For the Highway 279 site, you park closest to the river and all the petroglyphs are on the rock wall on the west side. Just make sure you look both ways before crossing and be alert while you’re there.  It’s a busy highway after all.  I have seen many people standing in the middle of the road completely unaware that cars were coming through.

Before checking out the rock art up-close, make sure to read the information sign on the west side of the road.  The rock art at this site could be anywhere from 700-3000 years old!  Many of the petroglyphs are faded and/or have been vandalized.  It’s important for us to keep these important and special sites protected.   You can protect them by not defacing them or carving your own name.  Do not touch them or trace over them as the oils from your skin can damage the rock art.  Just admire from a distance.

There are hundreds of petroglyphs here!  This is a great and easy site and one that should be added to your greater Moab adventure!  You will see petroglyphs of bighorn sheep, anthropomorphs, many other zoomorphs (animal-like figures), depictions of “migration routes, fertility, hunting magic, ceremonies, and cosmic events.”  Rock Art here is probably from both the Archaic and Fremont groups of people who lived in this area.

You may be wondering: “How did they carve the petroglyphs so high?”  Well, before the Highway 279 Road was created, there was a large dirt and talus slope that was here.  There was also an ancient structure that had roof supports that was excavated before the road was built.  You can see the carved round holes still on the north side where the structure was located.

If you want to see a very large petroglyph of a bear nearby just to the south of this spot, take a look at this post!