Wild and dangerous. Rugged and majestic. Enchanting and mysterious. The San Rafael Swell in south-central Utah is all this and more. This 75-by-40-mile expanse offers awe-inspiring beauty alongside the ever-present threat of flash floods. 

Locals call it “The Swell” – a place that also holds some of Utah’s most vibrant archaeological treasures: ancient rock art. Pictographs (drawings or paintings on rock) and petroglyphs (carvings or chiseling into rock) – some dating as far back as 4,000 B.C. – are scattered across the region. The artwork sparks curiosity about their Native American creators, including the Fremont, Paiute and Ute peoples. 

Much of these cultures’ legacy is lost to antiquity – colorful body paints, music and dance. Elizabeth Hora, public archaeologist at the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, says what remains are the “hard parts” of those cultures: a few stone beads, arrowheads, shards of pottery and panels of rock art.

“That is what has lasted,” Hora emphasized. Interpreting it, she adds, requires imagination.

Utah’s ancient rock art continues to capture those curious about how those people lived. For Steven Acerson, the fascination began in 1963 when he was just 10 years old – a moment etched in his memory as clearly as the petroglyphs and pictographs he first encountered that day.

Acerson’s family left their home in Green River for an Easter Sunday outing at Three Fingers Canyon in The Swell.

“There was a pond at the mouth of the canyon,” recalled Acerson, now 72 and living in Beaver. “We were playing while grandma and the other elders fixed food. Then we started exploring. On the side of the wash, I noticed a cave high above the pond.”

Curious, he climbed up and peered inside. What he found would change his life.

“On this slanted area, there were pictographs and in the cave above them was this heavy pagination – thousands of years old,” Acerson said. “It was baffling to me, trying to figure out what these all meant. It felt like stepping through a time portal. Were they trying to say something? Was this part of a spiritual process?”

Decades later, Acerson is still chasing answers.

After years as a whitewater rafting guide and outfitter, Acerson retired from the State Department of Transportation in 2014, he joined the Utah Rock Art Research Association (URARA), later serving as president. His wife, Diana, recently completed her own term as president. Together, the couple travels to rock art sites statewide, from remote outcroppings to spots near major roads that are easily missed by motorists. 

One such site, known as Tree of Life, lies within two miles of Black Dragon Wash exit on westbound Interstate 70. Hidden in an outcropping of red sandstone, the petroglyph panel features human-like figures, possible snakes and a lone tree beneath what appears to be a rainbow.

Nearby, the Barrier Canyon-style pictographs of Black Dragon Wash include human-like figures dating back 1,500 and 4,000 years. These include anthropomorphic figures with hollow eyes, outreached arms and what appear to be antennae extending skyward.

Archaeologists hypothesize the Barrier Canyon style dates to a late Archaic period (2,000 B.C.-0 A.D.), before the spread of agriculture. Among these pictographs is a faded black figure once thought to depict a dragon. However, in 2015, researchers using DStretch technology uncovered hidden details: a combination of animals, anthropomorphic figures and long, black horned snake.

Acerson, who has visited the site many times, is still captivated by its mystery. “As a boy, I used to hunt wildlife with my grandfather,” he said. “Everywhere we went – hiking and climbing – we’d come onto these panels of rock art.”

His lifelong fascination has fueled enduring questions: “What were these people trying to say?”

Experts, however, warn that interpretation is tricky terrain. Competing theories and perspectives abound. 

Steven Simms, an anthropology professor at Utah State University, believes clues to  understanding ancient rock art lie in studying its creators. 

“I like to call it social geography,” Simms said. “The rock art is a map into their minds. To know the rock art, you have to know the people.”

Simms explored these connections with his book Traces of Fremont: Society and Rock Art in Ancient Utah. The Fremont culture, which thrived between 300 and 1300 A.D., left behind distinct rock art, pottery, pit houses and small granaries.

The largest known Fremont settlement, discovered during the construction of Interstate 70 in 1983, was at Five Finger Ridge in Clear Creek Canyon. Archaeologists uncovered over 100 distinct structures, including 20 pit houses, 40 habitation structures and thousands of artifacts. This discovery prompted the creation of Fremont Indian State Park and Museum in Sevier. 

Though Interstate 70 destroyed much of the Five Finger Ridge site, Fremont rock art and structures remain scattered throughout the region. Simms believes their art reflects their sophistication. 

“They were not primitives,” he said. “They were masters of their landscape. They managed their environment intentionally, and I think it humanizes them.” 

Experts believe some Fremont rock art may have served as historical narrative, communicating events of daily life. For instance, researchers point to Mantle’s Cave in Colorado’s Dinosaur National Monument. There, in the late 1930s archaeologists uncovered small dwellings, granaries, pottery shards, baskets and hunting tools. Among these artifacts, was a ceremonial headdress intricately crafted with more than 370 Northern Flicker feathers, bound with fine buckskin and ermine cordage. 

The artifact closely resembled images repeatedly depicted in Fremont rock art. 

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, another haven for ancient rock art, offers further glimpses into these cultures. Spanning 1.7 million acres, the monument contains ruins and rock art sites, including the famous 100 Hands panel.

This mesmerizing pictograph, perched on a sandstone cliff overlooking the Escalante River, features at least 160 handprints. Reaching it requires a 1.2-mile hike along rocky, uneven terrain.

Vandalism has taken a toll on some sites, including the nearby Bighorn Panel, where attempts were made to saw away sections of rock. Despite these challenges, sites like 100 Hands continue to leave their mark on visitors.

“We have over 120,000 known archaeological sites in Utah,” Hora said. “Of those, maybe 5 percent or less are rock imagery. These sites are important and irreplaceable.”

They also remain deeply meaningful to the descendants of their creators.

“This isn’t just some romantic echo of a bygone era,” Hora said. “These are living places for people still intimately connected to them. When visiting rock imagery sites, approach them as you would a cathedral or temple. Keep your hands to yourself – this is someone’s sacred place.

“They are powerful places. If you open yourself up to that, you’ll have a more meaningful experience.”

Just as a 10-year-old boy from Green River did long ago.