Horseshoe Canyon and the GREAT GALLERY!

Horseshoe Canyon (Barrier Canyon) was a spectacular hike because the reward was seeing the Great Gallery and other rock markings.  It is known for some of the most significant rock markings in North America.  The Great Gallery is a pictograph panel that includes well preserved, life sized figures.  These pictograph drawings are painted figures from the Late Archaic period, from 2000 BC to 500 AD.  The fact we got to view art from that time period, in its natural habitat was incredible.  This part of the Canyonland National Park was created in 1971 to preserve these drawings. Garland photographed some amazing images to share with you.  

The hike was off the beaten path.  We left Green River, UT around 7:30 am and arrived at the trailhead around 9:30am.  The dirt road was rough in some places but was a beautiful drive in the early, cool morning.  This would be a great hike if you are camping in the Goblin Valley area, or even better, you could camp at one of the  trailhead sights as we saw someone else do.

This 7+ mile round trip hike was labeled strenuous at the trailhead sign, although other guides considered it moderately difficult. The mid-day heat would make this hike strenuous for sure!  The sign also indicated that there were wild burros in the area with a caution to avoid them. We really hoped to see some!

The hike starts at the top of the mesa with a drop of 750 feet into Horseshoe Canyon. While that part wasn’t difficult, I could not help but think that it is our only way out! There was a water trough near the beginning of the descent, where pipes had been installed to bring water up through the canyon for cattle. At the bottom of the mesa, the canyon was absolutely gorgeous with the high canyon walls and many cottonwoods surrounding us. Being February, they lacked their leaves but they still provided shade.  The High Gallery was the first drawing we saw with the Horseshoe Shelter gallery being the second and was just across the river bed.  Up ahead was the Alcove Site.  This was a large alcove with drawings on the back wall above the collapsed rock.  It was a great place to stop for a break in the cool shade.  

The grand finale was the Great Gallery which was another 1 ¼ mile upstream.  This area included pictographs (painted figures) on a panel of over 200 feet long and about 15 feet high.  The human-like figures were painted using a dark red pigment.  The drawings are tapered, life size figures with no arms and legs but contain intricate designs  There are about 20 life-sized human-like images. In addition to the life sized pictographs, there are animal, bird, snake and plant images with the spirit images.  We took our binoculars with us to enhance our viewing experience.  However, Garland’s images have provided us the best close up viewing, after the fact.

Although we did not see any wild burro, we saw (and smelled) many fresh signs on the canyon floor. This was truly an amazing and worthwhile hike. Let me end by saying the hike back up the 750 feet was breathtaking (literally)!  Garland wants to remind everyone to empty the sand out of their shoes before heading back up to the mesa. 

We realize that not everyone will get to  experience this hike and so we wanted to share it with you. We hope you enjoy seeing Garland's images of our experience.