Dogs Off-leash
Overview
Black Dragon Wash is a downhill shuttle ride, starting on the San Rafael Swell plateau and dropping into
Black Dragon Canyon. This ride can be done as an out-and-back from the bottom, but the climb is quite steep. The description assumes a shuttle ride from the top.
Need to Know
Don't touch rock imagery or make your own: Natural oils on your hands damage these delicate images. Vandalism of petroglyphs and pictographs erases stories of ancient people and destroys the experience for future visitors.
Description
To access the bottom parking area from westbound I-70, turn right onto a gravel access road immediately after mile marker 147. It's not a proper freeway exit, so use caution. There is a gate a few hundred feet from the road -- you'll need to get out to open the gate (be sure to close it again behind you).
Follow the gravel road approximately 800 feet through the dry river bed. A protected area with short bluffs surrounding three sides will be in front of you. Park your shuttle car here. Alternatively, for an out-and-back ride, park here and start riding.
The upper trailhead is accessed from I-70 exit 131. Proceed east along the gravel frontage road for 3.5 miles until the road pulls away from I-70, and you reach an intersection. Your shuttle ride starts here.
Follow the gravel road keeping I-70 at your right. At the 0.25-mile mark, stay on the gravel road and do not cross under I-70 to the right (south).
Next, at the 2.25-mile mark, you'll come to a T-intersection with Jerry Flat Road (unmarked), turn left (north) to continue the descent (right/south heads to I-70).
After three miles, you'll come to another intersection. Turn right onto the Black Dragon wash on the Swasey's Leap 4X4 trail.
At 5.8 miles, stay right at the Y intersection onto
Jackass Benches. After 7.5 miles, there's a faint jeep trail to the right - make sure to stay on the main road.
Next, at 8.25 miles, you'll come to another Y intersection. Turn right to continue into Black Dragon wash on the
Black Dragon Canyon trail. After 12.5 miles, the trail enters the bottom of the wash. The trail can be quite sandy here in some spots.
At the 14.8-mile mark, the Black Dragon pictograph site is protected by a fenced-off area, and then within another mile you exit the Black Dragon Wash. Turn right at the gravel road to head south to the final parking area and the end of the ride.
History & Background
The Black Dragon pictograph is an interesting historical highlight. Examine this drawing and decide for yourself what you think it resembles, and what its purpose may have been.
Contacts
Shared By:
Trevor Timmons
with improvements
by dean hill
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