I love going on these short and fast weekend trips to The Swell.  I had planned to visit Horseshoe Canyon for a long time now and just decided to do it in on this particular weekend.  I got the car all packed and left early Saturday morning. I departed Northern Utah and drove through the Salt Lak Valley, Provo Valley, and then the beautiful Spanish Fork Canyon.  I usually start my podcasts when I hit this canyon, because it usually takes an hour to get to Price and it makes for a nice distraction.  

On this particular trip I was listening to a podcast about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  It was very interesting and the hosts were talking about the Book of the Giants.  Anyway, it kept me distracted and all of a sudden I was in Price.  I stopped at the ol’ Chevron in the town of Wellington to fill up gas and snacks. It’s about 2 hours and 15 minutes to Horseshoe Canyon from Wellington, but the drive went fast.  I was travelling to a new place and it doesn’t seem as long when I’m going to a new place. 

I have been wanting to visit Horseshoe Canyon for a very long time now.  Horseshoe Canyon has some of the best rock art in the United States.  This canyon was originally called Barrier Canyon and has since been changed to Horseshoe Canyon.  A certain type of rock art, Barrier Canyon Style, was invented here and you can see hints of it all throughout the region, including in Moab at the Courthouse Wash Pictograph Panel.  Another spectacular example of Barrier Canyon Style rock art is at Sego Canyon which is east of Green River. 

Horseshoe Canyon is part of Canyonlands National Park, even though it is a separate unit.  You won’t find a visitor center or even a ranger station.  There is a pit style toilet and a few signs for information.  On this particular visit, there was a sign that said there was a territorial “wild burro” in the canyon.  The sign said to avoid the burro and not antagonize it.  I did see the wild burro and it was watching me the entire time! 

I saw about 10 other vehicles at the parking and some people were camping (which is allowed). This area is often underestimated by hikers.  People think that this is an easy adventure and they could easily do this without bringing enough water and food.  The national park service recommends bringing one gallon of water per person and to avoid hiking in the summer.  If you do hike in the summer, the park recommends you begin very early in the morning so you are done before noon.  If you are hike in the afternoon they say it’s best to hike after 4pm and bring a flashlight.

I was hiking in October and it was already quite cool with the sun setting around 6 pm.  I brought a gallon of water, a sandwich, extra food, a fleece jacket, first-aid kit, and all my camera gear. I highly recommend visiting Horseshoe Canyon in the shoulder seasons or even winter. 

The full hike is 7.4 miles roundtrip and its mostly flat the entire time, except for the beginning where you will slowly descent over 500 ft.  You will see four large pictograph panels or galleries including the High Gallery, Horseshoe Gallery, Alcove Gallery, and finally the Great Gallery.

All of the galleries were absolutely stunning, but the most significant in this canyon was the Great Gallery.  The Great Gallery is a very large group of pictographs that feature many limbless bodies with incredible details the faces and bodies of the anthropomorphs (human-like figures). 

There is one panel that is the most special and some people call it the “Holy Ghost” or “The Holy One” panel.  It’s a group of dark colored figures surrounding what appears to be a white figure with hollow eyes.  These pictographs are very detailed and stunning and deserve your time to get a better feel for them.  I spent a good amount just observing and wondering what the meaning is.  Unfortunately, the meaning has been lost, so we are left to interpret these on our own.  Some people believe that these pictographs are over 2000 years old.

I highly suggest you make the visit to this incredible panel one day. You will get a feeling that this place is sacred. For our full Trek and hiking guide, please click this link to Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery. I got out of the canyon after the sun set and made my way back to Temple Mountain Campground.  This campground is great because it has two outhouses and some picnic benches. 

On this particular night there were about ten trailers in the campground and lots of ATVs parked all over. It’s free to camp here, as long as you pick up after yourself. Tonight, I felt like eating a BLT with fresh tomatoes grown from our garden!

I woke up early to the sound of a generator starting.  It was around 7:00 am, so I put in some earplugs and fell back asleep for another hour.  Today was cloudy and gray, but it was not that cold.  I made a quick breakfast and broke down camp.

My first stop was at the Temple Mountain Wash Pictograph Panel.  This panel is a very large panel right off the side of the road near where I was camping.  You can see the panel from the road, but as you get close, you can really see that this panel is huge!  Some of the pictographs are over 6 ft. tall!  The colors are dark reds and oranges and full of details.  Dumb people use rock art as target practice, as evident by the many bullet holes.  Yet, this panel still is in great condition considering how many thousands of people visit Temple Mountain each year.

For our full Trek and guide, please visit this link to Temple Mountain Wash Pictograph Panel.

My next adventure took me to Wild Horse Window!  This is a great hike that’s over 2 miles roundtrip.  The window is more of a skylight and it’s a slow gentle ascent to where the natural window is located.  There are two alcoves with the one on the right having a natural window in the top of it.  The window is very unique and I wanted to get a shot of the top of it.  Be very careful as you could easily slip down through the window and break your back or worse.