Newspaper Rock in Snow Canyon State Park near St George is the most impressive of several petroglyph sites in the area. The long, vertical side of a huge boulder is covered in Fremont-era petroglyphs.
The main panel has over 40 motifs.
The motifs including many geometric shapes.
There are some animal motifs.
A smaller panel along the southern end contains some more motifs, including what appears to be a human figure.
Other nearby petroglyph sites you can access in the area along the same trail include:
Getting to the Snow Canyon Newspaper Rock petroglyphs
The Newspaper Rock Petroglyphs are along the Snow Canyon Petroglyph Trail, which is partly a marked trail and partly an unmarked route accessed from the Gila Trail. To get to the Gila Trail you can start from one of the the official trailheads which are to the south near the Chuckawalla Climbing Area and to the north near the junction of the W 5745 N and State Route 18. This makes it about an 8-mile round-trip.
A shorter route is from a pull-out along State Route 18 between W 3700 N and W 4200 N. From here you can pick up a social trail – or just walk in a westerly direction – until you hit a wide service trail that runs parallel to the highway. (It may also be possible to start from the end of W 4200 N – but you cannot park here, and you may be passing through private property.)
Once you are on the service trail, you have two options: walk south along this trail until you reach the Gila Trail, and then continue north up the Gila Trail. Or continue northwards along the service trail for a short distance, and then head west directly towards the Slot Petroglyphs (from here you’ll pick up the Snow Canyon Petroglyph Trail).
Once you are on the Gila Trail, follow this well-signposted route which crosses the sandy wash of Johnson Arch Canyon and ascends to the top of a ridge. Just below a row of ridge-top houses is Sailing Ship Rock, another petroglyph sites which offers a great view over Snow Canyon State Park.
From here this no marked route; continue in a south-east direction (along the top of the ridge and below the row of properties). Once you reach the end of the last house along the ridge, you’ll see the distinctive, dark-coloured Newspaper Rock site below. There is a steep descent down into the gulch, and then back up the base of Newspaper Rock.
From here you continue south along the Snow Canyon Petroglyph Trail to complete a loop, returning the same way to the car – or back out along the Gila Trail. Or, head east to pick up the service trail that runs parallel to State Route 18.
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