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Gold Butte National Monument Petroglyphs

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Gold Butte Newspaper Rock
Newspaper Rock in Gold Butte National Monument.

After work on Friday, Diane and I headed out of town again and drove through Utah right back into Nevada. It felt like we were just there recently? This time we would be staying in Mesquite for two nights so we could attend a concert in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Since the concert didn’t start until later in the evening and it was only an hour and a half drive to get there, we spent a few hours in the morning hiking within the newly created Gold Butte National Monument. This Monument was created at the same time as the Bears Ears National Monument back in December.

This would be Diane’s first visit to the area, but I’ve been here a few times in the past searching for rock art and unusual rock formations. This time I had my sights set on finding another petroglyph panel known as the Twenty-One Goats Panel. We took Diane’s Ford Edge on this trip instead of my Jeep, but we were still able to get everywhere we needed to go, although driving a little slower and more careful than usual.

I was surprised to see they already had a new sign up!

Gold Butte National Monument Sign

Our transportation this morning.

Transportation

Following the wash to the petroglyph panel.

Wash Hiking

21 Goats Wash

We quickly found the impressive Twenty-One Goats Panel, although I am pretty sure they are sheep, not goats…

Twenty-One Goats Panelramic

Sheep & Designs

Connected Sheep

Diane hiking back down the wash towards Black Butte.

Down The Wash

It didn’t take us long to visit the petroglyph panel, so we headed over to the Falling Man area so I could revisit and Diane could check it out for the first time.

The EDGE of ADVENTR

The Edge of ADVENTR

Right off the bat I spotted a bunch of petroglyphs I had missed the last time I was out here.

Lower Rock Panel

Continuing up the trail.

Falling Man Trail

Diane follows me through the small arch.

Crawling Through the Entrance

I was happy to find some nice wildflowers in front of the Gold Butte Newspaper.

Wildflowers & Petroglyphs

We explored the area for a while and saw a lot of petroglyphs.

Gold Butte Exploring

Big Panel

Falling Man Wash

Overhang Panel

Upper Panel Petroglyphs

I think this was one of Diane’s favorites.

Sun Panel

The Edge

Hiking back out with a nice view of the Virgin Mountains in the distance.

Virgin Mountains View

The Falling Man

The Falling Man

On our way back to the trailhead Diane spotted one last petroglyph panel high above that I hadn’t seen before, so we climbed up for a closer look.

High Panel

>> Gold Butte National Monument Petroglyphs Photo Gallery

3 Comments

  1. John Spurr
    John Spurr April 18, 2017

    As always, the best trip reports out there!

  2. Randy D Thies
    Randy D Thies February 3, 2022

    amazing petroglyphs. going to try to find it this year. is that the same road as to get to the falling man? found a source saying 170 to Gold Butte road, follow for 21 miles. we have a Subaru Outback with good ground clearance, but AWD.

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