Shay Canyon Petroglyphs

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Shay Canyon

After taking some photos at Newspaper Rock, I headed over to Shay Canyon. This was my first visit to this canyon, and I knew there should be a lot of petroglyphs here. I was not disappointed! I spent a while here walking along the canyon wall searching for and photographing the many petroglyphs found here.

Most of the time I was in Shay Canyon the skies were overcast, but right before I was ready to hike back to the Jeep the clouds cleared a little and the sunlight reflected off the canyon walls. I snapped these two photos when that happened.

Look Up in Shay Canyon
Look Up in Shay Canyon

Shay Canyon Petroglyph Panels
Shay Canyon Petroglyph Panels

One of the larger petroglyph panels.

Shay Canyon Panel
Shay Canyon Panel

This panel was located high above next to a crack in the canyon wall.

Shay Canyon Crack Panel
Shay Canyon Crack Panel

This is the another of the so-called ‘mastodon’ petroglyphs in the area (another being the Moab Mastodon). To me it looks just like another bear…

Indian Creek Mastodon
Indian Creek Mastodon

Shay Canyon Mastodon
Shay Canyon Mastodon


The lower petroglyph in the following photo kind of looks like a smiling face to me…

Smiling Face
Smiling Face

The hunter with the bow and arrow appears to be shooting at a four-legged animal and three round targets in this scene.

Target Practice
Target Practice

There are many petroglyphs of flute players here; this panel has the most in one place. It even appears a bighorn is dancing to the music.

It’s a Party!
It's a Party!

Flute Players
Flute Players

Shay Canyon Corner Panel
Shay Canyon Corner Panel

This guy was all by himself…

Lone Man
Lone Man 2

Shay Canyon Panel 2
Shay Canyon Panel 2

Shay Canyon Panel 3
Shay Canyon Panel 3

I called this one the Teardrop Panel because the shape of the canyon wall here resembles a tear drop.

Teardrop Panel
Teardrop Panel

Shay Canyon Panels 4
Shay Canyon Panels 4

Stay tuned for the rest of my day-trip… There’s even more rock art to come!