Central Utah
near Price, – Utah
April 24
2021
9 Mile Canyon is A Giant Outdoor Museum Amazing Incredible
The Trek Planner has one of the best guides on 9 Mile Canyon! Click here to see it!
Ever since I bought a drone, I’ve been dying to go back to 9 Mile Canyon to explore for ruins and rock art. 9 Mile canyon is filled with rock art! If you have never been to this wonderful place you need to. There are over 10,000 documented images of rock art, with some people believing there are 10 times that amount
I set out in the morning and got to the first petroglyph site at about 1 pm. I brought a power generator so that I could keep my drone batteries fully charged. This is a pretty nice setup and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to explore all day with drones. After flying my drone around for a bit, I found my first ruin!
This one was high up on some cliffs on the north side of the canyon. It looked like the entrance to the top off the cliffs was at one time completely blocked. Then there is a circle of rock right on the edge of the southernmost side of the cliffs. It appears defensive in nature, but a lady I spoke with thinks these ruins resemble a vision questing site. I just can’t imagine sitting out on that ledge – scary!
I flew my drone on the other side of the canyon and found more ruins on cliffs! Pieces of wood seemed to have been used to create a platform of some kind along with stacked rocks. The Fremont most likely built this and all the other ruins in this canyon. I think this ruin appears to be a hunting blind. There is a very large rock that is propped up like it’s used to hide a hunter. Or, it could be used as something else. Obviously, many of the ruins have since succumbed to erosion and time. Most of these ruins could be over 1,000+ years old.
I did the short hike to the Owl Panel. The Owl Panel has three owls! This hike is on private property, but they allow respectful visitors.
You can see a granary hiding on the cliffs at one point along the road. There was a turn out with a sign, but it took a minute to see the granary – it’s very well hidden. I flew my drone up there to scout it out. The creators hid some branches behind a flat rock. This is a very tricky granary to get to and one that you could easily fit inside. It’s pretty big and very well made!
I kept driving down the canyon and stopping to get the drone out to fly around and scout for ruins and rock art. I found some zigzag petroglyphs hiding on the inside of a crack on a rock! I found a swastika carved on a hard-to-reach rock too. The swastika is interesting because it appears old, yet it doesn’t. The swastika symbol has been found in some ancient petroglyphs, so why not here? There are also other odd petroglyphs at this location near Daddy Complex.
I continued down the canyon and had to explore the Fremont Village again. This time, I had time time to hike around. I hiked to the top of a hill and peered over the edge – more petroglyphs! These are located on a rock face that is almost impossible to get to. There is an 80+ ft. drop if you fell at this point!
My last stop, was flying my drone across the canyon from the Fremont Village. I found some very distinct white painted zigzags in an alcove an then to my surprise, I found an old trail! You can see stacked rocks that go to the top of the cliffs! On the way back I stopped to view the “Coyote Places The Stars” Panel.
You can kind of see it from the road, but I cheated and flew my drone to it. By this time, it was very windy and my drone was having troubles getting stable pictures and videos. This is an incredible panel and one I highly recommend viewing yourself.
This was an incredible trip! I took over 500 pictures and videos today. Here are a few more!
