« Posts tagged uncompahgre plateau

Ute Bear Dance

Ute Bear Dance

Here’s a photo from a new petroglyph panel I visited on Saturday near Montrose, Colorado. I’ve been wanting to visit the Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park for a while now, but never followed through in obtaining permission to go. Last week a got a call from my friend Greg who was planning on visiting the site so it was the perfect time for me to finally get out there. We met up at the site around sunrise (which meant it was a very early morning for us) and spent a few hours exploring and photographing the petroglyphs. This is certainly one of the better petroglyph sites I have visited in the area and the bears in this panel are very cool.

>> Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park

Ancient Aliens

Ancient Aliens

On my way home from The Needles this last weekend, I took the long way home from Monticello so that I could make a few quick stops at some new rock art sites in Western Colorado. The main site I wanted to visit was this one, located on a large boulder along the Dolores River. These petroglyphs are very unique and are believed to be a cross between the Glen Canyon Style and the Uncompahgre Style. They sure do look a little like aliens 😉

>> Salt Creek Exploring & The Drive Home

Ute Boulder

Ute Boulder

Yesterday evening I set out shortly before sunset to find some new petroglyphs not far from my home. I have been by this site many times before and never knew it was there! This photo just shows a section of the panel of petroglyphs pecked into a large boulder along the Gunnison River. Like many of the other petroglyphs in the area, these appear to be of Ute origin. So far, this is one of the better panels near my home, and thankfully they haven’t been too vandalized, either.

>> Deer Creek Petroglyphs

The Bird and the Sun

The Bird and the Sun

It’s been a few years since I hiked down McDonald Creek, but since I stayed home this weekend I thought it might make a nice Sunday morning hike. This is one of the four rock art panels I found in the canyon this trip. I’m not quite sure what the largest figure really is, but it kind of resembles a bird to me, so that’s what I’m going to call it.

>> McDonald Creek & Book Cliffs Rock Art