Dinosaur National Monument: Petroglyphs At Cub Creek

Near the end of the main road on the Utah side of Dinosaur National Monument is a neat little trail that leads to quite a few petroglyphs. All of the maps I have seen just have a little dot here that says Petroglyphs, but Cub Creek is nearby so I am going to go with that.

Quick Details:

Length: Not sure, we did about a half mile.
Difficulty: DR4
Elevation Gain: Unfortunately my GPS as not working.
Restroom: No. The nearest one is just down the road on Josie Morris Ranch.
Dogs? No. Dogs are not allowed on this trail.
Other Info: Remember you are in the desert. Bring plenty of water and appropriate clothing.
Fee area. $20.00 a carload.

To Get Here:

Take the Tour Of Tilted rocks about 10 miles past the ranger station. After the road turns to dirt, keep left at the fork. You will see a pull out on the right just before you reach the end of the road. The trail is on the other side of the road.

The Trail:

Trailhead.

The petroglyphs are along the cliffs up above. I kind of had the opposite reaction here than I did at McConkie Ranch. I thought it didn’t look so bad from down here, but when I got up there it was a little different story.

Box Canyon and Hog Canyon.

The trail up is actually pretty easy going.

Not very far up and already a nice view.

There are even some nice steps.

A little bit of boulder hopping, and then more stairs.

Great views up here.

Once you reach the cliff face there is a trail split. To the left leads down to the pictographs near Elephant Foot, but I know part of that trail is closed due to a rock slide. Plus we say this sign to the right.

Solid advice.

Lizards!

More lizards, that one on the right is huge.

A little closer to it.

And again.

Box and Hog canyons again.

This one appears to be damaged by erosion.

A cool panel.

This one is neat too.

Lizard on a cliff.

Looks like some kind of bird nest.

Rock layers.

The view again.

It was around here that I was starting to get uncomfortable with the trail. It’s really not that bad, but I have an issue with heights.

Panoramic.

I am sure there are quite a few more awesome petroglyphs but we decided to turn back and see what else we could explore.

The trail and Cub Creek below.

A pair of lizards.

The view again.

I think I missed this one on the way in.

Lizard petroglyph. Too bad the live lizards weren’t around it would have made a cool juxtaposition.

Lizard!

There are quite a few more petroglyphs just a quarter mile or so west down the road that are easier to get to. You can see them on my Vernal 2017: Day 2 post.

Well, that was a fun little trail. However, considering the other petroglyphs we saw on this trip the effort/reward ratio wasn’t the best. The views were great, and I do enjoy seeing the history, but, it was a little rough comparably. 8 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, going up wasn’t so bad, but the trail along the cliff wall had some eep moments. Going with a DR4.

Dogs are not allowed on this trail.