Horseshoe Canyon Pictographs

Horseshoe Canyon (previously known as Barrier Canyon) was added as a separate unit to Canyonlands National Park in 1971.

While the canyon itself is a spectacular feature worthy of inclusion, the most prominent reason for this addition is that the canyon contains some of most extensive and well-preserved rock-art left by ancient cultures. These are known as “pictographs” (made by painting various pigments on the canyon walls) and “petroglyphs” (made by chipping or chiseling away older weathered rock to show lighter colored rock and create an image). 

The canyon can be reached by a long drive on graded dirt road, either from UT 24 near Goblin Valley or out of Green River. Both approaches will require a minimum of an hours drive. There is a designated parking area and a trail drops visitors 780 feet down into the canyon. It’s about 3.25 miles to the panel called the “Great Gallery” and some other panels may be seen as well both up and down canyon. This image is taken from the “Horseshoe Shelter.”

Most of the panels were created by peoples from the “Desert Archaic Culture” who predate the Fremont. The nomadic hunter-gatherers left these images sometime between 2000 BC to 500 AD. The meaning of the images remains something of a mystery. Were they simply ancient graffiti or did they deliberately tell a story. Were they a deliberate form of communication? While most of the animal figures are easy to interpret, what about some of the “human” figures. Who & what did they represent? We may never fully know but we can admire the ancient artwork and the cultures it represents.

Photo taken 05/2016