Can we talk about the fake petroglyphs I saw at a state park in Utah last month

I drove out to Goblin Valley State Park and hiked to the Mollys Castle area. There's a big rock with carvings that look TOTALLY fresh, like someone used a chisel last week. The park ranger told me they find 3 or 4 fake glyphs every year from tourists trying to be clever. Has anyone else run into this kind of vandalism at other sites?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicebarnes4d ago

I used to think people were overreacting about fake petroglyphs until I ran into some at Canyonlands a couple years ago. I found this panel that looked super obvious, like someone had scratched smiley faces and initials into the rock right next to REAL carvings that were hundreds of years old. It made me SO mad because those tourists just destroy something that was perfectly fine. The ranger told me they try to document the new ones and sometimes they can remove them, but you can never really undo it. Now I always look closer at any glyphs I see to spot the fresh cuts versus the weathered old ones. It really changed how I see those sites, now I get annoyed instead of amazed when people pull that stuff.

christophermurray4d ago

The whole "leave no trace" thing goes right out the window with some people. It's not just the obvious smiley faces either, I've seen people try to fake ancient symbols and it's painfully obvious when you know what to look for. Fresh scratches are white and sharp, not dark and worn down like the real ones. The worst part is those idiots think they're being clever or leaving their mark, but they're just vandalizing something that belonged to everyone. Rangers can try to blend the fake ones with dirt or sand, but like you said, you can't un cut that rock. It's a permanent scar on something that was perfectly fine for centuries before some jerk with a pocket knife showed up.