Trails
The Jones Hole Trail is a 4-mile hike (8-mile roundtrip) that begins from the parking lot at Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery. Located on Dinosaur National Monument land, the trail will follow Jones Creek, which begins as a spring at the Hatchery, and through a narrow canyon in the Diamond Mountain range eventually terminating on the banks of the Green River.
The hiking is easy since the trail stays fairly level, changing only about 200-feet in elevation. You should bring your own drinking water (water from the creek is not recommended for drinking), and wear comfortable hiking shoes. Be on the lookout for Bighorn Sheep as they like to hangout close the creek.
During the hike, after you cross Jones Creek on a bridge approximately 1½-miles down the trial from the hatchery, you can find several panels of Fremont petroglyphs and pictographs along the canyon wall. Left behind by the indigenous Fremont people whom made Jones Hole their home 1000 years ago, these pictographs were made with paint created from iron minerals mixed with plant juice or animal oil. Although this paint is durable to withstand the effects of time, it cannot resist the acids on your skin so please do not touch the pictographs.
After two miles, Jones Hole Trail will intersect with Island Park Trail at Ely Creek. A short hike up Island Park Trail will take you to a small waterfall where you can cool off from the heat of the day.
For more information visit the National Park Service Dinosaur National Monument website.