Utah is packed full of petroglyphs and pictographs and Parowan Gap has a large concentration of surprisingly well preserved petroglyphs inside an interesting geological formation.
There are two points of interest at this site - one natural and one manmade. The natural one is the "gap" - a wind gap formed over millennia by streams and rain and wind. It's huge and you can see it from miles away as you approach.
The man made attraction is, of course, all the many petroglyphs- a national historic landmark which is at least a 1,000 year accumulation of brilliant Native American artwork pecked into the rock!!
The experts aren't sure exactly how old the petroglyphs all are but they do know they were created over time by Native Americans passing through this geological gap that took millions of years to form. They're also not sure what all the symbols mean which is so fascinating to me! I love a good mystery that lets my imagination run wild lol!
The site is very easy to find and not terribly far off a main highway. The road to the site is paved and well maintained. At the site you'll find a bathroom, a picnic table partially covered, and lots of info signs around the site discussing the history, geology, and rock art.
The trail taking you around all the petroglyphs is around 1/2 mile total and pretty much flat. It's half paved, half gravel, and has a small little incline portion that's just dirt and rock but is easily skipped if you don't want to traverse it.
Makes for a really interesting stop on a fun road trip if you're in the area- there are also some dinosaur footprints along the way to the gap - highly recommend! read more