Newspaper Rock — Ancient Petroglyph Panel on Highway 211 to the Needles

Newspaper Rock is a single dark sandstone wall covered in hundreds of pecked petroglyphs: bighorn sheep, human figures, spirals, riders on horseback, and symbols nobody can fully read. Multiple cultures added to it over roughly two thousand years, which is how it got its name. It sits just off Highway 211, the only paved road in to the Needles District, so you will pass it on the way to the Elephant Hill trailhead. It takes ten minutes, and it is worth every one of them.

It’s a small roadside pullout with room for a handful of rigs, and a vault toilet. Any vehicle can get here. Stay behind the barriers, don’t touch the panel, and don’t add your own marks. Oils from hands and fresh scratches wreck rock art that has survived centuries. Midday sun flattens the glyphs, so go early or late for the best light. Fuel and water are not available out here, so top off in Monticello or Moab before the long run down 211. Verify current conditions with the BLM Monticello Field Office.

Have a dirty day.

Two thousand years of rock art, pullout on 211