Utah is home to some of the most incredible natural wonders and historical sites in the country. One such site is Newspaper Rock, located in the southeast corner of the state near the town of Monticello.
Newspaper Rock is a petroglyph panel that features hundreds of ancient rock carvings from the last 1500 years, including Rock Art from ancestral Puebloans and Ute Indians.
Keep on reading to find out more about this fascinating site.
There is no fee to visit this site. It’s a quick roadside stop on your way into the Needles District of Canyonlands.
It’s just a roadside parking lot with access to the petroglyph panel, so it’s open all day, year-round.
Newspaper Rock features over 650 petroglyphs that were carved into the sandstone by ancestral Puebloan tribes over 1,000 years ago, and even Ute tribes as recently as the last century. The carvings depict animals, humans, and various symbols and patterns.
Newspaper Rock is located about 15 miles west of the town of Monticello, Utah. To get there, take US Highway 191 south from Moab or north from Bluff. Turn west onto State Route 211 and continue for about 5 miles until you see the signs for Newspaper Rock.
It’s about an hour south of Moab and 30 minutes away from Monticello.
Please respect the site and refrain from touching or damaging the petroglyphs.
I was happy I brought my camera with a zoom lens so I could get some up-close photos of some of my favorite petroglyphs.
It only takes about 10 minutes to stop and look at the panel, but if you’re really into rock art, you can spend a lot more time.
Rock Art is a catch-all term for petroglyphs and pictographs found all over the Southwest.
I purchased this book from the Canyonlands Natural History Association. It provides areas to find rock art around Moab, but it also gives some simple explanations of the theories experts have about what certain rock art symbols mean.
Of course! It’s one of the most easily accessible places to find rock art in the country. It’s an easy stop into Canyonlands, and it’s also worth the long drive for those who are on a rock art scavenger hunt.
Canyonlands is also pretty close to Arches National Park and Moab. There are so many things you can see and do in the area that it can be difficult to know what to choose.
Most travelers want to visit the most popular sites and still avoid crowds. We have a detailed itinerary for Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands that gives you a step-by-step game plan so you can get to the best places at the right times.
We’re Matt and Cheryl, and we’re in the Rockies. :) We are both teachers. Cheryl teaches special ed, and Matt teaches American history. We love the American West and the national parks. We want to help you have a great vacation on your next trip to the Rockies.
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