Intestine Man Petroglyphs, Moab, Utah

We like obscure places and things, so when we heard about the Intestine Man Petroglyphs, we decided we had to find them and check them out.

You might be wondering what on earth are Intestine Man Petroglyphs, and why would we want to go? I’m glad you asked! Rougly 7,000 years ago, multiple groups of people lived in this area. The petroglyphs here are of different styles during different times and can range from 2,000 to 6,000 years old. They can be from ancestral Puebloan, Fremont, Ute, Palute, and Navajo tribes. There is also a mystery of what exactly the petroglyphs represent. This is up for interpretation, as nobody really knows for sure.

The Intestine Man Petroglyphs are pretty remote, and pretty hard to find. We didn’t have a very good internet signal, so we went by the directions we were given. I think we passed it 2 or 3 times before we found it, lol. Thankfully we persevered and as luck would have it, we pulled into the right place.

This area was very natural. There are a few small paths, but they’re not paved and there’s a bit of walking around. We loved that the area was not disturbed, but still accessible to walk.

There was a sign from the Bureau of Land Management that had pictures of the Pictographs and Petryglyphs to look for on the rock wall. Ever wonder what the difference is between a Pictograph and a Petroglyph? The sign also explained that, “Images painted with natural pigments on the rock surface are pictographs; images pecked into the rock are petroglyphs.” Very cool!

Now that we knew what we were looking for, we started our hunt. The petroglyphs were what we found first. The contrast on the dark side of the rock with a lighter image that was carved out made finding them easier. So how do you read a petroglyph? Left to right, right to left? Although there is no set rule, one theory says to read them from the way the person is facing, so that is what we tried to do. (If that is a person swimming facing left, that is…)

Starting from the left, we see large boxy animals that look like bighorn sheep. Then there’s a line of dots with what could be a person swimming down a river to the left, or it could also be an animal facing right. Further down is a star, then veering off the path is a line going south that looks like a river with possible tributaries. Where the river ends, on the right it looks like a plant. Is there more abundant food there in time of a drought?

Following the dotted path, but not going down the river, the dots seem to lead to a cross or a person and left to that is a spiral. Some research indicates that a spiral could be a solar calendar, represent water & wind, a life’s journey, or a spiritual quest.

Juliana thinks the man was walking on a hunt and the dots are his footprints. On his hunt, he saw a wolf or coyote. Then after he saw three mountain goats. That means he had a successful hunt and he brought them back for dinner.

Luke’s thoughts are that the person had large animals and they escaped at night. When he was going out to get his animals, he saw different things like lizards, snakes, and a wolf. He feels the spiral is a snake and the animal near the wavy dotted line is a wolf.

My (Jodi’s) interpretation is that the bighorn sheep were plentiful and was a primary food source. I think this is a map on where to find the bighorn sheep and also where he traveled on his journey. I think he left the land of plenty and took a journey into the unknown. I think the dots are the path he walked and that he faced a dangerous animal on his way. Then he shows you where to find plants by following the river, which could save the people during times of drought or scarcity. I feel he took this journey alone and it became a spiritual quest for him. I can picture him having a crowd of children gathered around him as he points to his pictures and telling of his heroic adventures.

Joe surmises that it looks like the person was hunting three large bighorn sheep and one small one in the evening with some kind of domesticated coyote or fox and they followed them through the night. But at some point they saw something in the sky like a spinning machine and a tall being. The hunter ran along a river and maybe took refuge underground in some caves.

Was it graffiti? Perhaps a warning of hidden danger? Someone telling an exciting adventure? Or was it a map of where he was moving and wanted people to follow? We’ll never know for sure, but it was sure fun to guess!

Next to find were the pictographs. Ok, these were a bit weird, but super cool in my opinion. This is what gives Intestine Man Petroglyphs their name. The largest figure has what looks to be intestines drawn very clearly. On his right is a being with wings and on his left is another figure. Above them are a group of thin figures. To the right of the group of three figures is another group of six smaller figures or it could be fire, representing the fires of Hell.

There has been a lot of debate on what these beings represent. People have wondered if they were aliens, celestial beings, shaman, and there are many more guesses on who they are and what they may be. I think it looks like the intestine man has moral dilemmas. He has the good angel on his right, and the bad angel on his left. He knows if he makes good decisions, he will be led to Heaven with the choir of angels above. Maybe the group of beings on the right is who will be judging him, maybe it’s the other people he will be suffering his fate with for making bad/evil decisions, or it could be the fires of Hell.

No matter whether we are right or wrong in our hypothesis, Intestine Man Petroglyphs was a wonderful and thought provoking place to visit. We definitely recommend a visit!

Word of advice, do a screen shot of a map before you try to find this. We didn’t have a cellphone signal and GPS didn’t work either. It’s a really cool place and we’d love more people to see it!

If you would like to see our documentary on YouTube, please click on the link below. We’d love to invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, too. 🥰

We hope you are enjoying our travels! We’d love to welcome you to subscribe to our free weekly email list, Facebook page, Instagram, TikTok, & YouTube channels. You can also share it with your friends, if you’d like. We added some videos on our YouTube channel to go along with the post: https://www.youtube.com/@TravelingwiththeTrapps

You can find our Tiktok videos here: tiktok.com/@travelingwiththetrapps

Thanks so much and stay tuned for more Traveling with the Trapps!

Share this: