Fremont Petroglyphs

Two boardwalks run along red sandstone cliffs beside Highway 24 to Fremont-era petroglyphs. The main panel has tall human-shaped figures and animal designs; a second boardwalk reaches fainter carvings farther along the cliff. It’s an excellent cultural stop if you like looking closely, and it takes little effort. The figures stay at viewing distance, so this isn’t a close-up display.

The combined visit is about 0.3 mile round trip, with roughly 80 feet of elevation gain. Start with the main panel, then continue along the cliff base to the fainter eastern carvings. They’re easy to miss if you turn back after the first cluster. Both boardwalks are wheelchair-accessible, and parking is beside the highway.

The carvings can be faint from the boardwalk. Binoculars or a camera with zoom help bring out the smaller shapes. For a photo, zoom in on the figures, then take a wider view that includes the cliff and fallen boulders; that gives the markings some scale. Stay on the boardwalks and don’t touch the rock art.

Look for tall human-like forms, some with trapezoid-shaped bodies and details such as fingers, headgear or ear ornaments, alongside geometric bighorn sheep and other animals. The images are not a readable text: possible meanings have been suggested, but no one can say with certainty what a particular figure meant to its maker.

Archaeologists use “Fremont” for communities in this region from roughly 300 to 1300 CE; the name comes from the Fremont River. Some groups farmed corn, beans and squash near waterways, alongside hunting and gathering. Those details describe the broader culture, not a key that translates every carving at this site.

This landscape holds living Indigenous histories as well as archaeology. Southern Paiute speaker Rick Pickyavit, in the park’s interpretation, describes his ancestors hunting in canyons south of here as white settlers arrived in the 1880s. Oral traditions connect Fremont-associated communities with Hopi, Zuni and Paiute people; the region also has historic Ute connections and Navajo oral traditions tied to the area. Those histories belong alongside the uncertainty about the makers and meanings of these particular images.