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Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park

Saturday, June 23, 2012

On Saturday I was invited by my friend Greg to visit the Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park near Montrose. I’ve been wanting to visit this site for quite a while, but never got around to getting permission to go, so I jumped at the opportunity. Amanda and I planned to head back up into the San Juan Mountains again this weekend, so it worked out perfectly since we would be driving through Montrose on our way. We left Grand Junction very early so we could meet Greg at the park around sunrise. We ended up spending a few hours searching the cliff faces for petroglyphs and taking photos. Here are a few photos of the petroglyphs…

Our favorite petroglyphs at the site were at the Bear Dance Panel.

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Ute Bear Dance by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the bear climbing a tree petroglyph. Very unique and cool!

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Bear in a Tree by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This was another large panel of petroglyphs next to the Bear Dance Panel.

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Big Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There were a few petroglyphs of footprints in the area.

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Feet by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A faded panel with what appears to be a handprint petroglyph with six fingers.

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Faded by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This interesting panel was sheltered under an overhang. A nice setting for some petroglyphs.

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Sheltered Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

These petroglyphs were found high above another large panel.

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Up High by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There were also a few historic inscriptions found here. These were the two oldest ones I saw.

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Edwin Gravestock by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

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Joe Harrison by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Here’s another look at a bear petroglyph from the Bear Panel.

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Bear Without a Tree by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This panel was also located right next to the Bear Dance petroglyphs.

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Prints by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

These two petroglyphs were found alone away from the other large panels.

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Shavano High Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Before we left the park and headed up into the mountains, we stopped at this horse petroglyph hidden among some lichen covered rocks.

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Shavano Horse by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We had a nice morning photographing the petroglyphs before it started to get hot out!

>> Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park Photo Gallery

4 Comments

  1. Barb
    Barb February 13, 2013

    I can’t seem to find this place on a map. Montrose Tourism so far has hot responded to my inquiry.
    Also, how accessible is this place? Can anyone help me out here?

  2. Perry
    Perry August 23, 2015

    John Edwin Gravestock was my Grandfater… Raised in Montrose. Awesome picture. Would like more information on the location if you have time….

    • Randy Langstraat
      Randy Langstraat August 24, 2015

      Perry, this inscription is in the Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park which is managed by the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose. You need to contact them to get access into this park.

  3. Simone ELLIS
    Simone ELLIS February 4, 2017

    I just left a very long comment. I absolutely love these images you’re an incredibly good photographer. I am soon to begin building a straw bale house just across the valley, a bike ride away from these ruins and petroglyphs. There are actually petroglyphs on my land.

    Once I get down there from Montana and Brooklyn I will continue with my 30 plus years of being a professional art critic and begin selling fine art in Telluride. I am very interested and getting better copies of these images. Please put a watermark in them to insure your copyright. You can send them to San so to saynitso2gmail.com or if you need a contract between us for me to represent you as a broker I certainly will look at a contract. If you look me up with quotes around my name Simone Ellis you should find quite a few clips from a parent and Montana and I have many more and art in America and I spent 10 years being the chief art critic at Santa Fe and Albuquerque. So congratulations on these images great work.pls 728-483-1964

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