There are so many remote places to explore in Utah that it could take you a lifetime to see all of them. Sego Canyon Road is located just 3.5 miles north of Thompson Springs, near Moab, and you’ll want to give yourself an entire afternoon to check out the ancient petroglyphs and old mining ghost town along this road.
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Gas up your vehicle and head out to Sego Canyon for an afternoon adventure. Make sure you have water and a spare tire for this trip – the road can be rough.
The pictographs and petroglyphs found in this canyon were created by people from several different cultures, including the Fremont people, Utes, and people who lived during the Barrier Canyon Period and Archaic Period.
The Bureau of Land Management manages this area, and has placed interpretive signs in front of many of the panels. Read all about the different stories depicted here, but please don’t touch the rock art or vandalize it in any way.
Continue along the road and stay to the right when you reach a fork. You’ll soon come across the Sego Cemetery. Wander amongst the headstones (some of which are no longer legible) before hopping back in your car and continuing on.
The little town of Sego was originally formed in the late 1800s when Harry Ballard discovered coal in the area. The land was later purchased by American Fuel Company, and once was home to as many as 500 people.
The boom was brief, but the town continued to struggle until the mid-1950s when it was finally abandoned. Today, you can still see the shell of the American Fuel Company General Store, which was built in 1911.
