6 days / 1336 miles / 30 hours 13 minutes
From 1301 30th Street, Boulder, CO, USA to 1301 30th Street, Boulder, CO, USA. 6 days and 1336 miles of new adventures. You too can use Furkot to plan your next road trip.
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Day 1
9:00 am - 108.1 miles / an hour 51 minutes - 10:51 am
11:51 am - 87.7 miles / an hour 21 minutes - 1:12 pm
1:27 pm - 91.4 miles / an hour 15 minutes - 2:43 pm
2:53 pm - 3.5 miles / 2 minutes - 2:56 pm
3:11 pm - 38.8 miles / 30 minutes - 3:41 pm
3:56 pm - 27.2 miles / 22 minutes - 4:18 pm
4:28 pm - 25.2 miles / 35 minutes - 5:04 pm
Red agate and petrified wood are found in the hills south of the Summerville Wash.
5:19 pm - 13.9 miles / 51 minutes - 6:10 pm
Day 2
7:00 am - 5.1 miles / 32 minutes - 7:32 am
7:42 am - 5.3 miles / 4 minutes - 7:47 am
Pelecypods, Gastropods, Cephalopods
Fragments of the gastropods Turitello, pelecypods Ostrea and Inoceramus are common in the Mancos Shale throughout this area.
Located 0.4 miles south of Grassy Wash, 11.2 miles south of the Carbon-Emery county line, and 5.6 miles north of Woodside on U..S. 6-50. Search the road cuts on both sides of the road.8:02 am - 6.1 miles / 6 minutes - 8:08 am
8:23 am - 18.1 miles / 18 minutes - 8:41 am
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/utah/nine-mile-canyon-back-country-byway
8:46 am - 12.8 miles / 24 minutes - 9:11 am
9:26 am - 10.2 miles / 19 minutes - 9:46 am
The old homestead will be on the north (left) side of the road. At one time this was a functioning ranch.
9:56 am - 1.0 miles / 2 minutes - 9:58 am
10:13 am - 2.6 miles / 5 minutes - 10:19 am
First major panels of petroglyphs
There is a wooden fence on the north (left) side of the road at a rocky point. The first panel is a good opportunity to view some petroglyphs up close. Exit your car and enter the wooden barrier, look carefully along the smooth base of the rock point. If you are not familiar with petroglyphs it will take your eyes a moment to become accustomed to looking for them. Some petroglyphs are distinct and others quite faint. Now stand back from the rock and look over your head. You'll see an excellent panel of petroglyphs just above a narrow ledge.
10:34 am - 4.3 miles / 8 minutes - 10:42 am
The log buildings you see are what is left of the sage coach stop, inn, post office and school. The town was first known as "Lee Station" and was a stagecoach stop. Two large barns were constructed to house the outgoing and incoming stage teams. The town spread about one-mile down the canyon
11:02 am - 0.3 miles / - 11:03 am
located on the north (left) side of the road at road level. The site contains a man leading a horse and rider, several anthromorphs and a horse and rider
11:13 am - 1.4 miles / 2 minutes - 11:15 am
the road curves around a balanced rock near the north (left) edge of the road. If you use your imagination, the rock can look like the cartoon character Porky Pig. The earlier freighters referred to the rock as "Pig Head Rock" since Warner Brothers had not yet created old Porky Pig. Stop 20 yards past Pig Head Rock. To the left of the road just above the car is an excellent panel with a variety of figures. Examine the rocks on both sides of the main panel for more rock art.
11:25 am - 1.1 miles / 2 minutes - 11:27 am
Sign to Harmon Canyon which enters on the south (right). Opposite the sign is a rock ledge which continues for the next 100 yards and is covered with petroglyphs. Look carefully at the smooth sections of rock covered with black patina about halfway up the hill. There are carvings all along this section. In particular, note the excellent panel with some unusual figures - human shapes with headdresses and some with toes and fingers, lines of deer, and some designs with squares created from dots. Binoculars will give you a better view of the petroglyphs, or you can climb up to the panels.
