Sight · Canyonlands National Park
Look high above the wash for an early rock-art panel.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Canyonlands Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Canyonlands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Canyonlands audio tourRecorded for this place
Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery“You're approaching the west-rim trailhead for Horseshoe Canyon, where the Great Gallery's life-size painted figures are reached on foot.”
Plays as you drive up to High Gallery in the Parkwolf Canyonlands Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
High Gallery is a distinct rock-art panel high on the canyon wall above the sandy Horseshoe Canyon route to the better-known Great Gallery. It appears about 1.8 miles into the walk from the west-rim trailhead, early enough to be easy to pass while watching your footing. Look up; binoculars help with the faded figures. This is a worthwhile stop if you are doing the canyon hike, not a quick roadside visit.
Faded red pictographs sit well above today's canyon floor. Keep this panel separate from the Great Gallery farther along the canyon; they are different stops on the same route. The figures belong to the regional Barrier Canyon Style, named for the canyon's former name, Barrier Canyon. The available evidence does not establish a date for this individual panel.
For a photo, include some of the surrounding sandstone wall so the panel's height is clear; binoculars help when you want to study the figures themselves.
The full hike to the Great Gallery is about 7 miles round-trip and five or more hours, with a steep descent into the canyon and a climb back out. High Gallery is an earlier stop, about 1.8 miles from the trailhead. The dirt-road approaches are long and can change quickly with rain or drifting sand, so check current road information before leaving.
There is no dependable water in the canyon; bring what you need for the whole outing. The west-rim trailhead campground has a vault toilet but no water, before you start the hike. Dogs are not allowed on the trail or below the rim.
Wildlife
48 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
47 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
30 sightingsWestern RattlesnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
18 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Canyonlands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingHorseshoe Canyon Trail to the Great Gallery7 mi · 5.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayLife-sized rock art awaits after a sandy canyon walk and steep climb.
ModerateDeadman’s Trail2.7 mi · 3 hr · 2.1 mi awayA steep east-rim descent to Horseshoe Canyon’s floor.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayHorseshoe Shelter GalleryA quieter pictograph stop on a long, steep canyon hike.
Sight · 0.6 mi awayAlcove GalleryAn intimate rock-art stop before Horseshoe Canyon’s Great Gallery.
Campground · 0.9 mi awayHorseshoe Canyon West Rim Camping AreaA primitive base for the long Great Gallery hike from the rim.Sight · 1.3 mi awayGreat GalleryLife-size figures reward the steep, seven-mile hike into a remote canyon.Parkwolf’s Canyonlands ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
