Zabriskie Point Badland Loop Trail - Death Valley National Park

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This page last updated on 02097/2018

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Destination: Zabriskie Point Badlands Loop Trail - Death Valley National Park Distance from Point of Origin: 120 miles. Estimated (One Way) Travel Time: 2 hours. Directions: The shortest route to Death Valley from Las Vegas is about 2 hours or 120 miles. From Interstate 15 South, EXIT on NV Hwy 160 West. Drive 60 miles to Pahrump, Nevada and turn left onto Bell Vista Road (3 miles north of Hwy 372). Drive 30 miles to Death Valley Junction, California and turn right onto CA Hwy 127. Drive about 300 feet and turn left onto CA Hwy 190 and drive 24 miles to the Zabriskie Point Parking area on the left side of CA Hwy 190. This route from the east is probably the most popular entry into Death Valley.                       Area Description: Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago-long before Death Valley came into existence. (See section at the bottom of this post titled, "Furnace Creek Lake") Zabriskie Point itself is an elevated overlook of a colorful, undulating landscape of gullies and mud hills at the edge of the Black Mountains, just a few miles east of Death Valley. The overlook is named in recognition of Christian Brevoort Zabriskie (1864-1936), president of the Pacific Coast Borax Company, who have been active in the Death Valley region since the 1890s. (See section at the bottom of this post titled, "Christian Brevoort Zabriskie")  The hard drought-plagued sun-baked slopes around Zabriskie Point support almost no vegetation and possess a start beauty. The rare rain that comes to Death Valley arrives in the form of downpours, which form the rills and gullies that reshape the landscape. The views from Zabriskie Point are impressive in every direction. To the northeast, Manly Beacon rises up behind waves of yellow and orange colored badlands. To the right of the beacon are the distinct cliffs of Red Cathedral (best seen from Golden Canyon).To the south stand dark multicolored mountains that tower behind the Artist’s Palette. Beneath Zabriskie Point are the upper reaches of Gower Gulch, which brings rainwater and eroded minerals to the salt flats below.                Special Attraction or Points of Interest: Several hikes emanate from a trailhead at the Zabriskie parking lot. The main trail is the start of the 2.5 mile Badland Loop. It also acts as the trailhead of the 1.8 (one-way) trail to the Upper Golden Canyon and the Red Cathedral. It can also intersect with the 4 mile Gower Gulch Loop trail. Primary Activity: Hiking and Photography. Secondary Activities: None. Elevation: The elevation of the trailhead parking lot is 653 feet above sea level. The second time the trail reaches Gower Gulch wash, the turnaround point for the Badlands Loop hike, the elevation is only 300 feet above sea level, a trail decent of 353 feet. Best Time To Visit: During the cooler months of Fall, Winter and Spring Hike Description: The Badlands Loop hike offers a great immersion into the terrain beneath Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park. This 2.5-mile hike is all badlands (Fig. 02). The trail starts down an obvious gully just north of the Zabriskie Point parking lot (Location marked (1) on (Fig. 02)). The gully expands as it descends, gradually leading you into a major artery of Gower Gulch. About half a mile in, a sign marks the start of the circular part of the loop (Location marked (2) on (Fig. 02)). To the right, the loop trail climbs out of the wash and up a steep badlands slope. The loop is easiest to follow by turning to the right. As you climb up the dried mudstone hill, the views of the badlands widen. Manly Beacon (Fig 04) and Red Cathedral (Fig. 05) appear over waves of orange mudstone. The trail puts hikers right in the center of this arid terrain. The well defined footpath continues down the badlands, eventually depositing you onto a large wash. At this junction (Location marked (3) on (Fig. 02)), there is a sign a marked with arrows noting Golden Canyon (to the right), and Gower Gulch Trail (to the left). The trail to the left is the continuation of the Badland Loop trail. To complete the second half of the Badlands Loop, turn left and follow the wash down to a merger with the wide gravely mega-drainage known as Gower Gulch (Location marked (4) on (Fig. 02)). At this point, turn left again and follow the main channel of Gower Gulch uphill towards Zabriskie Point. Its curves lead back to the sign marking the top of the loop (Location marked (2) on (Fig. 02)). From here, turn left out of the drainage and follow the same gully back up the hill, back to the trailhead. Difficulty: Easy. Though you need to be careful some grades with loose gravel, the majority of the trail in well defined on hard packed soil. Even hiking up the Gower Gulch is a flat, easy walk. Facilities: There are toilet facilities at the parking area Estimated Round-trip Time: The total round trip distance of this hike is about 2.2 miles. Some backtracking in the upper portion of the wash, searching looking for an alternative way back to the trailhead, added an additional .5 miles to our hike. Because we made several stops for water and snacks, conversation, talking with other hikers, taking pictures, etc., this hike took us nearly 3 hours. I estimate that most younger people could complete the entire round trip hike in less than two hours.

