Petroglyph Beach

The petroglyph panels at what's become known as Petroglyph Beach are one of the accessible remnants of the pre-dam human history of Glen Canyon. The carvings include sheep, geometric patterns, and human figures, and can be reached from the water by boat or, when lake levels allow, by walking along the shoreline.

The Bureau of Reclamation and the Navajo Nation have documented and mapped as many petroglyph sites as possible in the Lake Powell area, but the ongoing drought and fluctuating water levels mean that submerged sites periodically emerge and then disappear again. It's a sobering reminder of what the reservoir covered.

things to do sight
A story
The petroglyphs at this site on the shore of Lake Powell are believed to be 3,000 to 6,000 years old, created by Ancestral Puebloan and earlier peoples who lived in the Glen Canyon region long before the Navajo arrived. When the dam was built and the canyon flooded, most of the rock art in the area was lost. This site survives only because it sits above the original waterline — though falling lake levels have exposed additional sites that were previously submerged.