As you drive the remaining canyon from here watch carefully, particularly in the black patina on the rock faces. You can spot many petroglyphs.11:37 am - 1.3 miles / 2 minutes - 11:40 am
park in the parking lot and follow the signed trail 150-yards north to the Owl Pictograph Panel. There is additional rock art along the wall in both directions.
11:50 am - 0.2 miles / - 11:50 am
) Stop next to a line of tall cottonwood trees. To your north (left), look halfway up the hillside at the smooth black rock faces. A design of a large snake stands out very clearly. With your binoculars, examine the rock face to the right, it is covered with many figures quite different from those you have seen so far. There are trees, birds, and human figures with distinct hands and feet. There is an emerging use trail to the large snake if you want a closer look, the entire wall around the snake is covered in rock art.
12:00 pm - 2.9 miles / 5 minutes - 12:06 pm
Pass a large Cottonwood Tree on the north (left) side of the road and stop when a group of Cottonwood Trees are located 60 yards in front of you. On the north side of the road is a low ridge, 100 feet high, that nearly touches the road. On top of the ridge is a Fremont Indian site containing a pithouse and watch tower. Directly across the river, on the south side of the canyon, is a watch tower and pithouse that is located on the first level of the ridge.
12:21 pm - 0.2 miles / - 12:21 pm
The ranch site was first known as "Brock's" and was a stop for the first stagecoach. Freighters camped near the ranch, resting their teams before attempting the climb up Gate Canyon. Pete Francis bought the place from Brock and developed it commercially. The stop offered a fifteen room hotel, destroyed by fire in the 1930's, and a saloon, housed in the old cabin next to the road on the south. Pete Francis was shot and killed in the saloon.
Preston Nutter purchased the property from Francis's widow in 1902. The house was used as the headquarters of Nutter's cattle empire, which had over 25,000 head. The hotel was used as a bunkhouse and the saloon was closed
The ranch was also used as a relay station for the telegraph between Fort Duchesne and Price between 1886 and 1907. The stone building against the cliff was part of the telegraph relay system. The log cabin next to it housed the soldiers and telegraphers assigned to the telegraph relay system.
The Nutter Ranch is currently owned by Hunt Oil12:31 pm - 0.7 miles / a minute - 12:33 pm
There is a pull-out 15 feet past the cattle guard. There are several petroglyph panels just before the cattle guard. This site contains a centipede, elk and many other figures
12:43 pm - 2.3 miles / 4 minutes - 12:47 pm
Stand on the south (right) side of the road after crossing the cattle guard. sight down the road to the east and than look 30 degrees to your left. At this point look directly up the cliff face 300 feet. A large and well preserved granary is located in a recessed area in the cliff face. The granary is well camouflaged, look for the light tan colored stone. Look directly across the river to see the remains of a watch tower on top of the first cliff level.
12:57 pm - 0.6 miles / a minute - 12:58 pm
You are in the correct spot if a four wheel drive track running in a canyon bottom joins the main road from the north (left). Look directly ahead of you up the road to the high cliff face. You'll see a long horizontal slit in the rock. Look slightly below this and to the right. Locate the hole in some light-colored rock. The granary can be seen with binoculars in the crevice. Recently "view tubes" were installed at this location which makes locating the granary much easier
1:03 pm - 2.4 miles / 4 minutes - 1:08 pm
(large alcove) located on the north (left) is the location of some excellent pictographs (figures painted onto the cliff wall). There is a large rock in Rassmussuen's Cave which contains 5 well worn areas where corn was ground.
1:28 pm - 0.1 miles / - 1:29 pm
1:34 pm - 1.8 miles / 4 minutes - 1:38 pm
On the ridge you have just driven around is the remains of a Fremont village. You can easily walk up the hillside on a hiker made trail to the west and see the rocks that outline where several pit houses once stood. Other structures were built around the large boulders. Your average tourist will be disappointed in this site as it really just contains large rocks in a square. To the north across the canyon is a long greenish ledge. With binoculars you can see it is lined with structures.
