Hole-in-the-Rock

Hole-in-the-Rock May 2016 cultural landscape report fieldwork journal

Hole-in-the-Rock Cultural Landscape

The Hole In the Rock Trail is a Mormon pioneer route that forged a passage through over 200 miles of wilderness land in southeastern Utah during the autumn and winter of 1879. In partnership with the National Park Service and the University of Colorado, the historic and cultural significance of the trail and its special places and stories is being documented through a Cultural Landscape Report.

Dance Hall Rock

"The Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers camped at Forty-mile Spring for more than 3 weeks, waiting for all expedition members to arrive and for leaders to determine if the proposed route was feasible. To pass the time, they held dances in the natural amphitheater they called Dance Hall Rock, now a National Historic Site."

From the Hole-in-the-Rock museum, Escalante, Utah

Wooden trail markers denote the historic trail route

Trail Route Alignments

Existing wooden trail markers denote the original trail alignment

In more rocky locations, the trail route can be pinpointed through areas of erosion and wear

The original trail route followed the natural valley springs that parallel the adjacent mountain range

Over 250 pioneers undertook the Hole-in-the-Rock expedition, and their routes to springs and campsites are still visible today

Springs and Washes

Being able to find water for people and animals was a critical element of the Hole-in-the-Rock journey. Often, camps were located adjacent to natural springs, where water was close to the surface.

The Hole-in-the-Rock

"When pioneers finally glimpsed the Colorado River, it lay 1800 vertical feet below them. The wagon train camped for 6 cold and snowy weeks while men carved out the narrow, precipitous path to the river for which the expedition is now named."

From the Hole-in-the-Rock Pioneer Museum, Escalante, Utah

In the upper portions of the Hole-in-the-Rock, blasting powder was used to remove rock and create a consistent and passable slope for the wagons. Even with the engineering work along this section of the trail, the Hole-in-the-Rock trail cut into the rock had areas with a 45-degree slope.

View toward Lake Powell from Hole-in-the-Rock

In order to make the Hole-in-the-Rock passable for wagons and livestock, several areas needed to be carved out and widened. Here pick-axe marks illustrate a widened portion of the trail.

In several locations, portions of the original trail through the Hole-in-the-Rock are visible. Here, the trail route is intact, but the dugway created to widen the trail no longer exists.

In order to widen the trail through Hole-in-the-Rock, holes were drilled into the sandstone and wooden stakes were inserted so that additional branches and rocks could be compacted to form the widened trail surface. In this image, the smaller wooden stakeholes are visible.

Pioneer Heritage & Cultural Value of the Hole-in-the-Rock

In addition to documenting the physical sites along the Hole-in-the-Rock trail, the Cultural Landscape Report also documents the cultural value of the trail for current-day Mormon people. During the fieldwork, interviews with members of the Mormon community helped shape our understanding of the heritage value of Hole-in-the-Rock.

Interpretive panels at the Hole-in-the-Rock museum in Escalante, Utah.

Discussing the outdoor exhibits with Mormon pioneer descendants at the Hole-in-the-Rock museum.

Painting depicting a typical multi-family campsite at Dance Hall Rock (image from the Hole-in-the-Rock museum in Escalante, Utah)

Interior interpretive exhibit at the Hole-in-the-Rock Museum in Escalante, Utah.

Outdoor exhibit at the Hole-in-the-Rock museum in Escalante, Utah.

Painting depicting the decent down the Hole (from the Hole-in-the-Rock museum in Escalante, Utah).

Next Steps

During this portion of the fieldwork, we documented the western half of the trail, from Escalante to Lake Powell. In the fall of 2016, our team will continue to study the trail as it extends from Lake Powell to Bluff (the final Mormon settlement site).

Photo curtesy of Lamont Crabtree

Created By

Kristin Cypher

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