Temple Mountain Pictographs
Temple Mountain Pictographs from the parking area
After a day of hiking in the San Rafael Swell, I was heading back to Hanksville. I had come off of the Behind the Reef Road and was driving along Temple Mountain Road. Just past the BLM campground, where the road cuts through the rocks of the Swell, there was a small sign for "Temple Mountain Pictographs" and a dirt road turning off towards a nearby cliff. I had seen it on the way in that morning but was in a hurry to get to the trailhead and start hiking. Now I had plenty of time so I pulled off the main road to investigate.
There was a large parking area although no one was there. About a hundred feet away there were several large pictographs visible on the cliffside. They were at least fifteen feet above the ground and were quite large so it was easy to see them, even from quite a distnace away. I walked over to the cliff where I could get a good closeup look at them. They were quite impressive, of a similar style to the pictographs I had seen at nearby Horseshoe Canyon.
View from the base of the cliff
The panel was not nearly as extensive as the Grand Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon. Sadly, a lot of the panel had been damaged and the surface had peeled off. Some of the figures that remained had been vadalized. One figure in particular looked like someone had used it for target practice. There were also a few modern graffiti marks (like the number "74") at the bottom of the panel, hard to see but still noticeable.
It's hard for me to imagine why someone would do that. Not only is it stupid to do that kind of vandalism, it also isn't very easy. To reach the rock art would require climbing up to the ledge that ran below them and traversing quite a way with some exposure. It seemed like a lot of trouble to go to just to wreck something.
Still, the pictographs were impressive. Estimates are that they at least 1500 years old and maybe as much as 4000 years old. Very cool to be able to see them so easily right beside the road. It was an unexpected bonus to cap off a good day of hiking. Hopefully people will respect them so that they can stay there for people to contemplate for many years in the future.
