Newspaper Rock – Petroglyphs – Breaking Story…….

Want to see one of Utah’s largest panels of Petroglyphs? Well this is a quick side trip off of US 191 when your are headed down to San Juan County to visit Bears Ears or Monument Valley. With over 650 different designs on a 200 square foot rock there is a lot to see – try figuring out what they say, we dare you. Native American Indians started carving on this large slab of rock for over 2000 years ago and these drawings are crazy! Look for animals, tools, human figures and abstract markings.

All of these emblems could tell a wonderful story if anyone could just figure it out – no one has yet. A cool feature of these petroglyphs is that the etching was done through a black crust on the rock to expose the lighter red rock underneath making the markings very clear.

Newspaper Rock is a State Historical Monument and has been so since 1961. To get there just head past Moab about 40 miles on highway 191 and make sure to look for Wilson Arch on your way, its on the East side of the street that you can see from your car. When you get to the junction with US 211 turn onto it (west) & go approximately 14 miles to Newspaper Rock. If you want to continue on this byway it takes you to The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. This is worth the trip too.