WATCH: The Pictographs of Paint Rock

PAINT ROCK, TX — The Paint Rock Indian Pictographs in Paint Rock range in age from 170 to 2,000 years old, explained Bill Campbell

“This is a very significant spiritual location for the pre-Apache and pre-Comanche native Americans. And these people got along with each other. This was a very important ceremonial location for them,” said Campbell.

WATCH: Bill Campbell show the Paint Rock pictographs. 

The Paint Rock pictographs encompass about 1500 different images painted into about ½ mile of rock, according the Texas Historical Commission.

The heart of the display sits on a 70-foot-high cliff a located about two football fields in distance north of the Concho River. There are hundreds of pictographs to view there.

The pictographs depict animals, human figures, and geometric shapes, and handprints. Colors vary from black to red, yellow and orange. Some of the Paint Rock pictographs have been vandalized over the years but today the sites are protected on a private ranch.

To visit the Paint Rock pictographs, take U.S. 83 south from Ballinger or travel north on U.S. 83 from Eden to Paint Rock, or from San Angelo drive east on State Highway 380 to the town of Paint Rock. SH 380 travels south of the Concho River and the entrance to the pictograph displays is just north of Paint Rock and the Concho River and marked just north of the town of Paint Rock on U.S. 83. From there, turn west on the gravel ranch road to the visitors’ center. Admission is $6 per person with a minimum charge of $15. Guided tours require an appointment that is available by calling (325) 723-4376.

The Paint Rock pictographs offer a taste of life before European migration. Further south are additional and more extensive pictograph sites.

In the Transpecos region near Comstock three hours south of San Angelo and 30 minutes by car west of Del Rio sits the Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center. The center has been researching pictographs in the lower Transpecos region for over a decade. You can visit them at their offices in Comstock.

At the Seminole Canyon State Park, park rangers there offer guided tours of various pictograph shelters in the canyon. Seminole Canyon is located west of Del Rio on U.S. 90 and just east of Comstock.