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This page last updated on 07/15/2019
Introduction: As I began to discover more and more rock art sites during my hikes over these past several years, I have become witness to far too many examples of where persons had seemed fit to deface them with graffiti and other examples of damage. Eventually I realized that the sharing of my hiking adventures could have the potential to increase public exposure, and thereby increasing the possibility for even more damage. As a result, I decided to preface each of my rock art pages with the following information to help educate visitors about the importance of these fragile cultural resources. Before scrolling down, I implore you to READ the following ... as well as the linked page providing guidelines for preserving rock art.
Here are a few simple guidelines you can follow that will help to preserve these unique and fragile cultural resources that are part of our heritage. Guidelines for Preserving Rock Art. If you would like to learn more about the Nevada Site Stewardship Program, go to my page ... Nevada Site Stewardship Program (NSSP).
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Directions: The Shooting Gallery Game Drive District is about 105 miles from Las Vegas at the end of a rugged, gravel and dirt road. Take the I-15 N/US-93 N toward Salt Lake City and travel about 22 miles to US-93 N exit, EXIT 64, toward Pioche/Ely. Turn left onto US-93 N and drive 73 miles to Alamo. About a mile past Alamo turn left onto South Richardville Road (Fig. 02). Follow South Richardville Road for 1.3 miles to Curtis Canyon Road, and turn left (heading west). After 0.4 miles, take a right at the fork in the road (there is a “dump site” sign to the left.) Follow the main road, despite various branches (Fig. 01). At approximately 5.3 miles where you will come upon a fenced, gate. If it is open, leave it open; if it is closed, open it, drive through, then close it (cattle grazing). This is Repeater Road. At 5.7 miles, turn left and ascend a steep, winding road (note: Though this gravel road is well graded, lowest gear, 4x4 is advised from this point on). Follow Repeater Road. At 6.6 miles, stay to the right. At 7.1 miles, stay to the right through the valley. At 8.7 miles, there is an extreme reverse hair-pin (right-hand) turn onto Hilltop Road, a narrower road. This road will end in a fenced parking lot after another 0.3 miles (about a total of 9.0 miles from South Richardville Road) where there is a parking area and register (Fig. 03).
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Site Description: The Shooting Gallery Game Drive District, or aka Shooting Gallery Rock Art Site, derives its name from archeological evidence that early pre-historic inhabitants created a system of rock arrangements and hunting blinds to channel game towards hunters. The combination of a narrow valley, seasonally-abundant water, and good grazing for large animals makes this area one of the few now-known "game drive" sites in greater Southern Nevada. The area is currently thought to have been inhabited from as early as 2,000 years ago to as late as 500 years ago by several different groups. The rock art found here is representative of the three distinct styles found within the Pahranagat Valley: The Great Basin Abstract Style, that is predominately abstract symbols (circles, grids, etc,); the Pahranagat Representational Style (bighorn sheep, deer and anthromorphs with rectangular bodies and solidly pecked out bodies and heads); and the Fremont Representational Style, that resembles the classic trapezoidal bodied anthromorphs and quadrupeds. Click here for more detailed information and photos about the petroglyphs at this site ... Ref - Shooting Gallery Game Drive District Rock Art.
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07/12/2019 Trip Notes: After an early 6 am start, Jim Herring, Bob Croke, Ron Ziance and I drove to Alamo to hike the Shooting Gallery Game Drive District rock art site in search of petroglyphs. We arrived at the parking lot around 9:30 am and began our hike to the area containing the rock art covered boulders. We then spent nearly three hours hiking the area taking hundreds of pictures. Click here for pictures and a description of this trip ... Shooting Gallery Game Drive District - 07/12/2019 Trip Notes.
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| 12/16/2014 Trip Notes: Approximately five miles from US-93, Curtis Canyon Road begins to enter the mouth of Curtis Canyon (Fig. 01). After entering Curtis Canyon the road becomes what is called Repeater Road as it snakes its way up the East Pahranagat Range (Fig. 02), quickly climbing nearly 500 feet to an elevation of greater than 5,000 feet. Heading due south this road provides some outstanding views that peer down into the Pahranagat Valley (Figs. 04 & 05). Continuing to drive south on this road for another four miles eventually takes you to the parking area (Fig. 06) for the Shooting Gallery Game Drive District site. From the parking area we followed the path north down into the wash, where we passed a few yellow and brown BLM markers. Approximately 0.37-miles out, we climbed up the west side of wash. You will come to the first panel on a boulder field that stretches towards the base of the mountains and a rather deep, rocky ravine. As you work your way west across the boulder field toward the steep rock filled canyon you will encounter nearly a dozen petroglyph panels on large boulders, some containing as many as two dozen symbols (Figs. 07 & 08). As you can see from the collage in (Fig. 09), besides abstract symbols and many examples of zoomorphs of bighorn sheep, we also found some examples of anthropomorphs (human like figures). Unfortunately, bright sunlight on several of the panels we passed prevented us from capturing really good pictures. In addition to the rock art, we also found a boulder that contained what appeared to be some examples of grinding slicks (Fig. 10). Even though we spent several hours hiking in and around the large boulder field here (Fig. 11), we didn’t really have enough time to fully explore this area. Notice the large patch of moss on the rock below Harvey’s feet in (Fig. 11). Here is a close-up (Fig. 12). This was an amazing site that contained many more panels than we had expected. The fact is, there were some more panels indicated on the “guide” map that we had that we never got to see. We can’t wait to go back for another visit to see what else we can find. For even more information on the history of rock art in this geographical area, click the following link ... Ref - Understanding Nevada Rock Art. |
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| (Fig. 09) |
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| (Fig. 11) |
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| (Fig. 12) |
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Reference Materials:
Manuscript written by Kenneth C. Clarke
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