Grapevine Canyon Hikes - Inside The Bridge Canyon Wilderness Area

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(Fig. 01)

Area Description: The Grapevine Canyon area, lies to the south of Spirit Mountain, the highest peak in the Newberry Mountains, and contains a spectacular assemblage of petroglyphs pecked into a ridge of hard granite at the mouth of Grapevine Canyon, making it the biggest petroglyph site in southern Nevada. It is located inside the boundaries of the Bridge Canyon Wilderness Area, just south of the Spirit Mountain Wilderness Area in southern Nevada. Spirit Mountain, to the north, rises to an elevation of 5,639 feet above sea level. It and its surrounding canyons are considered sacred grounds for the Yuman speaking tribes of the lower Colorado River. The Mojave Indians had called this site their homeland for thousands of years, yet it is unknown whether the Mojaves or their Paleo-Indian / Desert Archaic ancestors created the petroglyphs at the site. The mountain plays a prominent role in the religion and mythology of these people. They believe the mountain (called Avikwame by the Mohave people and Wikame by the Hualapai) is the spiritual birthplace of the tribes. Their creation story says ... "At one time all people belonged to one tribe, but they began to quarrel. The Creator, Mutavela, settled the dispute by dividing the great land into four sections, the North peoples, the South peoples, the East peoples and the West peoples. The Mohave were the west people and occupied the land along the Colorado River from what is now Black Canyon to the Bill Williams River." Spirit Mountain and its surrounding canyons collectively have been named a "Traditional Cultural Property" and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of their significance to the Yuman speaking tribes which include Mohave, Hualapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Pai pai and Maricopa. This area is still sacred to the members of these tribes. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 15, 1984. The Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs: As is usual for other Colorado River locales, representational or figurative motifs are rare at the site being heavily outnumbered by geometric designs defying interpretation. Determining the exact age of the petroglyphs found here is difficult. Evidence from recent research projects indicates that the age of the etchings spans a time period from as recent as 150 – 200 years ago to more than 1200 years ago. Even though the majority are complex combinations of geometric forms almost impossible to interpret, there are some familiar motif types present at the site such as sheep and occasional human “stick-like”  figures as well as a few "patterned-body” stylized human figures. Many who have studied these engravings question whether these more recognizable motifs represent Yuman Petroglyphs or instead were created by non-Yuman shamans. Because Spirit Mountain is sacred to the Native American tribes in this region, it was widely renowned as a place of great supernatural power. It is entirely possible that shamans from different cultures came here for their own types of vision quests, adding their own unique engravings. For more petroglyph pictures, view the slideshow below and visit the following link ... Grapevine Canyon - Site Petroglyph Photos.

(Fig. 01a)

03/12/2015 Trip Notes: Even though this was my fifth visit to this area, it was my most productive in terms of petroglyph finds. I spent the entire time climbing and hiking the cliffs on both sides of the canyon with my hiking partner Blake Smith (Fig. 01a). This climbing around allowed me to locate literally dozens of panels that I had never seen before. As a result, I created a whole new page to show the many panels and glyphs that I have located here. To view pictures and learn more about the area, who may have created them, and how the religions of ancient tribes as practiced by Shaman, click here … Grapevine Canyon - Site Petroglyph Photos. Even as dry as it has been, Blake and I were both pleased to see the sprouting of dozens of wildflowers as we hiked up and down the wash and around the base of the canyon. I put together the following collage (Fig. 01c) with some of our more colorful finds.

(Fig. 01c)

10/31/2013 Trip Notes: Because I had been here on several previous visits with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Senior Facility, I did not hike to the petroglyphs or take any pictures other than the one below (Fig. 01d). As often happens, I am always looking for rock formations that remind me of something -  to me this one looked like a sheep lying down. The majority of my pictures today were confined to our stop at Hiko Spring … Hiko Spring Rock Art Site.

(Fig. 01d)

11/01/2012 Trip Notes: As I hiked other areas on this particular visit, I do not have any new pictures to add to this location. However, be sure to read on and visit links to more pages showing some of the many petroglyphs found at this location.

