Horseshoe Canyon West Rim Camping Area

This is primitive camping on BLM public land at Horseshoe Canyon's west-rim trailhead, just outside Canyonlands National Park. Use it as a base for the Great Gallery hike: the round trip is about seven miles and takes at least five hours, with a steep 780-foot drop from the rim and a climb back out. A vault toilet is provided, but there's no water; bring your own, with about a gallon per person for the hike.

Two long dirt approaches reach the trailhead: about 30 miles from UT 24 near Goblin Valley, or 47 miles south from Green River. Both can become impassable when wet. Check current road conditions before leaving and use a map rather than trusting GPS.

The trail descends through sheer sandstone walls to cottonwoods along an intermittent stream, passing three other significant rock-art panels before the Great Gallery. The Gallery holds painted pictographs and etched petroglyphs, including life-size tapered figures with intricate designs. NPS dates the oldest recovered artifacts to 9000–7000 BCE, places the Barrier Canyon art style around 2000 BCE–500 CE, and says the canyon was abandoned by about 1300 CE.