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12/18/2015 Trip Notes: Today I hiked the Badlands Loop trail at Zabrinskie Point in Death Valley National Park with fellow hiking partners Robert Croke, Blake Smith and Ron Ziance. First, we walked to the observation area atop Zabrinskie Point. The view in (Fig. 01) looks northwest out across the badlands and death valley. Picture Fig 01 in the collage (Fig. 05) is a view from the top of Zabriskie Point looking back down to the parking lot and hike trailhead. The view in (Fig. 03) is a close-up of Manly Beacon (elevation 820 ft) and Red Cathedral (elevation 980 ft). I have divided this hike into four legs (refer to the map in (Fig. 02).

Trail Leg 1: From the Trailhead at the parking area, you head out north (Fig. 04). A few hundred feet out, the view to the left is looking to the top of Zabriskie Point (picture Fig. 2) in the collage. In this picture and (picture Fig. 3) you will see some of the only vegetation along this entire route. As you reach the hills in the distance of (Fig. 04) you pass through a narrow area as seen in (picture Fig. 04) in the collage. We hiked up and down the variegated dunes' eroded ridges and gully's, then down a ravine until we reached Gower Gulch. The picture (Fig. 05) in the collage is Bob turning on his GPS to eventually create the map of our hike as seen in (Fig. 02). (con't below)
                           

(Fig. 04)

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Trail Leg 2: Reaching Gower Gulch was the beginning of the second leg of the trail; the actual beginning of the loop. From here we had a view back to the west side of Zabriskie Point. From the wide wash shown at the right middle of picture, we had to turn left and head up yet another steep incline. You can trace this trail we had to climb by going from the lower left corner of the picture, back down to the wash. The next .4 miles of the leg put us in the middle of the badlands. In the collage (Fig. 07): (picture Fig. 1) is Blake hiking up the hill out of the wash; (picture Fig. 2) was a "group" shot at the top of the hill; After reaching yet another hill, we had a great shot of Manly Beacon (picture Fig. 3); halfway up the first hill was a picture of observation point atop of Zabriskie Point (picture Fig. 4); the final shot was the wash at the end of this leg, which was an intersection where one trail led to Golden Canyon and the other to Gower Gulch (picture Fig. 5).

Trail Leg 3: This was the shortest leg of the hike. After turning left again at this intersection we followed the tributary wash for about 0.2 tenths of a mile until it "dumped" into the wide expanse of Gower Gulch. The picture in (Fig. 08) is looking west, down the wash; the picture in (Fig. 09) is where we once again turned left and headed east, up the wash. (con't below)

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Trail Leg 4: This hike following Gower Gulch uphill was by far the longest leg of the loop. The collage in (Fig. 10) show a grouping of pictures we captured along the way. It was obvious that the heavy rain storm last month had washed tons of rocks, silt and mud down the entire length of the wash. Much of the mud, some of which was more than three inches deep, was still in the process of cracking and drying out. this wash was the only other place along the whole hike where we found a few examples of vegetation. Instead of turning left at point 2 on the map (Fig. 02), we made it even longer by trying to follow it all the way back to the parking area. Unfortunately just a few hundred feet short of our goal, we ran into an area of very slippery boulders requiring some "bouldering" that was beyond our skills. Because we had to then backtrack back to the (2) intersection and then retrace Leg 1 back to the trailhead, this added nearly an additional mile to the total length of our hike.

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Furnace Creek Lake: Millions of years prior to the actual sinking and widening of Death Valley and the existence of Lake Manly, another lake covered a large portion of Death Valley including the area around Zabriskie Point. This ancient lake was here approximately nine million years ago. During the several million years of the lake's existence, sediments were collecting at the bottom in the form of saline muds, gravels from nearby mountains, and ashfalls from the then active Black Mountain volcanic field. These sediments combined to form what we today call the Furnace Creek formation. The climate along Furnace Creek Lake was dry but not nearly as dry as today's. Camels, mastadons, horses, carnivores, and birds left tracks in the lakeshore muds along with fossilized grass and reeds. Borates which made up a large degree of Death Valley's historical past were concentrated in the lakebeds from hot spring waters and alteration of rhyolite in the nearby volcanic field. Weathering and alteration by thermal waters are also responsible for the variety of colors represented here.

