Summary: Located near Kolob Terrace Road, the Cave Valley Pictographs have over 20 motifs in white, yellow, red and black pigment. This site is now CLOSED to the public.

The Cave Valley Pictographs in the Kolob Terrace is an American Indian rock art sites in Zion National Park, left by the nomadic Southern Paiute who camped seasonally in the area. (They came after the Ancestral Puebloan people, who lived here until about 1300 AD).

There are a number of pictographs in the Birthing Cave, and beyond this the Altar Cave has a shelf in the middle of the cave covered in animal bones.

There are a number of interesting pictographs in the Birthing Cave, with the most obvious one being a set of seven white figures in white.

The largest figure is an anthropomorph, which is surrounded by smaller figures with the same design – and two even smaller seated human figures.

028A8231 LR Cave Valley Pictographs in Zion028A8231 LR ydt Cave Valley Pictographs in Zion

Another panel has multiple figures, which includes more anthropomorphs, and what look like sheep.

There are a few more picrographs scattered around the cave; some are very hard to make out without image processing.

Getting to the Cave Valley Pictographs

Located near Kolob Terrace Road, there used to be informal trails leading to the pictograph site. However, to protect the fragile rock art this site is now closed to the public. For the safety of visitors and protection of the site, the National Park Service and their tribal partners are assessing the area and developing a plan to stabilize it and protect it over the long-term.

Violation of visiting a closed archaeological site maybe result in a fine of up to $5,000.00, six months in jail, or both. Park rangers are actively monitoring the site for visitation and issuing citations when necessary.

More information

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Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Red Hands Cave, Glenbrook (Blue Mountains)
The Blue Mountains National Park (and surrounding areas along the Great Western Highway) is thought to have over a thousand indigenous heritage sites, although much of the park has not been comprehensively surveyed. The Aboriginal rock sites in the Blue Mountains include grinding grooves, stensils, drawing and rock carvings.
Over 40 sites have been recorded within the park; many were located along the river bank and were flooded by the building of the weir in 1938.
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area protects over 3,000 known Aboriginal heritage sites, and many more which are yet to be recorded. This area includes the Blue Mountains National Park, Gardens of Stone, Wollemi National Park and Yengo National Park.