Lion's Mouth Cave, Utah

Lion's Mouth Cave was named due to its distinctive appearance of looking like the mouth of a Lion. It is sacred to the local Indians. Lion's Mouth Cave is located west of Cedar City, Utah and can be reached by taking highway 56 west to Pinto road. Travel about 1.2 miles on Pinto road until there is a pullout on the right hand side of the road. A trail with signs goes up to the cave. The site is protected by the state of Utah.

Lion's Mouth pictographs consist of several long painted panels within an overhanging cave. The figures are painted with reddish and yellow ochre hues. There is a small anthropomorphic figure, a snake like figure, and other simple drawings. According to one of the Cedar City residents, the figures were not originally colored as they are now. The color was the result of someone deciding to "improve" the looks, which we would call vandalism. Unfortunately, the coloring masked out intricate tick marks carved into the rock along the long rope like structure. The marks were probably counting marks prevalent at nearby locations such as Parowan Gap.