Buckhorn Draw Pictograph Panel
Barrier Canyon style, with later Fremont additions · Buckhorn Draw, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah · over 2,000 years old
Photo: Sandy Brown Jensen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), as also published on Street Art Utopia.
The Bureau of Land Management calls the Buckhorn Panel one of the most spectacular examples of Barrier Canyon style rock art, with ghostly red figures standing watch over the San Rafael River. Source Checked KSL reports that the main panel was painted well over 2,000 years ago. Source Source Checked
Seen Jan 2025: on 17 January 2025 law enforcement found the name “Silvia P.” scratched across four bighorn-sheep petroglyphs on the panel; the BLM called the damage permanent. Source Source Checked
💡 5 things to know
- Painted with hematiteKSL reports that the main figures were painted with a red pigment made from powdered hematite. Source Reported
- Longer than 130 feetKSL says the panel spans over 130 feet; High Country News gave 162 feet in 1995. Source Source Reported
- Two cultures on one wallKSL attributes the main pictographs to the Barrier Canyon people, an Archaic hunter-gatherer society; Wikipedia notes a few later petroglyphs of Fremont origin. Source Source Checked
- Cleaned in the 1990sBefore the cleanup the wall carried more than 100 years of names, carvings and bullet holes. Restorers Richard Wolbers and Constance Silver cleaned it, and the dedication was set for 23 September 1995; later sources date the restoration to 1996. Source Source Source Conflicting
- New damage in 2025In January 2025 someone scratched “Silvia P.” across four bighorn-sheep petroglyphs. The site is protected under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. Source Source Checked
📍 Where it is
In Buckhorn Draw (Buckhorn Wash) in the San Rafael Swell, Emery County, about 15 miles east of Castle Dale, on Bureau of Land Management land. Source Source Checked The BLM lists a short trail, interpretive panels, a pit toilet and a shade structure at the site. Source Checked
Opens the panel’s position on Google Maps (coordinates from the BLM).
🗓️ Sightings
- 199521 Aug
Cleanup under way · High Country News
- 19953 Sep
Cleanup done · Deseret News
- 20134 Nov
Described · KSL
- 202517 Jan
New graffiti found · KSL TV
Amber stamps mark reports; the red stamp marks damage (the panel is still there). Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
“The Buckhorn Wash panel is one the most spectacular examples of Barrier Canyon style rock art, according to the BLM.”
“This unique site attracts visitors from around the world to Emery County and is a vital part of Utah’s cultural heritage,”
Quoted from the BLM in KSL’s report on the 2025 vandalism.
✅ The facts
- Makers
- Barrier Canyon people (Archaic hunter-gatherers); later Fremont petroglyphs Source Source Checked
- Length
- Over 130 feet (KSL); 162 feet (High Country News, 1995) Source Source Conflicting
- Restoration
- Cleaned by Richard Wolbers and Constance Silver; dedication set for 23 September 1995 (High Country News, Deseret News); KSL and Wikipedia date the restoration to 1996 Source Source Source Source Conflicting
🔗 Related
All sources & image credits
- Bureau of Land Management: Buckhorn Panel
- KSL: Utah Field Guide, Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel (4 November 2013)
- Deseret News: After cleanup, we can get real picture (3 September 1995)
- KSL TV: BLM seeks information about vandalized Buckhorn Draw petroglyphs (4 February 2025)
- Deseret News: BLM investigating vandalism at Buckhorn Wash (4 February 2025)
- High Country News: Pictures worth 2,000 words (21 August 1995)
- Wikipedia: Buckhorn Draw Pictograph Panel
- Image: Sandy Brown Jensen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (file page), as also published on Street Art Utopia; a 16:9 share image was made from it. No More photos row: the free-licence photos named in our research could not be checked against their Commons pages in this run.
Last checked: 3 November 2026. How we verify art