This past weekend we went to pick up our Christmas Tree permit so we could cut down our own tree this year. Since we had to travel to pick up our permit we were looking for something to do in the area to fill the rest of our day. When we realized we were near Nine Mile Canyon we decided we had to check it out! Nine Mile Canyon is known for it’s extensive rock art and has been nicknamed, “The World’s Longest Art Gallery.” Despite the name “9 mile,” this canyon is actually a 40 mile long road that winds through ranches and old settlements that date back as far as the 1880’s.

 

This canyon is filled with Petroglyphs and Pictographs of all variety. If you want to see a lot rock art in the same area this is a great place to go! As soon as we entered the canyon the rock art seemed to be around every corner and every cliff we looked at. It was nice to be able to take a leisurely drive and not have to hike in to see them this trip.

Not only is this canyon filled with history from the Fremont and Ute people, but you can also see the remnants of the ranchers that settled this valley. It is neat to see the contrast of these two worlds side by side and imagine the conflict between them that may have taken place. I’m sure if these canyon walls could talk we would hear some interesting tales and stories!

Nine Mile Canyon is intriguing because of the history of people that carved a life in this rough desert landscape and left glimpses of their past for us to see. No matter how many sites like this we may visit we are always amazed at how different each place is from one another and are always left with the feeling of awe and wonder. This was the perfect day trip for us and we would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something fun and different to do.

 

58 thoughts on “Nine Mile

  1. What a fascinating place! I’m definitely putting it on my list of places to visit when i’m in area again for sure 🙂

  2. This is on the ever growing list:) I am so getting my fix from blogs like this. We really miss the west and can hardly wait til Jan 1 when we travel back west:)

    1. If you’re coming out west you should definitely see this place! It’s easily accessible and the whole canyon is filled with the coolest sites and old ruins! Thanks for reading! Hopefully we can keep providing cool places for you to add to the list and visit!

  3. How amazing to be able to see so many pictographs in one spot! I’m especially intrigued by the human depictions with symbols emerging from the head area. Thank you for sharing this great spot… looking forward to seeing your lovely Christmas tree! 😊

    1. We loved being able to see them all! Every few hundred feet you would drive down the road and there would be a new site full of the most interesting images! I kept saying how I wish I had some sort of dictionary for the art so that we could Figure out what they meant! Lol.. there will definitely be a post coming of the tree! Thanks for reading!

  4. What a cool place with all the old writing and so beautiful. Awesome you actually use a real christmas tree.

  5. Definitely a bucket-list to-do item now when my kids and I have a week off. Been wanting to go to Utah for a couple other reasons (camping and seeing the real night sky sans city) and this will be an amazing addition.

    1. There are the coolest places in Utah to go and see the stars! It’s so crazy how the flood the sky when you don’t have the city light pollution interfering! This is a great place to go with kids because there isn’t much hiking involved and they can see the cool art from the road!

    1. Thanks it was so fun! It took us about four hours.. we stopped and got out and walked around a bit and had lunch too at one of the camping spots! It’s a nice quick trip but lots to see and stay entertained by!

  6. I am about to come to USA(most probably the west) next fall for college and I love travelling. I can see how randomly strange and interesting places there are in the west. I would love to see this place and others like it.

    1. Yes there are so many cool and different places to see! So many states with so much history! That’s great you’re coming to college out here! Where at? Thanks for reading!

  7. Jeez what an awesome little adventure! Those are some things you don’t see everyday, or I guess not over here on the East Coast lol but so cool!!

    xo, JJ

  8. I know that feeling of trying to combine the necessary (like shopping) with the exploratory (fun discoveries and sites), especially when having to drive a little while. Sometimes it is nice to have easy access to rock art or other attractions, right! 🙂

    1. It’s outside of Price, Ut! If you get the chance you need to see it! It’s an easy drive too and just takes a few hours to drive up the canyon and back so you could see it on the way to somewhere else! So many cool images and rock art in this canyon and you can see most of it from the road!

  9. I think we will have to visit there next Spring. We’ve been to the Fremont Indian State Park, but the rock art is behind a gate or too high to see well. We visited Capitol Reef but you are too far away.

  10. Utah has the most beautiful landscape. Your photographs and descriptions capture it so well! The only problem I can find with your blog is that, being from Ohio, if I look at too many posts I come down with a severe case of envy. 🙂

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