Canyonlands National Park • Utah
Journal Entry
March 22, 2014
Have you ever had the following experience? You are walking somewhere with your family, a group of friends, or perhaps a larger group of people. The folks you are with are loud and boisterous, chatting, arguing, joking, laughing, and clearly having a terrific collective time during their walk.
And then it all changes. Without any formal command it gets eerily quiet, as though you all simultaneously recognize that you are in the presence of something sacred and deserving of respectful and reverential silence. By that I do not mean that the place or thing necessarily has any specific or explicit religious meaning. Sure, it might be the arching dome of the interior of a basilica, but it also might be a stunning geological vista, a splendid and achingly beautiful sculpture, or a magnificent explosion of sunset colors. Or it may occur in the presence of a truly remarkable, exotic, alien, and mysterious work of ancient art in which we recognize the great skill of the artist, to be sure, but also the ambiguity embedded in our reaction to a creation in which we simultaneously recognize both the alien sensibilities of the artist and the essential humanity we share with him or her. And so we hush, speak only in furtive whispers, making our personal connection with the divine. This is precisely what I experienced when I encountered the phantasmagoric images secreted in an otherworldly canyon in south-central Utah.
The Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon isn’t easy to get to; nor do I think should it be. It seems entirely appropriate to need to work some to reach it—it’s about an hour’s drive down a well-maintained but in some places bumpy dirt road and then a 3.5-mile trudge down and into a canyon and across its sandy bottom to reach the site—and the same hike back out and up. It’s kind of a bear. Your heart will thump, especially as you climb back out when you are already exhausted from your trip down and in. But it’s worth every step. The Great Gallery is the most splendid example of ancient art I encountered during my fifty-site odyssey. If your biggest bout of exercise for the day consists of getting out of the Barcalounger during a beer commercial to get some pork rinds and a Mountain Dew—and if you’re truly exhausted after that Olympian feat—then maybe the hike to the Great Gallery isn’t for you. But for everyone else in reasonable health, this is a place you should not miss.
What You Will See
Remember my favorite Britishism, “gobsmacked”? That term applies here in spades. You will actually see what amounts to four separate, major art galleries along the hike. These have been thoughtfully spaced out by the artists, so you’ll not go too long during your journey without cool stuff to look at and ponder, beyond of course the splendid natural scenery.
1. After you reach the bottom of the canyon (there’s about an 800-foot elevation drop and, unfortunately, an 800-foot climb back out at the end of your visit), you’ll turn to the right (south) and after a while spot a beautiful series of red pictographs high on sheer cliff on your left (the east side of the canyon). This is High Gallery; the images are quite beautiful and well preserved, consisting of more than twenty elongated humanlike beings, perhaps spirits, most of them without arms. A telephoto lens and binoculars are a necessity, as you can’t get terribly close to the images.
2. Continuing a relatively short distance, the trail crosses a stream to the west side of the canyon and you come to the second set of artworks, the Horseshoe Gallery. The gallery is in two segments, one each on either side of a large rockfall. The larger panel, on the left side of the pile of rocks, consists of beautiful images of humanlike beings, some strange unidentifiable creatures, and a couple of four-footed animals with upright, curled over tails. They look like and probably are dogs. Some of the images are a deep brick red; others are a very light red, almost pink. On the other side of the rockfall is a neat little hunting scene of a person aiming a bow and arrow at two antlered animals, likely deer or elk, and a horned critter, almost certainly a bison.
3. Keep walking south and in a bit you’ll see what looks like a shallow cave, also on the west side of the canyon. This is the Alcove Gallery. This set of art is interesting but has suffered from natural weathering and vandalism (morons!). You’ll still be able to see a bunch of cool images, including some more elongated beings, some of whom are sporting horns. It’s not out of your way and worth a short visit.
