SAN RAFAEL SWELL & CAPITOL REEF: NINE MILE CANYON

APRIL 2018

THE GREAT HUNT

BIG BUFFALO

DADDY CANYON COMPLEX

DRY CANYON

FIRST SITE

BALANCED ROCK PETROGLYPH

Nine Mile Canyon is a canyon located about halfway between Price and Roosevelt containing a large number of petroglyphs. There are also some ruins located within the canyon, but I was unable to find them. Only a few of the sites are marked, so bring good directions. The longer you have to explore, the more you will find. I didn't have a lot of time, as I drove into Nine Mile Canyon around 5pm from Roosevelt after spending the morning fossil hunting near Bonanza, Utah. I was also having car troubles that day, so I remember feeling pretty anxious trying to see everything on my list before dark, while also hoping my car didn't die in the process (my car actually did die for good the very next morning just outside of Heber, Utah).

As I was driving into Nine Mile Canyon from the north, I decided to head east once arriving at the Gate Canyon / Nine Mile Canyon junction. My first stop was the Dry Canyon Petroglyphs. These are located 1.9 miles down a dirt road on the south side of Nine Mile Canyon just across the street from the Daddy Canyon Complex. This road is a bit rough, but easily passable with a low clearance vehicle. I really enjoyed this site. The petroglyphs aren't marked, so watch closely. Some of the petroglyphs are located just off the side of the road, and more will be visible as you continue walking up the canyon.

After checking out the Dry Canyon Petroglyphs, I drove back to the Daddy Canyon Complex. The Daddy Canyon Complex is one of the few marked sites in the Canyon and is hard to miss as it contains a large parking area and restroom. I was really impressed with the amount and quality of rock art here. There are several panels located just past the parking lot on the left, and an approximately one-mile round-trip trail taking you to the right, across the wash, to a larger collection of petroglyphs. It is a loop trail, at first taking right along the face of the rock to see the petroglyphs up close, but then it circles back away from the rock and you are able to see petroglyphs higher up on the walls you didn't see before.

Next I continued driving east to check out Fremont Village, Big Buffalo and the Great Hunt in Cottonwood Canyon. All of these sites are marked. I was a bit let down by Fremont Village. It turns out it is a very steep, maybe two-mile, round-trip hike to some caves / alcoves that were previously inhabited by the Fremont. There are no structures or artifacts of any kind, just a couple low-quality petroglyphs. Because I was in a bit of a rush when I visited, I felt like this was a waste of time. Though if you have a whole day to kill, it might be worth it to you. Big Buffalo was a nice, short walk to a really cool panel, and the Great Hunt was very impressive. It was a really well-developed trail that even had informational signage and benches to sit on in front of the panel. The Great Hunt appears to be the main attraction in Nine Mile Canyon.

After visiting Cottonwood Canyon, I continued back west on Nine Mile Canyon Road to an unmarked petroglyph site at Balanced Rock, and then on to the well-marked First Site petroglyphs before returning back to Roosevelt. While I saw a few other cars in the canyon, I ended up having all of the petroglyphs sites to myself when I visited them. Probably due to how late it was. In retrospect, I wish I would have given myself more time. There were a couple sites I looked for and couldn't find, and some more I just didn't have time to go to. Because there is so much to see, Nine Mile Canyon probably deserves a full day. November would be a great time to visit when it is cool and uncrowded. I didn't visit under the best circumstances, so hopefully I can make it back some time.

I first visited Nine Mile Canyon with my mom, grandpa and cousin when I was a kid. Back then it was a pretty remote dirt road. I had good memories of that trip, and so had always wanted to go back. However, since then, a lot of natural gas wells had been installed in the area, and I had heard all of the associated truck traffic had made the canyon unpleasant to be in. I also thought the paving of the road would take away some of the ambiance. However, I didn't see any tanker trucks while I was there on an April evening. The wildlife seems to be doing well, as I saw a group of about fifty antelope lounging in a large field near the river by Balanced Rock.