sego canyon petroglyphs

There are some impressive rock art areas here. The drive is not well marked and we were worried we were lost. But once you get there, it's all really cool. There are some abandoned buildings but the rocks are the focus. It's on the way between Denver and Moab via I 70

I am into archaeology so know something about rock art. Sego Canyon is a must-see place. First, it is so easy to find and get to. Then the canyon area itself just has a great atmosphere, possibly because it is not advertised a lot and is a surprise. Then there is the ghost town and cemetery in between all the scenery. Finally the rock art: Wow! While it suffers from the modern blight of yahoos' grafitti, much of the art is in great shape, with three distinct cultures contributing. Much to my chagrin, this was the last real siteseeing day of my three-week trip in Utah, and only had an hour to view everything, as I still had to travel about 5.5 hours to the Denver area! This is one place to return to and explore fully. Thank you to the private landowners who allow us to view this sensational site.

We were staying in Green River when we learned about nearby Sego Canyon and its neighboring ghost town, Sego, while visiting the John Wesley Powell River History Museum. I'm always a sucker for vintage, sun-baked auto wrecks and crumbling ghost town buildings, so we added this excursion to our itinerary. Thompson Springs exit at I-70 was a collection of historic buildings, mostly abandoned in a state of derelict beauty and some allegedly location of scenes appearing in the 1991 film "Thelma & Louise".The road up to the pictographs was paved but unmarked with lanes or lines. After a few miles we arrived at a wooden-fenced parking area to our left. The pictographs are in four separate panels, three of them high up on the canyon walls, overlooking forests of sweetly-scented sagebrush. Across the road, near an old wooden cattle-loading thing (sorry for not knowing the proper name), there were large, life-size Fremont-style figures on the wall nearly at eye-level. It was awesome to be able to get such a close-up view for photos. As with most southwestern rock art sites there is some unfortunate modern graffiti and vandalism. Also, some natural erosion. Of course you know not to touch the pictographs. There is a visitors log and an outhouse at the main parking areaFurther up, the road turns unpaved and sandy. It’s another mile or two ‘til you reach the Sego ghost town, after passing its tiny cemetery. Roads are passable in fair weather in a low-clearance passenger car (our rental car was a Hyundai Elantra) but once we saw the ruins of the old general store we did not attempt to drive any further. We parked in the shade under some large cottonwood trees and hiked around. There were two old autos, pretty well stripped, a collapsed wooden structure, a small cave-type storage building, and the aforementioned general store, which dominated the landscape. Ruggedly built with local stone, it was pretty amazing how structurally sound its walls were. Sego was cool to explore—a fun place to snap photos. Beware of snakes and uneven ground. Avoid mine shafts. Have plenty of water with you.

The pictographs are really neat. They are impressive, big and detailed. Who would guess this is thousand of years old?!!?The ghost town is not that far but we couldn't find it (sigh).Well, I am pretty sure we found it because of the atmosphere, landscape of where we were but my friend wasn't so I'll never know (lol).It is a good experience anyway and the pictographs worth to be seen!

I hesitated to write this review since Sego Canyon petroglyphs and pictographs are less known and it is a special feeling to look at them and to take pictures. There is no need to be frustrated about loud distracting characters hovering over my shoulders to get better view, to get closer even if it means going beyond a fence. I observed such conduct in a few other places in UT.Sego Canyon petroglyphs are colorful and some of them are larger than life figures. From exit 187 on I-70 a 4-mile long and narrow road leading to them is paved but not in the best condition. There are three information kiosks for three panels. There is also a vault toilet. Please respect this amazing national treasure. Do not touch any petroglyphs and pictographs. Unfortunately there are some signs of extended damage. Some senseless individuals feel they need to include their initials and add more.

The archaic, eyeless, alien like pictographs are crazy neat. They are impressive in their size and artistic detail. There are more across the road near the cattle pens. Further down the road is a ghost town which is also worth seeing. A two story stone building remains along with a few dugout style houses and a few foundations. The town cemetery is near the ghost town turn off. The one room school house and some of the better buildings were moved to Thompson (the town you had to drive thru to see Sego). Signs in town let you locate these buildings.

Keep going E on I-70 past Exit 182 (which goes to Moab) for just a very short way. From there, it's a short drive up a canyon to find these. Well signed from I-70 at the beginning - and then just continue to keep left as you drive into the canyon. The pictographs/petroglyphs are from 3 different historical periods - and very easy to see. So it was well worth the relatively short drive.

WOW. I don't know what else to say. I was in awe looking at these, knowing they could be thousands of years old. The petroglyphs have a sort of creepy feel to them, but it's really cool to see them. It seems this was a special place back in our past.As for the ghost town a bit further down the road - there's not much there, and honestly wasn't worth the extra drive. The town of Thompson itself seemed more like a ghost town, to be honest.

A quick side trip that is easy to get to and is interesting. Navigable in a car in good weather, which is a plus. You also don't need to hike a long distance to see the petroglyphs either which is nice for people with knee problems. We found this little hidden gem by stopping by the visitors center in Green River, UT and since we had plenty of time before the sun set, we decided to visit.From Green River, head east on I-70. After about 22 miles on I-70 take exit 187. Head north through the seemingly abandoned town of Thompson Springs. Go about 3.5 miles and you will find the rock art on both sides of the road. If you want to see the old ghost town of Sego, then continue on north for about a half a mile. Then turn right which quickly leads to an old cemetery. The ghost town is located about 1 mile further into the canyon. The company store is still partially there. We didn't go much farther as you probably should have a 4 wheel drive or something like that to continue on the road or you can hike. There are house ruins and coal mine remnants.

I am a glyph groupie and love wandering to find such amazing rock art. There are petroglyphs on the same panel as pictographs in this little canyon. I saw deer during my visit and a bear! What an inspiring place to visit and see the ancient art, but please leave these important places as you found them.

This is kind of a hidden gem and a place you worry about if it gets too well known. It is about an hour drive from Moab. The easietst way to get there is to take US 191 from Moab to I-70. Then, go five miles east on I-70 to the Thompson Springs exit. Get off the exit and go through the beaten down town of Thompson Springs. Once you get on the outskirts of town, you will see a BLM road leading North into the canyon. Don't worry about getting lost in Thompson Springs or finding the BLM road. Even if you get lost in Thompson Springs, you won't stay lost for long.Once on the BLM road for a few miles, you will see a marked parking lot for the Sego Petroglyphs. The petroglyphs are very easy to see from a brief trail off to the right of the parking lot. There are three different type of petroglyphs here and they are right next to another. Besides the 150 year old Ute markings, you have 1000 year old Fremont art, and 2000 year old Archaic petrolgyphs and pictographs. The Archaic art is the spookiest and the depictions on the rocks look like aliens. Since Sego Canyon isn't well known, you will probably be the only people there and the canyon is very still and quiet. To add to the spooky situation, less than a mile down the road is a ghost town, which is also worth seeing but the whole entire area seems a little bit haunted. I don't believe in ghosts but I wouldn't want to be sticking around there at night.

Not difficult to reach, good example of Fremont art, good place to show the kids!!! If you take your time and really get into it you will learn a lot of things about the artistic ability and heart of these ancient people.

Un site très intéressant si on est de passage dans la région de Thompson. De plus les pétroglyphes ont la particularité d'avoir de gros yeux ronds ce qui les fait ressembler à des Extra Terrestre.