MOAB, Utah — The whole thing is pretty much a blink and you’ll miss it thing on Kane Creek Trail south of Moab.
A section of rock that really doesn’t look any different from all the other sections of rock cutting through the floor of Kane Creek Springs Canyon.
Only this rocky outcrop has something kind of unusual on the trail. Several historical rock art images that perhaps date back about 2,000 years.
Unfortunately, more and more people lately are discovering this rock garden and not respecting the area. Some graffiti now litters spots next to the art, the ground trampling the surrounding it has been trampled — sometimes resulting in the destruction of important biological soil crust that prevents erosion.
So Wednesday we partnered with Tread Lightly! and constructed a special walkway leading from Kane Creek Trail to the rock garden. Additionally, we helped construct buck-and-rail fencing all around the area to prevent intrusion close to the historical rock art.
We’ve partnered with Tread Lightly! numerous times during our Moab travels, helping with important projects on Hell’s Revenge, Poison Spider and Hey Joe Canyon. And it is always one of our favorite things to do during Easter Jeep Safari Week as these go a long way to keeping access open on trail systems.
Wednesday saw the largest turnout yet for these trail cleanups and dozens of people turned out to help. Some utilized power tools to cut and ram screws into the fencing pieces during construction. Others carried long slabs of wood wherever it was needed. A few even helped haul large rocks to mark the new walkway leading to the rock art.
It was a constant blur of motion that was both inspiring and heart-warming to see just how many people gave up time on their vacation to help prevent off-trail damage.
We’ll have more on this special cleanup in a few days on Torque so keep our page bookmarked.