4. Keep walking, because the artists of Horseshoe Canyon have saved the best for last. At the end of the trail you’ll reach the Great Gallery. It is absolutely stunning. Hidden away in a broad overhang, beginning about 15 feet above the floor of the canyon—immediately above a stratigraphic bench on which the artists must have stood, perhaps using ladders to extend their reach—is a series of images that will blow you away (Figure 103). Across a swath of rock wall more than 100 feet across, the ancient painters produced beautiful and positively spooky images of more than thirty larger-than-life-size humanlike spirits. All of them possess eerily elongated, armless and legless bodies, and each is otherwise unique in its appearance. One has big, googly eyes (I.26). Another has a couple of animals painted on its chest and tiny humans on its stomach (I.27). There are deep brick-red spirits, a pale white being, and images with lines and dots of black and white. There also are tiny white sheep and a few small dogs. They’re all marvelous. On the day of my visit, there was a single park ranger and small handful of visitors. All of us spoke in whispers.
Why Is Horseshoe Canyon Important?
You might as well ask why the Vatican is important. Or the Dome of the Rock. Or Temple Mount. Horseshoe Canyon is important to us today for the simple reason that it was important to the fabulously talented Native American artists who produced these works as a way of showing their reverence for the divine beings who inhabited their spirit world. The artwork reflects the artistic genius of those who produced it and, almost certainly, the interior world of the ancient residents of southern Utah.
The art in Horseshoe Canyon represents the epitome of what has been labeled the Barrier Canyon style of painting that characterizes a number of sites in Utah dating to between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago. Site 45, Sego Canyon offers another beautiful example—smaller and certainly easier to get to—of the Barrier Canyon style. The recent dating of the site places the art during a time of great cultural change in the region, when the fundamental underpinnings of the food base were shifting from hunting and gathering wild plants and animals—note all those bighorn sheep in the Great Gallery panel—to an agriculturally based economy. It is possible that with that kind of shift and upheaval as the old ways fell to new practices and maybe new beliefs, the art of Horseshoe Canyon was intended as a form of worship to the spirits whose power was called upon to help in this momentous change in society.
It’s an interesting hypothesis of course. But in the end, the most important aspect of the Horseshoe Canyon art may be that today bearers of a modern culture unimaginably different from that practiced by the ancient artists can nevertheless be moved to silence in the presence of the depictions of the spirit beings who inhabited their imagination.
Additional Note
A unit of Canyonlands National Park, Horseshoe Canyon is geographically separate. It lies to the west of the main part of Canyonlands (www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm) on a dirt road. It’s generally well maintained, but expect bumps and ruts and occasional sand. A high-clearance vehicle is preferred, but the day we drove there, just about any vehicle with more clearance than a mini-car would have made the trip just fine. Take this dirt road from its intersection with UT 24 for 24.3 miles. There will be lots of side roads and turnoffs along the way. Ignore them and just follow the main dirt road. At 24.3 miles from UT 24 you’ll come to an intersection on the right leading to the Hans Flat Ranger Station; there’s an information kiosk at the intersection. Stay to the left (don’t turn to the ranger station) and continue driving for 5.1 more miles, where you’ll see a sign on the right to the Horseshoe Canyon Trailhead. Turn right and in 1.7 miles you’ll reach the parking lot for the trailhead. There’s a pit toilet, and you can camp right there if you like. At the end of the lot there’s a sign directing you down into the canyon. From there you’ll be stepping back into an amazing world of ancient art and worship.
Site Type: Pictographs
Wow Factor: ***** I’d give this place 6 stars for its “wow factor” if I could. It’s simply that amazing.
Museum: None
Ease of Road Access: *** The dirt road isn’t terrible, but you’re better off with a high-clearance vehicle. I’m not confident a Prius or Mini Cooper would make it.
Ease of Hike: * I am tempted to lie and say the hike is fine, maybe 3 stars of easiness, just to induce you to give it a try. But you’d hate me. This hike is strenuous. It’s through sand, which is exhausting, and the hike back up the 800-foot or so elevation drop is brutal. I am sorry to have to admit it, but this hike isn’t for everyone.
Natural Beauty of Surroundings: ***** Arching cliffs of multicolored rock. It’s gorgeous.
Kid Friendly: ****
Food: Bring your own.
How to Get There: From I-70, take exit 149 to UT 24 south. Follow UT 24 south for 25 miles to mile marker 135.5. On the left (east) side you’ll see a sign for Horseshoe Canyon (32 miles). Take that left turn onto a dirt road and follow the detailed directions provided in “Additional Note.”
Hours of Operation: Open year-round, 24/7
Cost: Free
Best Season to Visit: Not summer
Website: www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/horseshoecanyon.htm
Designation: National Park