1:53 pm - 0.2 miles / - 1:53 pm
Big Buffalo Panel is the largest buffalo petroglyph to be found in the area and in located across the canyon on the east wall, just follow the well defined trail. Also look for a trail that leads north and you will find additional rock art including the pregnant buffalo panel.
2:03 pm - 0.2 miles / - 2:04 pm
Hunter Panel contains a parking area and kiosk. Follow the trail to the large rock outcropping on the west side of the canyon to locate the famous hunting scene. This is one of the finest petroglyph panels that I have ever encountered and should not be missed.
2:14 pm - 0.2 miles / - 2:14 pm
Petroglyphs on the west (right)
2:24 pm - 1.4 miles / 3 minutes - 2:28 pm
2:33 pm - 2.2 miles / 10 minutes - 2:43 pm
Petroglyph panel located on the north (left) is of men, women, a turkey, a scorpion, a bird and abstract sketches.
2:53 pm - 2.3 miles / 11 minutes - 3:04 pm
I'm leaving this location in the guide as a historical reference, but it is my understanding the well preserved granary is on private property and is no longer accessible. Watch carefully for a little dirt road turning off to the north (left). Take this turn and go around the outcropping of rock near the right-hand side of this little road. The cliff face becomes a smooth half circle. Stop the car and look carefully about a third of the way up the cliff face. You'll see a well-preserved granary perched on a small ledge.
3:14 pm - 5.6 miles / 24 minutes - 3:39 pm
3:44 pm - 1.9 miles / 7 minutes - 3:51 pm
Excellent petroglyph panel located on the west (right) side of the road on the rock point. The panel can be easily seen from the road and contains a variety of figures.
4:01 pm - 7.4 miles / 18 minutes - 4:20 pm
4:25 pm - 1.0 miles / a minute - 4:27 pm
"Outlaw Point" is the sharp bend in the road where a group of outlaws intended to ambush the soldiers escorting the army payroll and Indian annuities. The plan was to kill all 20 soldiers in the escort and leave no living witness. While some members of the "Wild Bunch" allegedly participated in the scheme, Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid and Elza Lay did not. They knew the army would hunt them relentlessly for such a bloodbath. The army was told of the plan by an informant and the guard was double to 40 soldiers. The Outlaws hiding on the ledges hastily called off the ambush as the heavy escort rode through. There is speculation that Butch Cassidy was the informant when he realized that he would be blamed for the crime, whether he participated or not.
4:42 pm - 0.5 miles / - 4:43 pm
Stretching across the road, a stone arch once spanned the ravine at this point. It was destroyed about 1905. Some people, the stage company in particular, were afraid of the arch someday falling and killing people. Newt Stewart was hired to destroy the arch. Gate canyon receives it's name from the arch, which resembled the entrance or gate to a western ranch
4:48 pm - 1.2 miles / 2 minutes - 4:50 pm
Look down into the canyon and you will see evidence of the original army built road. Notice where the road crosses the wash is "slickrock". It was common for heavily laden wagon wheels to break at this point. This presented a real problem since the nearest blacksmith shop was four miles away. To remedy this situation a forge, anvil, hammer and tongs were left at the site. At the base of the cliff notice the names painted with black axle grease. A small rock building near the names housed the forge.
5:00 pm - 75.0 miles / 2 hours 3 minutes - 7:03 pm
7:18 pm - 17.5 miles / 55 minutes - 8:13 pm
Day 3
Buckhorn Draw is a stunning canyon cut into the Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate Sandstones. Carsonite posts mark where there are primitive campsites where lucky campers might spot bighorn sheep running across the ledges. Camping in Buckhorn Wash is limited to designated sites that are marked with camping signs. Creating new campsites is not allowed. Reservations not available. If there are no marked and designated sites available when you arrive, find another place to camp outside Buckhorn Draw (Check out the Swinging Bridge Campgrounds).
