Sunday Drive - Petroglyphs at Little Black Mountain

Throughout southern Utah there are numerous places where rock art carved by Native Americans thousands of years ago can be found.

A few of these sites are well-known and relatively protected. One such place is the subject of our Sunday Drive this week, the Little Black Mountain Petroglyph Site on the Arizona Strip south of the St. George Regional Airport.

The Little Black Mountain site contains some impressive examples of rock art representing about 6,000 years of human habitation and cultural history. The site has over 500 individual rock art designs and elements. They're scattered across the cliffs and dozens of boulders surrounding the base of the 500-foot tall mesa from which the site derives its name.

Goats, turtles, lizards, human figures, spirals, bear paws, and numerous other symbols can be found at the site. The different designs are associated with the cultures of the Great Basin, Western Anasazi, and Lower Colorado River, only a few of the many cultures that have passed this way.

There are two ways to access the site, both are dirt roads that may be impassible when wet.

Higher clearance vehicles are recommended but four-wheel drive isn't needed in dry conditions. To get there, you can head south on River Road past the Southern Parkway and turn left at the sign for the Little Black Mountain site just over the Arizona State Line. The roads on this

Or you can get to the site from the east by following the dirt road that heads south along the east side of the Southern Parkway from the Warner Valley exit. You'll make a right turn just over the Arizona State Line and follow that road around the southern end of Little Black Mountain to the petroglyph site.

There is a small pavilion and outhouse at the site and the trails to the individual petroglyphs are graded and easy to walk, in fact, you could even access them in a wheelchair with a little effort.

For more information visit the BLM's website at Little Black Mountain