Fremont Indian State Park & More

Friday-Sunday, February 11-13, 2011

Amanda and I both took off Friday from work for my birthday so that we could spend a long weekend at Fremont Indian State Park. On Friday morning we were up early and then headed west into Utah. On our way there, we made a quick stop to get a few photos of the Tree of Life petroglyph panel.

Tree of Life Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Tree of Life by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After finishing the drive to Richfield and checking into our hotel early, we headed straight for Fremont Indian State Park. We ended up spending the rest of the day there until it got dark and then we returned on Saturday for another full day of exploring the park. Instead of boring you with our movements throughout the day, I’m just going to post a bunch of the photos I took with a little info about each. These are in no particular order.

The largest anthropomorph in the park seems to be standing guard over Clear Creek Canyon. To the left there appears to be a hunting scene with thirteen bighorn sheep.

Sevier Shaman Figure by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Newspaper Rock is the largest petroglyph panel in the park. It contains over 250 elements carved into the sandstone.

Fremont Newspaper Rock by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A couple of bighorn sheep right next to Newspaper Rock.

Clear Creek Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A petroglyph panel near Newspaper Rock along the Rim Trail.

Clear Creek Canyon Petroglyphs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This anthropomorph along the Court of Ceremonies Trail has been modified by a bullet hole giving it the name Cyclops.

Cyclops by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A large petroglyph panel along the Parade of Rock Art Trail glowing in the early morning sunlight.

A Hunting Story by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The largest anthropomorph figure in Fremont Indian State Park in black & white.

Black & White Shaman by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This petroglyph panel in Skinner Canyon is located here for a reason. It is thought to tell about the great drought which has been confirmed by tree-rings to have occurred in the 1200s. The lines of dots show the fields of corn that had been planted, but did not come up. The human with his hands in the air is praying for water.

Drought Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This petroglyph that looks like a spaceman along the Parade of Rock Art Trail has been identified as being carved there by Paitues, most likely in the late 1880s.

The Spaceman by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A large but faint petroglyph panel at the end of the Hidden Secrets Trail.

Hidden Secrets Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A hunting scene panel located in Skinner Canyon across from Spider Woman Rock. The figures are faint in the direct sunlight, but that same sunlight caused the rock to glow orange.

Glowing Hunting Scene by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This petroglyph panel along the Parade of Rock Art is interpreted as being a map. The seven triangles are thought to be the mountains you see on the south horizon. Directions can be determined by the way that the two sheep face. The top one faces the setting sun and the bottom on the rising sun, if they were parallel to the mountains. Above the triangles, the sheep are arranged around a concentric circle. Similar circles are often seen in rock art and are thought to mean water. This corresponds to the features of the area since on the other side of the mountains there is water at Puffer Lake.

Hunting Maps by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This petroglyph panel along the Rim Trail near Newspaper Rock contains a few square spirals. There’s even a small anthropomorph in the upper right hand corner that is separated from the rest of the panel.

Square Spirals by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

These two faint figures can be found along the Parade of Rock Art trail near the museum.

Fremont Twins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Inside of a replica pithouse that was copied from varying features of the ones found on Five Finger Ridge.

Fremont Pithouse by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The ‘Arch of Art’ contains many petroglyph and pictograph panels that can be spotted from the main viewpoint. The tricky part is actually locating them all. This is one of them. Notice the faint pictographs on the right side.

Arch of Art Panel 1 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Here’s another panel found on the ‘Arch of Art’. It’s not really an arch, but the formation that houses these panels is arched.

Arch of Art Panel 2 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This blanket pictograph might look small, but it’s actually about 16 feet long and 4 feet tall. The paint was dated as being about 250 years old. There is a legend about this blanket pictograph: Many years ago a group of Indians passed through Clear Creek Canyon on the way to their winter camping area. While in the canyon the new baby of a young Indian girl died and was buried near the site of the blanket pictograph. During the winter the mother could not get the thought of her baby being alone in the winter cold out of her mind. The next spring she made preparations and returned to paint the blanket for her lost baby to use in the future cold winters. (The source of this legend is residents of the local towns near the park, not the Paiutes)

Indian Blanket Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Just another photo of the largest anthropomorph in the park, and one of my favorite petroglyphs I came across while exploring the park.

Panel 96 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I’m all for protecting rock art, but this is a bit extreme for me…

Rock Art Jail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We spotted this petroglyph panel when we first arrived at the park as it was easily visible from the road. We returned later to photograph it in the late afternoon sunlight.

Connected Spirals by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We didn’t find these two good-sized petroglyphs near Radford’s Roost until our second day, even though they were near the road.

Spiral Anthropomorph by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We found this panel when were were exploring the Canyon of Life.

Sheep, Elk & Dots by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another of the larger petroglyph panels located along the Rim Trail between the large anthropomorph and Newspaper Rock.

Clear Creek Canyon Petroglyphs 2 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A large boulder near the Arch of Art that has a few petroglyphs on it.

Arch of Art Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the top of the Hunting Maps panel along the Parade of Rock Art trail.

Top of Hunting Maps by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After spending almost two full days at Fremont Indian State Park it was time to start heading home. Instead of taking I-70 all the way home like we had taken there, we headed east towards Boulder Mountain and Capitol Reef so that we could make a few more stops. Our first stop was Fish Creek Cove to check out the Headless Elk Pictograph Panel and other pictographs and petroglyphs in the area.

Headless Elk Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the headless elk pictographs.

Parade of Headless Elk by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

One and a half anthropomorphic pictographs.

One-and-a-Half by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A few more pictographs located next to The Headless Elk Panel.

Fish Creek Cove Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A close-up of two of the headless elk.

Two Headless Elk by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After searching the alcove in Fish Creek Cove for more pictographs and petroglyphs I found this ‘pictoglyph’ in the shade of a tree. I kind of like the effect of the shaded and sunny areas in this photo.

Shaded Pictoglyph by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This small anthropomorph floats above the rest of the Headless Elk Panel.

Headless Elk Watcher by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A fading anthropomorph on a striped wall.

Anthropomorph in Stripes by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A two-toned ‘shield-like’ figure.

Two-Tone by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After leaving Fish Creek Cove we continued on our way home, but we made one last stop at the Fremont River Gorge Petroglyphs in Capitol Reef National Park.

Capitol Reef Anthropomorphs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Fremont Anthropomorphs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Capitol Reef Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Many Fremont Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After leaving Capitol Reef we stopped for a burger at Ray’s in Green River before finishing up the drive home. It was a great birthday weekend!

>> Tree of Life Photo Gallery
>> Fremont Indian State Park Photo Gallery
>> Fish Creek Cove Photo Gallery
>> Fremont River Gorge Petroglyphs Photo Gallery