Regional mountains building to the west influenced the climate to become more and more arid, causing the lake to dry up - creating a playa. Subsequent widening and sinking of Death Valley and the additional uplift of today's Black Mountains tilted the area. This provided the necessary relief to accomplish the erosion that produced the badlands we see today. The dark-colored material capping the nearby badland ridges is lava from eruptions that occurred three to five million years ago. This hard lava cap has retarded erosion in many places and possibly explains why Manly Beacon, the high outcrop, is much higher than other portions of the badlands. Manly Beacon was named in honor of William L. Manly, who, along with John Rogers, guided members of the ill-fated Forty-niners out of Death Valley during the gold rush of 1849.

Christian Brevoort Zabriskie: Christian Brevoort Zabriskie was born October 16, 1864, at Fort Bridger, Wyoming territory where his father, E.B. Zabriskie was stationed. "Chris" attended various schools while growing up and at a very early age went to work as a telegrapher for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad at Carson City, Nevada. He was too restless and ambitious to stay in one place for very long and soon moved to Candelaria, Nevada, (now a site) and worked for the Esmeralda County Bank. Being an active young man, one job was not enough to keep him occupied and he soon branched out into other ventures, one of which was a partnership with a local cabinetmaker to establish a mortuary. Neither of the two knew how to embalm, but it wasn't considered necessary in a mining town - prompt burial was! Zabriskie's life took on new meaning in 1885 when F.M. "Borax" Smith hired him to supervise several hundred Chinese coolies at the Columbus marsh area of the Pacific Coast Borax Company near Candelaria. This was the beginning of a lifelong career in the field of borax. He ultimately became vice president and general manager of the company and served in that capacity for thirty-six years until his retirement in 1933. During this time, the Pacific Coast Borax Company had phased out most of its borax operations in the Candelaria vicinity but had moved on to greater production in the Death Valley area. All this occurred long before 1933, when the area became Death Valley National Monument, but Zabriskie point remains to honor a man who devoted many years of dedicated service to the Pacific Coast Borax Company. On February 8, 1936, just three years after retirement, Christian Brevoort Zabriskie died.

Black Mt. & Red Mt. Trails at Bootleg Canyon

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12/29/2015 Trip Notes: This past week, Robert Croke, Harvey Smith and I decided to drive out to Red Rock Canyon to hike two mountain trails in Bootleg Canyon over near Boulder City. For this visit we decided to for go hiking up Bootleg Canyon Trail (Fig. 02) and chose to drive up Bootleg Canyon Road to a parking and trailhead above the canyon. For this hike we decided to go in the afternoon in hope of obtaining some better pictures of Lake Mead. We chose to hike to the summit of Black Mountain first (Fig. 01). About three-quarters of the way up you  get a view looking down onto Boulder City (Fig. 03). From the summit you get a great view of Lake Mead and the surrounding area (Fig. 04). Using my telephoto lens, I captured pictures of the Lake Marina, the Boulder Dam Casino and a section of the dam bypass bridge (Fig. 05). Near the top, there was a small-like cave. I convinced Harvey to get inside for a photo opt (Fig. 06). On the way back down to the Trailhead, there was a great view of Frenchman Mountain on the east side of Las Vegas (Fig. 07). (Con't below)

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Trip Notes Continued: Upon reaching the parking lot, we decided to hike the trail up to Red Mountain Overlook. Near the top, we reached the upper launching platform of the mountains' four zip lines (Fig. 08). Click this link to read about the zip line ... Zip Line at Bootleg Canyon. The picture of the Red Mountain Overlook was taken from the zip line platform (Fig. 10). Before heading up, three mountain bikers had come up behind us and were going to head down one of the mountain's many extreme bike trails (Fig. 11). The view from the top in (Fig. 12) is looking back down on the parking lot and trailhead. Harvey is pointing out (Fig. 13) to Bob the location of the gun club he joined in Boulder City. After soaking in all the great views in every direction, we had a view of Las Vegas as we hiked back to the parking lot (Fig. 14). Having not hiked here before, both Bob and Harvey really enjoyed the hike and the views.

