Amasa Petroglyph Trail

The Amasa Petroglyph Trail starts across from the parking area that is about 0.5 miles east of the Amasa Back Trailhead. This area is along Kane Creek Road about 5 miles west of the junction with Highway 191 in Moab, Utah.

There are two unmarked trails nearly side by side. The trail to follow is the one that heads uphill toward the cliffs above. The other trail leads down into a short canyon that has several alcoves. The trail leading up is short and levels out at the base of the cliffs with a good view west toward the Amasa Back area. There are several panels of petroglyphs extending for a few hundred yards. There is also a ring of stones set against the cliff face that makes a somewhat dramatic picture.

One of the panels has a figure that is usually described as Barrier style, similar to one at the Moonflower Canyon site. There is also a relatively large flute player image nearby. There are many mountain sheep images, at least one large spiral and a few humanoid figures.

One of the panels has a line of mountain sheep where it appears that someone has been trying to cut one of the figures out. I explored the lower trail toward the views of several alcoves also, but I didn’t notice anything that resembled ruins. I spent about 1:00 hour in this area on a 55 F degree early April Saturday morning. It was a busy Jeeping day in Moab, hundreds of 4 wheelers out enjoying the wonderful rocky terrain in the area.