Buckhorn Draw dispersed camping is approximately 15 miles east of Castle Dale, UT. From I-70 take exit 131 and travel north for 25 miles until you enter Buckhorn Draw. Contact the Price Field Office for driving directions.8:00 am - 0.4 miles / 2 minutes - 8:02 am
Head of Buckhorn Wash: pelecypods
The Buckhorn Wash road leaves Utah Highway 10 about 8 miles south of Huntington. Turn east on the road and follow it across Castle Valley (about 15 miles) until it starts to descend Buckhorn Wash to the campground on the San Rafael River. Search the left side of the road at the head of the wash.
8:17 am - 0.2 miles / a minute - 8:18 am
One mile after the Navajo Sandstone sign on the side of the road after entering Buckhorn Draw, there is a pull-out on the right. Park there and cross the road and scramble up the sandstone ledge there. On top and to the left a circle of stones will surround a three-toed track left by an ornithopod dinosaur that crossed the sand dune desert that became the Navajo Sandstone over 180 million years ago. Please take only pictures and leave the circle of stones.
8:28 am - 1.7 miles / 8 minutes - 8:37 am
8:42 am - 2.8 miles / 13 minutes - 8:55 am
9:10 am - 18.2 miles / an hour 29 minutes - 10:40 am
10:50 am - 15.9 miles / an hour 13 minutes - 12:03 pm
12:18 pm - 1.4 miles / 9 minutes - 12:28 pm
12:43 pm - 21.9 miles / an hour 2 minutes - 1:45 pm
2:00 pm - 4.6 miles / 6 minutes - 2:07 pm
Certain horizons within the Curtis Formation contain nodules of jasper. Some of the jasper nodules are hollow, forming geodes, which may contain crystals of quartz, calcite, or celestite. Other nodules are solid containing bands of the same minerals.
2:22 pm - 2.4 miles / 2 minutes - 2:24 pm
Go west from Green River to the junction of I-70 and Utah Highway 24. In the immediate area of the junction, west of Highway 24, agate can be found.
2:39 pm - 36.8 miles / 39 minutes - 3:19 pm
4:19 pm - 32.4 miles / 37 minutes - 4:57 pm
5:12 pm - 26.7 miles / 32 minutes - 5:44 pm
5:54 pm - 1.6 miles / 2 minutes - 5:56 pm
https://www.gjhikes.com/2018/10/sandthrax-petroglyphs.html
6:16 pm - 0.1 miles / - 6:17 pm
Day 4
9:00 am - 14.0 miles / 24 minutes - 9:24 am
9:54 am - 20.6 miles / 48 minutes - 10:42 am
Bullfrog Turnoff :agate, petrified wood
From Hanksville, drive south on highway 95 about 26 miles. About 0.1 mile before the intersection with highway 276, an unmarked dirt road goes to the right. Follow this 3.1 miles toward the cliffs to a fork. There is material here at the fork but the best stuff is found along the left fork for a mile or so. 4WD is required past the fork.
10:57 am - 2.4 miles / 11 minutes - 11:09 am
https://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/little-egypt/index.html
11:39 am - 34.4 miles / 42 minutes - 12:21 pm
12:31 pm - 0.3 miles / - 12:32 pm
Caineville Area: jasper, petrified wood
Agate and chert are found along U-24 about 9 miles southwest of Caineville and also 6 miles east of Caineville. Jasper and petrified wood are also found in these areas.
12:42 pm - 14.8 miles / 14 minutes - 12:57 pm
1:12 pm - 24.5 miles / 32 minutes - 1:44 pm
Day 5
Day 6
6:00 am - 5.4 miles / 8 minutes - 6:38 am
6:48 am - 123.1 miles / an hour 58 minutes - 8:47 am
8:57 am - 51.0 miles / 40 minutes - 9:37 am
9:47 am - 91.2 miles / an hour 16 minutes - 11:03 am
11:13 am - 194.4 miles / 3 hours 8 minutes - 2:21 pm