One of several petroglyph sites in the Snow Canyon State Park near St George, Sinking Ship Rock possibly looks like a sinking ship… from the right angle…
One side of the enornous and isolated boulder is covered in petroglyphs, which date from the Fremont culture (about AD 1 to 1301).
The Sinking Ship Rock rock art consists mostly of circular and linear patterns.
Other nearby petroglyph sites you can access in the area along the same trail include:
- Slot Petroglyphs
- Newspaper Rock
Getting to the Snow Canyon Sinking Ship Rock petroglyphs
The Sinking Ship Rock Petroglyphs are along the Snow Canyon Petroglyph Trail, which is partly a marked trail and partly a 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 an closer to 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.)
From this service trail, there are 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, the trail crosses the sandy wash of Johnson Arch Canyon, and official signposts mark the trail as it ascends in a northerly direction towards Sinking Ship Rock.
From Sinking Ship Rock, you can return the same way, complete a loop back to the Gila Trail (via an unmarked route) or head in a south-easterly direction towards the service trail which runs parallel to State Route 18.
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