Sand Island Petroglyphs — Attraction in Blanding

Great park. The trail along the cliff with the petroglyphs is a moderate hike, with a rocky trail that is slippery in spots, but we managed it with two young kids and 2 big dogs. Little dogs might have some difficulty. The trail is also pretty narrow and there is also a lot of brush, some of which you have to push through to get back to the road at the end, but most of it was only knee high so we didn't get scratched up too bad. We were a little disappointed that there was no access to the sand island from the shoreline since the banks were so densely covered with really tall thickets of spiny brush. You can probably get to it from the boat launch, but there were three boats loading up and the current was pretty strong out past them so we weren't going to risk it with the kids and dogs. There were some trails that lead into the brush, but we couldn't see if they went all the way through to the water and they were too short for me to go through without crawling. My husband definitely wouldn't fit. All in all, good place to come for a picnic. Or a nice hike if you don't expect to get down...

After staying in Bluff Utah, this was one spot that looked interesting to visit along the drive. It is in a free park where several families were swimming and eating lunch. The site is pretty nondescript and just a fence along the cliff where there were carvings. We were there alone in the beginning, so I explored the whole length up and down rocks and the middle section was the most impressive. There were other more modern additions besides some of what you expect in petroglyph art. As we were leaving several other families came. It was very cool to me as a history teacher but you have to explore and climb to find some of the highlights. I have visited many petroglyph sites in the US and internationally and there were some very...

These petroglyphs amazing, and frankly should be better protected and more information about them provided at this site. There are not a huge number of them, they stretch for about a 15-20 meter section of the cliff face next to the San Juan river. The thing that’s makes the trip out to see these well worth it is the river and the peaceful oasis feel to the place - a green oasis I’m the desert with peace and quiet, horses drinking and birds singing. You can even go for a swim in the sandy river, its very refreshing in the summer heat especially. You can totally understand why the ancient peoples who drew these petroglyphs would live here thousands...