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First Creek Canyon (RRCNCA) - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 03/07/2019

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Destination: First Creek Trailhead Distance from Point of Origin: 26.5 miles. Estimated (One Way) Travel Time: 35-40 minutes. Directions: Directions: From the Stratosphere Casino, take a right onto Las Vegas Blvd south (the Strip) to Sahara Ave. Turn right onto West Sahara Ave (NV-589) and continue to follow W. Sahara Ave for 10 miles until it turns into Desert Foothills Drive. Continue on for about 4.5 miles and turn left onto NV-159 W. Charleston Blvd. Continue to follow West Charleston Blvd NV-159 (which becomes aka Blue Diamond Road) west for about 9 miles and turn right to the trailhead and parking area (Fig. 02). Note: The trailhead can be reached from the south by driving west on Hwy 160 (Pahrump Highway) to Highway 159 (Blue Diamond Road). Turn right onto Highway 159 and drive north for about 7 miles, passing the entrance to Spring Mountain Ranch to the parking area on the left.. Area Description: This hike is wrestled between Oak Creek and Spring Mountain Ranch (Fig. 02) in the middle of the desert Cottonwood Valley, beneath the towering red-and-white Wilson Cliffs in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.. From the trailhead, the first part of the hike runs thru and area that was burned in a wildfire. However, further out the landscape is heavily vegetated with Mojave Desert Scrub vegetation. At and intersection, the main trail leads (left) into First Creek Canyon; a less defined “use-trail” heads (right) toward a small waterfall and plunge pool (when in season). Special Attraction or Point of Interest: First Creek Canyon is home to a very well known secret: the waterfall. But most people will never see it because it’s quite well hidden. Turning right at the junction (Fig. 02), the “use-trail” trail ends at a little waterfall that is surrounded by cottonwood trees, desert willows, and other shade trees around a large plunge pool cut into the surrounding conglomerate rock.  Primary Activity: Hiking and Photography Secondary Activities: Bird watching. Also be on the lookout for wild burros. Elevation: The elevation at the trailhead is 3,661 feet. Elevation at the waterfall is 3,831 feet. Best Time To Visit: Early Spring. Hike Description: This is a out-and-back hike. The hike to the waterfall is 1.2 miles. The trail that continues into First Creek Canyon and the First Creek Spring will add another 0.5 miles that requires some moderate boulder scrambling. Difficulty: Hiking across the well defined trails across the desert valley are considered easy. Once you reach wash in First Creek Canyon there will be some moderate to difficult scramble-ups depending upon how far up the canyon you hike. Facilities: None Estimated Round-trip Time: The complete round-trip hike to both the waterfall and into the canyon is about 3.5 miles and will take about 2 hours, depending upon how much time you want to spend taking pictures and enjoying the solitude and beauty of the surrounding area.  .

For more detailed information on the Wilson Cliff and Cottonwood Valley go to … Wilson Cliffs & Cottonwood Valley.

