Capitol Reef National Park
Rock Art
This page contains a discussion of the rock art found within Capitol Reef National Park. All photographs are from our our personal collection. If you'd like to see more rock art from this location, or if you'd like to see higher resolution or larger images, send us an e-mail message and we'll see what we can do.
We have only found a few examples of rock art within Capitol Reef National Park, but I'm sure there are others lurking in the canyons and washes that we haven't explored yet. Most are petroglyphs, but there are a few pictographs as well.
- Archaeological Resources Protection Act Hotline: 800-227-7286.
- See Archaeological Site Etiquette.
- See American Antiquities Act of 1906.
- See Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.
- See More Rock Art Sites.
| This is part of the panel that is located along Highway 24 and the Fremont River, in the main section of the Park where most people visit. There is a nice boardwalk now that guides the visitor to most of the petroglyphs, but, unfortunately, that also restricts you from getting a close up look. This panel is located at map coordinates (NAD83): ~ 38 17.151 N; 111 13.234 W; at an elevation of 5,316 feet. The larger figures are several feet tall and remind me of those that we've seen to the south in the Calf Creek Recreation Area. These are probably from the Fremont Culture. |
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| I believe this panel is also part of the group found along Highway 24, a bit farther to the east. Where those images to the west tended to show anthropomorphic figures, this area has what appear to be Desert bighorn sheep. But there is that unusual "cup" shaped object to the left, and that small ghost like image to the far right. |
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This third photo shows part of the petroglyph panel located in the Capitol Gorge, on the way to The Tanks, at map coordinates: 38 12.596N; 111 09.982W. It is on the left wall as you head down into the gorge (to the east). With this group of images you can get up close to see the detail and how the rock art is cut into the sandstone. There are not a large number at this location, but they are still interesting. I suspect that many "tourists" walk right by this panel without even noticing the art work there. Across the canyon, on the south wall, there is the popular "Pioneer Register," which probably gets most of the attention in this area. |
More Rock Art
All of these photos have been resized and manipulated in Photoshop to give the best representation of the image. Some color distortion is inevitable. If you would like to see higher quality versions of these shots, or if you would like to use these images for any purpose, please contact us and we would be glad to help if we can.
