. Just to the north from the parking area is the rock art.

Explore Nearby...

Hikes...

Moki Mesa

Hike to a hidden shelf above the Colorado river you get to using an old cattle trail blasted out of the canyon cliff face

Seven Mile Canyon (South Fork)

This is a rewarding hike due to the large amount of famous and interesting petroglyph and pictograph panels in the area.

Moab Maiden – Hike

The Moab Maiden is a single petroglyph pecked into a large single boulder on a ridge above Kane Springs Creek. There are other petroglyphs at the cliff face at the overlook, as well as the ruin of a granary and pithouse.

Courthouse Wash (Lower Canyon) – Hike

An easy hike that takes you from the bridge in Moab into Arches National Park through a low canyon with water

Mill Creek North Fork – Hike

A local swimming hole, with a waterfall, two arches, and an amazing amount of rock art

Seven Mile Canyon ( Lower ) – Hike

Explore a canyon that was part of the Spring/Fall Anasazi migration route, originating in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park to the La Sal Mountains. There are Barrier style rock art panels in the canyon.

Hidden Valley – Hike

Discover a hidden Valley “Behind the Rocks” in Moab, and hike a two-thousand-year-old path used by Native Americans, see many petroglyphs and two ruins

The Owl Panel – Hike

This short hike takes you to discover the Owl Panel which also has the big man, lots of sheep, and other petroglyphs.

Arches National Park...

U-Turn Canyon

Scramble up to a secret canyon in Arches National Park above Park Avenue

Sand Dune Arch

Sand Dune Arch is a family favorite, perfect for kids, it is a quick and easy stroll on a sandy easy-to-follow trail

Skyline Arch

Skyline Arch sits against the skyline at the top of a large red rock fin. A short and easy walk.

Tapestry Arch & Broken Arch

Hike to both Tapestry Arch and Broken Arch on a short out-and-back trail that leaves from the Devil’s Garden Camp Grounds

Guide for the Devil’s Garden

A special place walking through rock fins, towers and arches, see the famous Landscape Arch or hike the challenging Primitive Loop to see more remote sections of the Devil’s Garden

Windows section of arches national park 11

How to photograph Turret Arch through the North Window at sunrise

This guide will give you everything you need to know about how to photograph Turret Arch through the North Window arch in Arches National Park in Utah.

Tower Arch Hike

Rarely visited due to its location in the western part of Arches National Park, a great place to go if you want a quieter experience off the beaten path away from the crowds

Willow Springs Road

Willow Springs Road is a backdoor road into Arches National Park that avoids the toll gate, and reservation system

Park Avenue – hike

This is a fun and easy hike and is a great introduction to hiking in Arches National Park for beginners, the trail gets you quickly immersed among the high red rock features of what Utah and the park is all about.

Windows Section of Arches National Park

The Windows and Double Arch are the main attraction, but you can see The Parade of Elephants, Turret Arch, Cove Arch, Ribbon Arch, Elephant Butte, and the Cove of Caves also.

Canyonlands National Park - Island In The Sky District...

Canyonlands National Park – Island in the Sky District

The Island in the Sky district is one of the easiest and most popular districts of the park, the main attraction are the viewpoints and hiking the trails.

False Kiva – Hike

The site sits in an alcove and a stone circle. There are some handprints on the back of the wall of the alcove and some faint images that are hard to make out today.

Photography Tips for Mesa Arch

Every sunrise, Mesa Arch is descended upon by masses of photographers trying to capture their own early morning sunrise framed through the arch.

Canyonlands National Park - Needles District...

Guide for hiking Davis Canyon

Davis Canyon contains arches, granaries, ruins of cliff dwellings, and rock art including the amazing five faces pictograph

Dinosaur Tracks...

Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackway

A short hike to see where an Allosaurus and a Brontosaurus dinosaur walked and left their footprints over 160 million years ago

Klondike Bluffs Dinosaur Track – Hike

The tracks in this area are predominantly those of carnivorous dinosaurs called allosaurus, which were probably on the hunt for other animals that would come to what was once a large body of water.

Dinosaur Stomping Grounds – Hike

Enjoy a short hike to a “mega track site” that is covered with over 2000 dinosaur tracks left on a 160 million years old mud flat.

Scenic Drives...

Guide to the Potash Road Rock Art Sites

Just a few minutes from downtown Moab, on the Potash road running along the Colorado River is the opportunity to see a half dozen sites that hold hundreds of petroglyphs and even some dinosaur foot prints

La Sal Mountain Loop

The 60-mile route follows the Colorado River, and climbs into the La Sal Mountains via Castle Valley, it offers great views of the peaks and the red rock canyons far below.

Onion Creek & Narrows Hike & Scenic Drive

A scenic drive into beautiful Onion Creek Canyon just south of the Fisher Towers with many stream crossings and a fun optional hike in a narrow canyon

Highway 128 Rock Art

An easy quick stop along scenic byway 128 if coming or going from Cisco to Moab. A large boulder with about 50 petroglyphs sits above the highway.

Potash Road / Shafer Trail

The scenic drive – Utah Scenic Byway 279, takes the back roads and runs from Moab to Canyon Lands National Park along the Colorado River

Anticline Overlook

Rarely visited by most travelers but is worth the effort. The view is overlooking Deadhorse state park and Canyonlands National Park Islands in the Sky district, to the north, looking over Hurrah Pass and the Kane Creek.