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03/07/2019 Trip Notes: Today, after a few days of heavy rain, Bob Croke, Harvey Smith, Jim Herring and I decided to attempt to hike the First Creek Trail in spite of flood warnings. For some of us this was our third visit to this trail, and we were so glad we decided to ignore the warnings. The waterfall was great. Click here for pictures and a description of this hike ... First Creek Canyon - 03/07/2019 Trip Notes. 03/03/2016 Trip Notes: Today, Robert Croke, Blake Smith and myself decided to return to First Creek Canyon in the Red Rock National Conservation Area for a second hike in hopes of seeing water at the location of the creek's waterfall. Unfortunately, even though there was considerable water flowing down First Creek, and the "plunge pool" below the area of the creek's "pour-over"/waterfall contained much more water than on our previous visit, there was no water flowing over the pour-over area. This was still yet another great morning hike, and provided many more additional picture taking opportunities. Click the following link for pictures and a description of this hike ... First Creek Canyon Hike - 03/03/2016 Trip Notes. 12/01/2015 Trip Notes: Today, Blake Smith, Robert Croke, Ron Ziance and I decided to head out to Cottonwood Valley to hike the First Creek Trail. At the trailhead (Fig. 02) the trail winds through a gate (Fig. 03), then bends southwest and crosses Oak Creek Wash. From the trailhead, seen in (Fig. 01), Indecision Peak (6,240) is on the left; in the middle at the back of the canyon is First Creek Peak (5,990); and on the right is White Pinnacle Peak (5,550). Heading westward across the gently sloping valley, about 400 feet after crossing the wash, the trail enters an area that burned in a 2006 wildfire (Fig. 04). Though some vegetation is growing back, most of the Joshua trees and other shrubby vegetation is gone. Beyond the fenced burned area, the trail begins to wander through a variety of shrubs, Joshua trees, Mojave yucca, creosote bush and blackbrush (Fig. 05). We even began to spot birds taking refuge in some of the cactus (Fig. 06). Click here to read more about this bird ... Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus). When we looked to the north (right), we could see First Creek Wash a few hundred yards in the distance.  About 0.4 miles out the trail crosses a north-south trending use-trail. The trail south leads to Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, and the trail north connects with a network of trails in the Oak Creek Canyon area (Fig. 02). As the trail generally runs straight towards the mouth of First Creek Canyon, it slowly angles closer to the wash. About a mile out you encounter a junction. The main trail runs (left) toward First Creek Canyon. At the fork, take the use-trail northwest, to the right. Follow this trail about 0.10 mile toward the wash and the waterfall. Once we reached the top edge of the wash (Fig. 07), trying to ascertain exactly what the “trail” is became quite difficult. As you can see from (Fig. 07) First Creek is quite deep and wide. As it turned out, we bypassed a steep trail that led down into the bottom of the wash. (con’t below)

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(Fig. 05) (Fig. 06)

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Instead of heading down into the wash, we continued to follow the top south edge of the wash which eventually let us to the upper edge of the falls. Standing here, Bob peered over to take a picture (Fig. 08). By peering over this 20 foot ledge, you could see where the large plunge pool area was located, which actually had a little water in it (Fig. 09). After taking in this area we decided to continue following the upper wash area towards the mouth of the canyon (Fig. 10). Along the way we spotted a variety of interesting items; some extremely water eroded trees (Figs. 11 & 12), some unusual rocks and formations (Figs. 13 & 14), as well as some lizards and rabbits. Just as we neared a place where we thought we might be able to climb up out of the wash, we came upon the First Creek Spring (Figs. 15 thru 18). We were quite surprised that the water was actually running down the wash at a steady clip. Several pools of water were so wide and deep, that we had to do some rock hopping to cross the area without getting our shoes wet. Even for this time of year, it was amazing to us that this area was still so lush and green. It seems obvious that during the spring months, when water from winter’s melting snows is flowing, this desert area must be blooming with color. Eventually, we had to work out way up and out of the wash (Fig. 19) to find the trail leading back to the trailhead. Another trail hiker we met that was returning from deeper into the canyon informed us that he had spotted a herd of 12 Bighorns up on the cliff of the south wall of the canyon. He even show us some of the pictures he had taken. Even with this disappointment, we all had a great day and can’t wait to go back here in the Spring.

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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

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Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)

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(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes: While hiking the First Creek Trail that crosses the flat, desert, Cottonwood Valley (Fig. 02) within the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, we spotted several of these wrens hovering around a grouping of cholla cacti. As we approached the area, most of them scattered to other bushes and cacti. Luckily, I was able to catch the picture in (Fig. 01) before he fled. Click here to read more about this area … First Creek Trail & Falls Hike.

(Fig. 02)

Description:  At 7-9 inches long, the Cactus Wren is the largest wren in the United States. It is a permanent resident of arid and semi-arid desert regions of the southwestern United States, ranging from southern California, Nevada, and Utah, and central New Mexico and Texas, southward to central Mexico. The most common area to find the around Las Vegas is the Cottonwood Valley throughout the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. I have heard that most Cactus Wrens seem to migrate out of our area during winter, but a few stay all year. It is characterized by a long, slightly decurved bill, dark brown crown with a distinctive white stripe over the eye, white throat, gray-brown back streaked with white and black, and white to buff belly and sides, densely spotted at the breast. Its barred wings and tail, and spotted tail feathers make it easy to identify.                             It is often found around yucca, mesquite, yet seems to prefer cholla cactus, where its nests are protected by the prickly cactus spines of a cholla or leaves of a yucca. Cactus Wrens are interesting in that they use nests all year for shelter, not just for rearing young. They build covered nests in cholla cactus. one would think that the spines would be a problem, but I guess it is more of a problem for nest predators than it is for the birds. The cactus wren primarily eats insects, including ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and wasps. Occasionally, it will take seeds, fruits, small reptiles and frogs.

