black dragon canyon trail

The canyon was spectacular loved the hike to the Pictographs, Relatively easy hike. Lot of broken Dinosaur bone float in the dry wash

Petroglyphs, awesome scenery, connecting atv trails to the San Rafael Swell area, what more could you want? Be an expert rider for the boulder-choked wash. Don't go in there when it's raining, on foot or tav

We had some difficulty finding the 4WD trail in from 2013 Guidebook: "Canyoneering - The Northern San Rafael Swell" as the Mile Marker is not as stated. The exit of I-70 is near Mile Marker 247. The GPS waypoints however are accurate and should be used. I recommend the hike up Black Dragon Wash to the Pictograph site - but would not recommend attempting with a 4WD vehicle. I would also recommend the Box Spring hike down the road. The thickets at the entrance of the canyon were tedious but the hike is rewarded by a series of swimmable pools with eagles flying overhead.

This attraction is free and open year round, and is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) federal land. Best to follow the printed directions available at the John Wesley Powell Museum Visitor Center in Green River, Utah. It is also a popular destination for mountain bikers ... on-line trail maps and geological information about the San Rafael "Reef" formation are available at http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=BGS061-060The road in to Black Dragon Canyon is somewhat hard to find, located on a turn off directly from the I-70 highway....go through the gate and you are on the BLM land. The road is very rough, full of potholes and rocks, and deep sand in places, and so the road has some hazards for low riding vehicles. Travel at your own risk. Those visitors with high clearance 4 wheel drives will have fun making the drive into the Black Dragon Canyon trail head. There are impressive views as you are entering, which you will enjoy immensely.To really appreciate this place you need to get out of your car and take a hike of at least 1-2 miles.... we especially appreciated the sheer high cliff face looming above the trail down into Black Canyon Wash...it is a pretty easy hike along the base of this cliff.Being a canyon wash area, be aware that it is susceptible to flash flooding, from rain falling maybe 10 miles away, but gathering in volume as it flows down the canyon towards the Green River. If you hear a distant roar or get caught in a rainstorm seek higher ground!The great cliff face is streaked with long flows of "Desert Varnish", which are the oxidized minerals of the rock, and this "varnish" is that substance which the prehistoric native Americans chipped and scraped away to make their petroglyphs, designs, figures, and symbols on the rock face walls. There are some publications available in many of the National Parks' Visitors Centers which give more information about the possible meanings of the prehistoric petroglyphs and how they were made....but much of this is speculation and subjective. They do hold special and sacred meanings for Native American tribal cultures, but they are not telling outsiders much about them!The most extensive site for seeing petroglyphs up close and personal (but please don't touch or damage them) is located at the west edge of the town limits of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Petroglyph National Monument Park, a unit of the National Park Service....over 5,000 individual petroglyphs have been discovered and indexed there. This BLM site has only a few indexed petroglyphs, and we could not find them ....we just got tired and went back to our car. Oh, well....Be sure to bring plenty of water, a broad brim hat, sunscreen, camera, insect repellent, and some snacks on your hike into Black Dragon Canyon Trail. There are no conveniences or facilities of any kind...pretty isolated except for some other Black Dragon adventurers like you! It is a very interesting place and well worth a visit...just be careful!

I was taking a run to San Diego and I had to drive through Denver (which has some fantastic mountains by the way) I-70 West on into Utah and then south on I-15 from Utah into Arizona and so on. Anyways, The beautiful mountain/forest features in Colorado only added to eye opening drive on into Utah, If anyone is considering doing something out west for vacation and if you have the means to drive, I definitely recommend taking this route; you will not be disappointed!

Easy to miss the entrance, a BLM gate off of I-70 that comes up on you quick. We almost passed it at 70mph, but spotted it in just enough time to barely make it, and reverse into the dirt road. We were in a low-clearance rental car, a Hyundai Elantra, and had to be extremely cautious on the drive, avoiding any rocks that stuck out higher than 3 inches. It would definitely have been easier in a 4WD/higher-clearance vehicle. Some sandy wash crossings were a bit scary. The roads leading up to the Black Canyon Wash entrance were not well-marked at all. There is a network of two or three roads connecting and separating and the only way we knew the right road to choose was by following the information on the small brochure we'd picked up in Green River that said head "west". It was also the road with the most tire tracks. Soon we came to the "Black Dragon Wash" signage. I actually scouted the smaller road into the canyon area on foot first to make sure the car could handle it. It was narrow and rocky, but passable in a passenger car. Just barely. We had to stop before reaching the mouth of the canyon, parking in a pull off, after some artful multiple point reversing and rock-moving to get the car turned around to face back towards the exit. We did not hike in far enough to see the pictographs. My street sandals were not appropriate hiking shoes and the brochure had mentioned that expert hiking skills were required. For a hot, sunny, June afternoon, a short stroll into the cool, shady canyon was a perfect midday adventure with our four small dogs. The canyon walls are colossal, streaked with desert varnish, and decorated with small bits of seepage at the base. Small cottonwood trees. Bring plenty of water. No one else was around, and though we weren't far from Interstate 70 the canyon felt very remote. Very beautiful spot and fun for a shutterbug like me.

We were told by a staff member at a local visitor center that we HAD to see this or we would be missing out. Perhaps we should have told her that we had a rental car? In order to get to the trail, you need to pull off on the highway (not an official pull-off) go through a gate and then hope you interpret the literature you received correctly. I was still busy reading the booklet when my husband drove into sand in the "road", started swearing, jumped out of the car, and asked me to shimmy over into the drivers seat and drive it in reverse while he pushed. We got it out...but...yikes. Be warned. Don't take a car even if you were recommended it.

The location information in the local hand out was not sufficient to locate the petroglyphs. There were three roads from the I-70 gate and it wasn't obvious which was correct route. Sand and a drive up a wash meant we could have easily gotten stuck with our Ford Focus! Get clear directions and come prepared for challenging drive.

While Black Dragon isn't hard to find, it's not hard to drive past the gate on I-70. It's worth the drive and hike to see this amazing panel. Walking up the wash, which for a while was the only way to travel west through the Swell, will give one a taste of pre-auto travel.

We walk Black dragon every year. One of the most beautiful hikes in the San Rafeal Swell. Need high clearance vehicle to access the canyon

I found several sources that made this seem like a glyph groupie dream and it was a total disappointment. Take plenty of water and be prepared for any distances quoted to be inaccurate. I saw a small panel with a pictograph that had 3 figures on it. Long hike with minimal return. Thank goodness I like to hike or it would have been total bust