Driving out of Canyonlands Islands in the Sky District to head over to the Horseshoe district.
Driving out of Canyonlands Islands in the Sky District to head over to the Horseshoe district.
We spy the rocks of Arches National Park in the distance.
The San Rafael Reef pokes out in the distance. Beautiful!
Driving in the ~30 miles to the Horseshoe district. It's a long drive on dirt but worth it.
Beautiful sand dunes on the drive to the Horseshoe District.
Beautiful sand dunes on the drive to the Horseshoe District.
Beautiful sand dunes on the drive to the Horseshoe District.
At the trailhead we found this description of the hike. Every description was different. I think this was about the average distance/elevation gain among the many descriptions we found.
Will do!
We descend through different layers of sandstone types.
We'll drop into the canyon and then hike down the canyon to find the glyphs.
Dinosaur print!
Very cool section of trail through here
The trail will take us down there.
Not even once.
The trail switchbacks down a couple hundred feet to the bottom of the canyon.
At the bottom of the canyon.
It isn't long until we spy the first set of pictographs.
This is the High Gallery, so named because it's, well, high up on the wall.
The High Gallery, Horseshoe Canyon Canyonlands
The High Gallery, Horseshoe Canyon Canyonlands
Close by, on the other side of the canyon, we find this other panel.
This panel is mostly human shaped figures
Human and abstract
Human and abstract
Human and abstract
I think this is one of my favorites. Man's best friend for a long time!
A hunter panel with Elk and a Buffalo
The rock art has already blown us away and we haven't even gotten to the Great Gallery. It is further down the canyon so we keep going.
The alcove on the right is inviting....
We see some more pictographs, not the great gallery yet though.
This panel was faded a bit
People for scale
Closer to a panel in the alcove. There is more vandalism here since the panel is lower and more accessible.
Person for scale
Figures in the alcove
I love the horns on the guy on the right
Some faded human figures
Wider shot of the alcove for scale
Back in the canyon
Looking back on the alcove
It's a beautiful hike down the canyon, even without the pictographs!
David below some rocks
We finally spy the Great Gallery.
There are several visitors and an interpretive ranger here.
The figures in this panel are life sized, and even bigger - some as tall as seven feet.