By Richard Jones

 

Nine Mile Canyon is a easy day trip that can take you back in time to the old west. This route is suitable for most all passenger cars. Along the way you will find historical sites, outstanding scenery and some of the best Freemont Indian Culture “Rock Art” in the west. Rock Art is a term used to describe the pictographs (paintings) and petroglyphs (images pecked into the dark areas of the cliffs formed by the deposits of minerals by rain) left by a succession of various Indian groups from about 46 B.C. until the time of the Spanish Conquistadors.

 

The best place to start your trip is in Price, Utah although you might also consider the more distant town of Green River. Price is a bustling town with numerous motels and restaurants in all price ranges.

 

To get to Price from I-70, take exit 156 and travel north on US 6 an US 191. If coming from Salt Lake City, take I-15 to Spanish Fork, where you will turn onto US 6 which will take you to Price. If coming from Richfield or Salina, take I-70 to exit 89. From this point travel north on Utah 10 which will take you directly to Price.

 

Nine Mile Canyon is actually a drive down a forty-mile long canyon. It is named not for the length of the road but rather for nine mile creek. The road is only partially paved but even the gravel portion is maintained and can be driven in most passenger cars.

 

Since there are no restaurants along the route you will probably want to take a picnic lunch with you. If you forget, there is a Subway shop in the gas station at the turn off for the drive. Fill up your vehicle’s gas tank while you are at it. The gas station will have a locally published book that will give you the odometer readings for some of the best of the petroglyphs. You can and should also do an internet search for Nine Mile Canyon. There are several websites that give you mileages for their author’s favorite stops. All odometers are off to some degree. You will want to use the reported mileages only as guides to distances.

 

The road to Nine Mile Canyon begins approximately 5 miles south of Price on US 6/191 at the town of Wellington, Utah. Watch for an historical sign marking the route that takes off to the east. At first the road is paved. After you pass the mine, the road becomes gravel. You will now enter Nine Mile Canyon. At first the canyon is wide and the terrain is lush with wildflowers. At the very end of the road, it will change dramatically.

 

There are so many pictographs along this road, that none of the guides can cover more than a small portion. Watch all of the cliffs along the road. Once you have found the first few, you will understand what kind of rock on which they are generally found. The pictographs are pecked into the desert “varnish” on the rocks. The varnish is a dark area on the rock that has been covered by minerals that have been spread down the cliffs by water.

 

The petroglyphs along Nine Mile Canyon were made by the Freemont Indians. Little is known about the Fremonts as they didn’t build cliff dwellings or pueblos as did the Anasazi Culture. Instead they built pit houses with above ground structures mostly of posts and thatch. Some had small walls of rocks for the first few feet. Because of their construction, there are few remains left. Near the end of the drive, you will be able to see the remains of a pithouse above the road. It is easier to see as you return. You will have to watch closely.

 

We don’t know what the Freemonts called themselves. They are called the Freemont because John C. Freemont was the first to document evidence of their existence. They lived at about the same time as the Anaszai and like them, mysteriously disappeared. The likelihood is that both groups simply evolved into our modern Indian tribes.

 

Freemont inscriptions are distinctive in that the bodies of people are drawn as triangles. Barrier Canyon Indians generally painted their art in vivid red rather than pecking them into rock. To see Barrier Canyon Culture rock art go to Sego Canyon near Thompson Springs, Utah. (See our notes on Utah.) Anasazi rock art portrays people’s bodies as trapezoids. Modern Ute and Navajo rock art is often in colors and may depict men on horseback. For some examples of Ute and Anasazi rock art you may wish to visit Sego Canyon. For some better examples of modern Navajo and ancient Anasazi rock art you will want to visit Canyon DeChelly, near Chinle, Arizona. There you can see images of the Spanish Conquistadors and the priests that accompanied them with crosses in hand.

 

Not long after you begin your drive down the canyon, you will come upon some pioneer buildings that originally were located in the ghost town of Harper just a few miles ahead. Harper was a stage stop along this route. Unfortunately the buildings were heavily vandalized. The BLM moved the buildings to public land and has restored them. The reconstructed village of Harper is worth a stop. There are also restrooms here.

 

As you proceed down the canyon, be on the watch for metal telegraph poles along the south (right) side of the canyon. The buffalo soldiers installed these poles after the war-between-the-states. The telegraph lines are gone but a number of the poles are still present.

 

You will want to make many stops along the road to view the petroglyphs and to make photographs of them. But the best will be near the end of the drive. Near the end of the road you will see a rock house (a partial cave) in the cliff next to a fenced corral. Check out the sides of the rock house. On the right side is an excellent petroglyph of a bison. These are generally rare in the Freemont rock art.

 

Just beyond the rock house, the road divides. The main road continues down a narrow massive canyon until it ends at a gate in a few miles. Along this portion of the road there are dramatic views of the canyon. These are great areas for photography. Check with your guidebook and odometer and you may be able to find the remains of the Freemont pithouse.

 

The road to the right crosses a bridge over the creek after about 100 feet from the junction. This road follows the Cottonwood Creek and eventually ends at a locked gate near the top of the canyon.

 

At about a mile, (check your guidebook), you will find the famous “Hunter Panel” on the right side of the road at eye level. The panel is named for the fact that the panel depicts Freemonts hunting game with bows and arrows. This a spectacular rock art panel that is alone worth the trip down Nine Mile and Cottonwood Canyons. Because of the length of time to get to this panel, you will probably find that the rock will cast a shadow across half of the panel. Use fill flash to even out the lighting.

 

After visiting both of the roads, you may return to the main road by backtracking or take the cutoff to the North (right as you return) that takes you through a scenic canyon to Duchesne. There you will intersect with US 191 which taken to the southwest will take you back to Price.

 

 Much of the road is open range and on one trip, we actually got in the middle of a cattle drive complete with cattle and cowboys all around our car. Make sure you stop and photograph the wildflowers that line the road during summer.

 

For the best photographs of the rock art, you will want to use low iso high contrast film such as Velvia 50 or 100. Fill flash will be necessary if there are shadows across the rock art. If you are using digital, you will do best by shooting raw files and adjusting the contrast with your photo editing software.

 

 This scenic drive offers one of the largest collections of rock art that can be easily accessed by car. Whether you have a casual or a serious interest in rock art, Nine Mile Canyon will not disappoint you.

 

 

Rock art is disappearing throughout the west as a result of weathering and vandalism. Some individuals have removed entire panels from the rocks often damaging nearby rock art. As a result, in many areas access is being blocked to the best sites (Sego Canyon as an example). We were fortunate to be able to photograph the Barrier Canyon rock art before the closing of the site. You can still see some good rock art in Sego Canyon. See our information on photographing Utah to learn what can still be seen and to get directions.

 

In areas such as Capitol Reef, we can see the deterioration in photographs taken just a few years apart.

 

Report vandalism. Do not touch rock art as oils from your skin may cause further deterioration. Some people have tried making latex molds of rock art. This has also damaged rock art and is prohibited by law.

 

Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

Helper, Utah which was named for the fact that the trains hauling coal from the area needed a “helper’ engine to get over the mountains. Today there is a historical museum at Helper that may be of interest to you.

 

At Price is the Prehistoric Museum.

 

Capitol Reef National Park is to the south. Take Utah 10 back to I-70. Cross over I-70 and continue south on Utah 72 until it intersects Utah 24. Turn east (left) and proceed to Capitol Reef.

 

Also nearby are Bryce, Zion, Arches, and Canyondlands National Parks as well as Escalante-Grand Staircase and Natural Bridges National Monuments.