Pictograph Cave State Park

This afternoon after I finished up a bunch of work I decided I needed to get out a bit and do something, so I headed over to the Pictograph Cave State Park for a little hike.

Pictograph Cave State Park is a 93-acre park and includes three caves (Pictograph, Middle, and Ghost cave). It's only about five miles south of Billings. There's a nice trail that passes in front of the caves and winds around the base of the rock. Parts of the trail are paved, and parts are gravel, and some of the trail is quite steep (perfect for a quick afternoon hike).

Excavation of the three caves began in 1937, and there have been over 30,000 artifacts found in the caves. Some of the pictographs are over 3500 years old and are still visible in Pictograph Cave (the largest of the three caves). They are paintings of animals, warriors, and rifles that document the story of the Native Americans of the area for thousands of years. 

Here's an overview of Pictograph Cave from the information display (cave wall above, pictographs outlined below):

Here's one of the pictographs (guns!) I could see pretty well from where I stood:

It's a beautiful area, worth a visit.

The bunnies and I took turns startling each other on my hike:

Looking back, from the end of the trail:

And here's a view of Billings from the Rimrocks yesterday morning:

Snow's mostly gone now and the road conditions for the pass we need to get over on our way home now say "scattered wet" and no more "areas of frost and ice." Hope it stays that way. 🙂