This is a short hike to a carved sun face glyph in a rock wall.  Not much is known about it or who carved it and why, but some people think this was carved by the Spanish when they came through Spanish Fork Canyon sometime around the late 1700s.  Utah has a rich history of Spanish explorers including Father Dominguez and Father Escalante.  On September 23, 1776 these two Catholic fathers and their crew did in fact come through Spanish Fork Canyon and stand on a hill to overlook the valley.  So perhaps it was someone in their party who carved the sun face or maybe it was other Spanish explorers after them.  Either way, it’s interesting to think about.

The sun face is pretty big and has six rays on top.  One website I was looking at claims that this is an old Spanish indicator that mines are in the area holding gold.  Or that this is a marker of Aztec gold hidden in some nearby mines.  Some people get really excited when they look on the rays of the sun and see that the first ray has a big hole in it.  They think that this could be a meaning of where a hidden mine could be.

There is A LOT of speculation regarding the sun face glyph.  This sun face glyph is old, but there is no proof that this is from the Spanish or that it is referring to gold mines.

This is a pretty easy hike, but it is steep in one place so I don’t recommend young children for this adventure.  The glyph is accompanied by a more recent carving of a moon and now a star.  People sure do love carving things into the rock!  I wish they wouldn’t…

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