02/09/2012 Trip Notes: The rock hounds from the Henderson Heritage Park Senior Facility spent the majority of the day hiking Grapevine Canyon, with brief stops at Sacatone Wash and around some of the areas’ huge monolithic-like granite outcrops. This being my fourth trip to Grapevine Canyon, I have captured nearly all of its outstanding petroglyphs as well as having hiked up three quarters of its length. As a result, I really didn’t get very many new photographs on today’s visit, though I did find a couple of rock faces high up that contained a few petroglyphs (Figs. 02 & 03) that I had missed on previous visits. I also got a couple of pictures of a Western Chukwalla (Figs. 05 & 06) sunning himself that several people in our group spotted (Fig. 04) high up on a ledge.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

10/13/2011 Trip Notes: This visit was on a hike with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Heritage Park Senior Facility. Even though this was my third visit to the canyon, I had never climbed all the way to the top of the canyon and decided that I would leave most of the group behind and make the effort this time. I entered the wash next to the parking lot and headed west towards the mouth of Grapevine Canyon. The picture in (Fig. 07) below shows the view you have as you make the 1/4 mile hike up the sandy, dry wash to the base of the canyon.

(Fig. 07)

At the entrance to the canyon (elevation 2,395 feet) you are immediately presented with many of the more than 700 thousand year-old petroglyphs (Fig. 08) that dot both sides of the canyon walls. Excavations have revealed that some of these Petroglyphs protrude 40 to 50 feet below the current sand level in the wash. These are some of the first known petroglyphs and have been buried for hundreds of years. Used by the Mohave people, it is believed that the canyon may have served as a ritual location for summer solstice observations. Due to the number of petroglyphs here, I have created separate pages to present them. Click the following links for more petroglyph pictures ... ... Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs.

(Fig. 08)

Looking up, there is usually a slow stream of water trickles from the rocks at the base of Grapevine Canyon and runs a few feet before disappearing into the sand, however, on today’s visit it was bone dry. Even though I did find some water in a few small springs located further up the canyon, this is the driest I've ever seen it. The picture on the left is looking up the canyon, and the picture below is looking down towards the wash; both are from a previous visit.













For those who have not made this rather arduous climb, here are a couple of views you might enjoy. The first view (Fig. 09) was looking westward toward the top of the canyon, and shows the “grapevines” spread across the whole width of the canyon. I climbed to the edge of the purplish ridge behind the “huge” cypress tree in the center of the picture before turning back. The next picture (Fig. 10), is looking east, in the opposite direction of the one above, looking back down towards the wash with the Arizona mountains in the background; as is the view in (Fig. 01).
                               

(Fig.09)

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)

At about the halfway point in my hike up the canyon, I was rewarded with this petroglyph of four bighorn sheep (Fig. 11) on a rock that had apparently broken off and fallen from a ledge above. It was amazing that it landed face up showing these beautiful old depictions. As many of the Petroglyphs in the canyon seem rather “cryptic” and hard to decipher, it was a surprise to find one that was so discernable.

(Fig. 12)

Seen in one of the panoramic views above, here is a close-up  (Fig. 12) of the huge cypress tree I found in the middle of the canyon surrounded by a thicket of grapevines. Not only did its size amaze me, but the fact that it was there all by itself made it seem like a real oddity. How did it get there? Who planted it? How old is it? How has it survived the torrents of water that rush down this wash during the occasional monsoon rain storms?

(Fig. 13)

As I have noted in other postings, I often find rock formations whose shape remind me of something. Here is one that I captured that reminded me of a polar pear (Fig. 13). What do you think? In a similar fashion, the picture below (Fig. 14) shows a shadow that I accidently captured that resembles the profile of a human face. It made me feel as though the ghost of the person who may have created these ancient petroglyphs was still watching down over them.

(Fig. 14)

The next series of miscellaneous pictures are representative of the cacti, plant life, springs, catch basins and small waterfalls that I captured along my hike up Grapevine Canyon.

03/30/2011 Trip Notes: I first visited Grapevine Canyon with my wife Connie on a return trip from Laughlin in 2010. My latest visit was on 03/30/2011 when I visited with my cousin John from NY, who met us in Laughlin on his way home from wintering in New Mexico. We spent a lot more time here than I did on my first visit and I couldn't believe how many petroglyphs I had missed on my first visit. They seemed to be just everywhere, many located quite high up on the ledges that line the canyon. Even though John’s telephoto lens (Fig. 15) was much larger than mine, I was still able to capture some nice shots of petroglyphs that were quite high up on the canyon walls (Fig. 16). Again, if you haven’t done so yet, visit the following links for more petroglyph pictures ... Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs.

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

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Slideshow Description: The slideshow above contains 53 pictures of Grapevine Canyon, many showing some of the hundreds of petroglyphs you will experience at this site.

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