Crystal Wash Rock Art - Main Site

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Site’s Cultural History: Evidence found in these rocks and the hillside beyond, indicates that this area was frequented by an ancient culture of people known as the Pahranagats, one of several known Southern Paiute groups. The Pahranagats represented a long-standing tradition of hunter-gatherer life ways over a period of time covering several thousand years. The size of this site is large enough to have accommodated a village of several small families, most probably during the winter months. Archaeological findings consisting of ceramic sherds, projectile points, four hearths, several cupules and some cobblestone alignments have been found on the site. Though not located in the more commonly occupied Pinyon-Juniper regions found in the 5,000-8,000 foot range, this site (between 4,100 to 4,200 feet) received water from the snow melt off from the surrounding hills and, with its large boulders, offered suitable protection against the wind, making it climatically more desirable than the lower valleys which were colder during the winter months. There are even several “cave-like” areas within some of the large rocks that show evidence of habitation. Like almost all ancient tribes, they etched the rocks with abstract images and representational figures of bighorn sheep and human images. Although we may never really know what most of the rock art here means, we can suspect that it was deeply significant to those who created it. We know from the study of many other sites, that it often represents ceremonial representations, marking of game trails, designation of cultural territories and even possible astronomical markers pertaining to such phenomena as the solstices and equinoxes. Click this link to view the page on the crystal wash entrance site … Crystal Wash Rock Art - Entrance Site.

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(Fig. 05) 11/12/2015 Trip Notes: On this visit I hiked the Crystal Wash main site with the rock hounds (Figs. 03 & 04) from Henderson’s Heritage Park Senior Center. We approached the site from the east by taking the Crystal Wash Main Access Road that runs north from highway U.S 93. From the parking area (upper right of Fig. 02) where we picked up some of the site’s handouts from the metal site register, we began walking down Crystal Wash towards the site (Fig. 01). As you can see from (Fig. 02), there are 10 designated boulder areas containing petroglyphs and other evidence of habitation. In addition to some cairns, the BLM has placed metal markers (Fig. 05) at each site area described in the handout. Due to the soft surfaces found on many of the rocks found here, it is obvious that hundreds, if not thousands of years of exposure to the natural elements of sun, rain and wind had taken a toll on these petroglyphs. Many of the boulders have begun to “flake away”, making many panels impossible to identify and or interpret. Below, by number, I have attempted to provide pictures and descriptions associated with the majority of these sites.

Site Marker #2: As you can see, besides many non-representational motifs or designs, there are also unmistakable drawings of anthromorphs of what appear to tiny mountain sheep. Although we cannot be sure what most rock art found here means, we suspect it was deeply significant to those who created it. In addition there are a third type of rock art know as Cupules or Pit-and-groove rock art. These evidence of habitation are thought to be the oldest form of rock art, appearing in the parts of the Great Basin 7,000 years ago (Fig. 06). Though the glyph in the lower right (Fig. 08) of this large standing boulder (Fig. 07) at Marker 2 may be representative of a humanoid figure, the remaining symbols defy any real interpretation.

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07) (Fig. 08)

Site Marker #3: At this site there is a grinding slick and some sheep-like figures (Fig. 09). Though extremely difficult to discern, it is alleged that there is a representation of an atlatl, or spearthrower, a device which enabled an individual to hurl a spear at a greater distance.

(Fig. 09)

Site Marker #4: At Marker 04, there are three tall, upright boulders (Fig. 10) on the skyline across the wash and up on a low hill. The boulders make for a good landmark. Some of these glyphs were so clearly visible it leads one to think that they may have been re-pecked by more than one culture over time. Superposition occurs when petroglyphs are engraved over already existing ones, an indication that the worked-over petroglyphs were made at an earlier time. This site also contains another grinding slick on a flack rock face in front of these boulders.

(Fig. 10)

Site Marker #5: At this location (Fig. 11) there are several flat boulders engraved with a great deal of remarkable imagery. Though almost not of it is possible to know the meaning of these images, they undoubtedly contain information that was meaningful to the Pahranagats. It is also possible that some of these drawings were superposition.

