Stop and explore the petroglyph wonders of Utah’s Parowan Gap

Hundreds of thousands of Utah travelers zoom past the Parowan Gap in Iron County on their way to St. George, Zion National Park, Las Vegas or Southern California.

Many even look to the west off Interstate 15 at an obvious gap in an otherwise red line of mountains and figure that highway engineers blasted a road through there to connect Minersville and Parowan.

In reality, this a natural break in the mountain. According to earth.utah.edu, the gap exposed is a late-Tertiary antecedent stream valley cutting through the Red Hills, the name of that small mountain range.

What makes this worth a visit are the amazing petroglyphs found on both sides of the gap.

The Bureau of Land Management has done a nice job creating an interpretive history of the area.

In addition to a paved trail and protective fencing for the largest and most sensitive rock writings, the BLM has included parking, covered areas and restrooms.

There are signs offering Paiute and Hopi interpretations of the ancient rock writings, the white history of Parowan, a definition of what rock writing is, information on Father Escalante, a panel on area wildlife and information on how the writing was made.

According to Iron County travel officials, there are more than 90 panels and 1,500 figures in the small canyon, making it one of the most concentrated — and accessible — collections of its kind in the West.

Figures include what experts interpret as geometric circles, lizards, snakes, bear claws, mountain sheep and even humans. During the winter and summer solstices, groups often visit the Parowan Gap to see what researchers have identified to be depictions of solar and lunar calendars.

In addition, 2 miles east of the Parowan Gap petroglyphs, there are a number of dinosaur tracks. Iron County reports these tracks were made by ornithopods, ceratopsians and theropods and are preserved in stone.

To pick up a copy of the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs-Nature Journal, go to the Iron County Visitor Center at 581 N. Main St. in Cedar City.

To reach the Gap, Iron County travel officials say you can either drive 2.5 miles on the Gap Road east of State Highway 30 or, from Parowan, go north on Main Street to 400 North, turn west and drive under Interstate 15 and continue west for 10.5 miles.