Anasazi Valley Trail starts at a gravel lot off Old Highway 91, west of downtown Santa Clara, and climbs onto a sandstone bench that holds one of the densest concentrations of petroglyph panels in Washington County. The site has two names locally — Anasazi Valley, the older settler name, and Tempi’po’op, the Southern Paiute name used by the Shivwits Band who consulted on the trail’s interpretation. Both appear on the trailhead sign.
What you’re walking to
The trail climbs gently across a rocky bench above the Santa Clara River and traverses a Navajo sandstone outcrop where Ancestral Puebloan and later Southern Paiute peoples carved hundreds of figures into the desert varnish. The petroglyphs include human figures, animals, geometric patterns, and several panels that scholars and tribal consultants have interpreted as related to specific cultural narratives. The interpretive signs at the panel are careful to avoid speculative readings — they describe what’s there and credit the tribal communities whose ancestors made the marks.
Treat the panels carefully
Hard rules apply. Don’t touch the petroglyphs. Don’t put your hand on the rock face anywhere near them — skin oils accelerate the breakdown of the varnish layer the figures are carved into. Don’t add anything to the rock. Don’t take rubbings, don’t trace, don’t chalk for photographs. The site is a federal cultural resource protected under ARPA (the Archaeological Resources Protection Act), and damage to petroglyphs is a federal crime with real penalties. The Shivwits Band considers this a living cultural site, not a museum. The interpretive signs make this explicit.
The walk itself
From the trailhead the route climbs a series of switchbacks up to the bench, follows a contour around to the petroglyph area, and loops back via a slightly different line. There’s almost no shade — a few junipers, the occasional cliff overhang. Footing is mixed dirt and slickrock with some sandy stretches. The viewpoint over the Santa Clara River drainage at the high point of the trail is one of the best in Washington County for understanding the river’s path from Pine Valley Mountain down through Gunlock and into the city.
When to go
October through April is the comfortable window. Spring is best — the desert wildflowers along the bench are particularly good in late March, the river below is running, and the temperatures are reasonable. Summer mornings are tolerable; summer afternoons are not. Winter sometimes has dustings of snow on the upper sections that make the slickrock slick (the name fits) and require care.
What you’ll see besides petroglyphs
The trail passes through pinyon-juniper woodland in places, with prickly pear and barrel cactus on the open slopes. Lizards are common, including chuckwallas in the rockier sections and the occasional collared lizard. Birds: kestrels, ravens, towhees in the brush, golden eagles over the river drainage in winter. The Santa Clara River below the bench is small but year-round, and the cottonwoods along it provide the only real fall color in this part of Washington County.
Where it fits
Anasazi Valley is the trail Santa Clara residents send people to who want a real desert walk with cultural depth, less than ten minutes from town. It pairs naturally with a stop at one of the cafés in the Santa Clara historic district before or after, and with the Tuacahn / Padre Canyon area further up Old Highway 91. The trail is also one of the few accessible petroglyph sites in Washington County where the BLM and the relevant tribal authority have collaborated explicitly on interpretation — that consultation is what makes the trail work as a cultural site rather than just a viewpoint.