(Fig. 11)

Site Marker #6: Archaeologists have found evidence that this site(Fig. 12)  was the location of a wickiup, or typical structure used by the Pahranagats. These shelters were constructed of frameworks made of poles covered with grass brush, rushes, or arrow weed. They were often conical in shape and usually had a smokehole. For fuel, the Pahranagats would have use local brush, which back then was in ambple supply. To the left of this marker is a dark stain on the ground indicating the remains of a hearth, and in front of it is a flat boulder with several “pocked” impressions known as Cupules. There is also a larger hole, or mortar, which was used along with a stone pestle to process seeds, nuts, or possibly to mix pigments.

(Fig. 12)

Site Marker #7: These glyphs found at Marker 7 (Fig. 13) were on the inside of a somewhat protected “cave-like” wall in a large boulder that may have been used as a shelter. This site contains the only panel that displays pigment, or pictographs (rock art that is painted). The red pigment was a frequently used color obtained from hematite, a form of iron oxide. It is likely that at one time more color was present on this panel, but because pigment deteriorates very quickly, most of what originally existed has mostly disappeared.

(Fig. 13)

Site Marker #8: The panel here is a striking assemblage of anthropomorphic figures and is unique to the Crystal Wash site (Fig. 14). It has been put forth that this structure of boulders may have been used as a speech platform. There is ample room to accommodate an audience, and the rock art itself suggest a gathering of people. You might be able to distinguish the human figures better in the black and white close-up. If you look carefully, you should be able to make out nearly a dozen human figures. This is even further emphasized by the rough sketch (Fig. 15) that was found on the cover of the BLM handout. It should also noted that this is the highest point of this site and would have acted as an excellent look-out.

(Fig. 14)

(Fig. 15)

Site Marker #9: Because this location is somewhat outside of the normal composition of boulders that normally comprise a living area, it may have been some type of marker. The etchings (Fig. 16) on the two large boulders at Marker 9 were quite weathered and hard to discern due to the poor lighting by the sun. Unfortunately these symbols are quite abstract and tend to lack any great detail. It has been said that certain petroglyphs may have functioned as maps.

(Fig. 16)

Site Marker #10: This final location is yet another example of a rock shelter (Fig. 17).The private and less accessible nature of this shelter, as well as the cramped space within it, suggest it had special significance and was therefore set apart from the routine of daily living.

(Fig. 17

Cupules & Grinding Slicks: There are several examples of small cupules throughout the site. Cupules are generally considered rock art. In short, cupules are hemispherical, cup-shaped, non-utilitarian, cultural marks that have been pounded into a rock surface by human hand. In addition there were several examples of grinding slicks (Figs. 18-23). These are larger, deeper, flat basins set in granite or flat rock surfaces that were commonly used for grinding or crushing of foods with a stone mortar. Without digging down into any of these and destroying their integrity, it is impossible to determine how deep they actually are. I sure that over hundreds, if not thousands of years they have somewhat filled up with sand. A couple of these, located on the top of some boulders, may have been used to get much needed rain water. There appears to be a series of small holes surrounding one which may have been used to support a tripod–like structure. Could this have been used as a fire pit for cooking?

(Fig. 18) (Fig. 19)

(Fig. 20) (Fig. 21)

(Fig. 22) (Fig. 23)

09/02/2014 Trip Notes: On our way back from a day of riding the quads around the Hamlight Flats and Lake Valley, east of Pioche, Nevada, Harvey and I decided to try and locate the Crystal Wash Rock Art Site along Highway 93. Unbeknownst to us at the time, there are actually two entrances to this area; one titled the “Crystal Wash Access Road” and one called the “Crystal Wash Main Access Road”. We entered the area using the Crystal Wash Main Access Road (Fig. 02). Using this entrance actually provides the shortest, and by far the easiest hike to and around the main site. The picture in (Fig. 01) was taken looking west towards the sight from the trailhead from the parking area, upper right corner of (Fig. 02). Because we were on our way home after an already long day, we hastily hiked about the site following the markers as best we could, paying very little attention to the handout provided at the register at the trailhead. Though we did find many interesting petroglyphs, it appears that our findings were hit & miss. Later research has shown that we missed several glyphs and possible some habitation areas. The BLM has actually done a good job of placing steel markers at each of the main petroglyph panels, however, because I didn’t take the time to make notes on what pictures went with what marker, it was very difficult to correlate the pictures I took during this visit with the written descriptions in the handout. The pictures and information noted in the trip notes above was the result of my second visit to the site.

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