The name of the area comes from the outcropping of sandstone which the wind has eroded into fanciful shapes resembling the turrets and towers of castle. This unusual formation has been luring visitors for thousands of years, and many of them left their mark in the soft sandstone–the area holds a treasure of Native American rock art, or petroglyphs.
Improvements to the site have been made over the past several years to enhance the experience and to better protect the petroglyphs. A fine crushed gravel walking trail exist throughout the site, foot bridges to ease the crossing of deep drainages and a new parking area.
The Castle Gardens Petroglyph Site is a 6-mile (9.7 km) by 1-mile (1.6 km) region of vertical cliff faces in Fremont County, Wyoming, with extensive petroglyph images incised in the rock faces. The glyphs include images of water turtles and circular shields, as well as human and animal figures. The figures with circular shields are particular to the area, and are known as Castle Gardens Shield style images. A consensus of researchers is that the figures were carved by Athabaskans related to the Navajo and Apache between 1000 AD and 1250 AD.
Future work at Castle Gardens will include new interpretive panels and benches for enjoying the view. All of these improvements are designed to reduce the amount of vandalism through increased understanding of the site and better visitor facilities.
The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1969.