Sego Canyon Rock Art•Utah

00:00     Title
00:05     Sego Canyon Rock Art
04:45     Sego Ghost Town
11:01     Fin​

The ancient rock art in Sego Canyon is some of the most famous in the west, yet relatively few people tour this destination on any given day. These well preserved petroglyphs and pictographs have recently been popularized in modern culture as examples of close encounters of the third kind by ancient alien theorists. Even with all this glamour, the number of daily visitors still can be counted with fingers. The reason for the low turnout amounts to Sego Canyon being greatly overshadowed by two neighboring national parks. With all the exciting things to experience in Arches and Canyonlands, it is easy to completely forget about the little side road destinations in the Book Cliffs.

Sego Canyon definitely is a side road destination, but it is easy to find. By following the main road through Thompson Springs toward the Book Cliffs, a visitor will be on the correct pathway. The pavement ends at the edge of town and the dirt road to the rock art site is usually smooth enough for an average passenger car. A high ground clearance vehicle is recommended for going further up Sego Canyon to the old ghost town, because the dirt road does get rougher. There are facilities at the rock art site and the parking is ample, so all that is needed is packing some water to make this day trip happen.

The Sego Canyon petroglyph panel is a large one, so be prepared to be totally amazed! The ancient carvings depict a few well known wild game symbols along with strange looking characters that leave plenty of room for interpretation. On the other side of the dirt road is where more ancient red paint pictographs can be viewed, which are truly a captivating sight to see. What these ominous tall red characters truly represent has been lost through the ages and only imagination will provide clues. Three well known native civilizations occupied this area periodically over the course of 2,000 years, so there is a very long timeline to ponder over when gazing upon these rock art panels.

It is all too easy to make the extraterrestrial connection when viewing the Sego Canyon Rock Art and fighting the urge to spin these old yarns may be difficult to overcome. Surprisingly when the alien topic is brought up, every stranger onsite will eagerly join in, so maybe there really is something to the extraterrestrial connection. Sego Canyon definitely is a place where the ancient mysteries of the past come to life. All it takes is one look to have memories to meditate over for a lifetime, so be sure to keep this side road destination in mind when touring Arches and Canyonlands!