Black Dragon 2.5

The San Rafael Reef is an up-tilted line of sandstone plates 80 miles long.

You will enjoy it's colorful rock, prehistoric rock art and the rock walls that tower hundreds of feet above the narrow canyon of Black Dragon Wash.

The name comes from a pictograph in the canyon that someone thought resembled a black dragon.  Looks more like a pterodactyl to me.

We ran this Jeep trail from east to west, but have heard that it is more scenic dropping down into the canyon from the west.  Will try that next time.

There is a GPS - gpx track at the bottom of the page.
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Black Dragon
Start from SR 24 and head west toward the southern end of the Reef.  Turn north along the reef and then west on a spur that ends at Three Finger Canyon.  Walk into the canyon to see the first rock art on this trail. 
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Southern end of Reef
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Three Fingers Rock Art
Continue north on the main trail for many spectacular views of the Reef.
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Middle part of the reef
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Northern part of the reef
A short spur to the east will take you to the weirdest rock formation we have ever seen.  We call it "Root Rock".  From a distance it looks like petrified roots deep in the ground.  Close inspection says the original rock fractured, then was infused with thin layers of another mineral.

The grayish cliff on the right side of the first photo is what you are looking for.  This photo is facing south.  The photo on the right shows the Root Rock from a distance
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Root Rocks cliff on right
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Root Rocks from a distance
Two closer photos.  The right one shows that the white mineral is in layers.
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Root Rocks closer
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Root Rocks very close
Continue north and pass under the freeway through large drainage tunnels.  Note there are roads to the wash from both lanes of the freeway.

Beyond the freeway you will enter the canyon for Black Dragon Wash.  This is where you will find the Black Dragon rock art, as well as the Praying Dog and numerous other specimens.
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Black Dragon Wash Canyon
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Praying Dog
The road beyond the art is a good way to see this part of the area, but it has no special features.  If you are short of time, simply return to the freeway.
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Updated 2014.
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