Trailhead address: White Domes Road ( Mouse’s Tank Road), Valley of Fire State Park, Overton, NV 89040 Drive another 3.3 miles to the intersection by the start of White Domes Road, turn right and take this road for 1.2 miles to the parking area at the start of Petroglyph Canyon Trail. Drive another 1.1 miles to the first trailhead on the right.Īrriving from the east, from the intersection of Route 169 and 167 near Lake Mead, drive west on Valley of Fire Highway for two miles to the park’s east entrance. Go a tenth of a mile and bear left to stay on White Domes Road, bypassing the visitor center. Drive another 3.5 miles and turn left, following a sign for the visitor center and Mouse’s Tank. Reach the park’s west entrance after 14.5 miles. At the end of the offramp, go southeast on Valley of Fire Highway. To get to the trailhead: From Las Vegas, take Interstate 15 north for about 35 miles to exit 75 (signs for Valley of Fire State Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area). To see more petroglyphs in the park, check out Atlatl Rock. Please report vandalism and do not do anything to damage the petroglyphs. Valley of Fire State Park charges an entrance fee, but no permit is required to hike to Mouse’s Tank via Petroglyph Canyon Trail. The “tank” is a stream-worn basin hidden among the rocks that traps and holds precious water during long dry periods. One of his favorite hideouts was this wild and inaccessible canyon. Mouse’s Tank is named for a renegade Southern Paiute Indian who gave other Indians and settlers in this region great trouble during the 1890s. Instead, the tank gets its name from a Paiute Indian called Mouse who hid out in this area. Mouse’s Tanks is not named after a furry little mammal. The tinaja is not suitable for drinking, but you can imagine how it would have been useful for Native Americans traveling through the area. Walk the final 20 yards to the top of a pour over with smooth sandstone ledges containing a tub of water. After 0.35 miles of hiking, come to a sign directing you to turn left to reach the end of the trail. The terrain widens temporarily and then the sandstone formations framing the trail push together. Petroglyph Canyon Trail Petroglyphs along the side of the trail A third area of petroglyphs comes 0.2 miles from the start and there are a few more after that. You won’t be able to take too many steps before spotting even more petroglyphs on the dark surfaces on the north side of the canyon. This is the largest grouping of petroglyphs on the hike with numerous figures, animals, and symbols etched into the rock. Walk a short distance and you will come to another area of petroglyphs on a tar-colored boulder set back from the trail, also on the left. The largest area of petroglyphs on Petroglyph Canyon Trail Ancient Native Americans used flat surfaces of desert varnish as their canvases for rock art, so pay attention to these areas along the trail. The desert varnish is a patina of iron and manganese that leached from the rock and evaporated over the course of thousands of years. With the black layer carved away, the petroglyphs reveal the orange rock underneath. The petroglyphs were etched into desert varnish, a layer of dark rock on top of the sandstone. This rock carving looks like four people holding hands. Do your part to make sure this doesn’t happen! Early petroglyphs along the trailĪfter just 1/8 of a mile, you’ll see the first obvious group of petroglyphs on the left (north) side of the trail. Traveling off trail can destroy artifacts left behind by the Native Americans who spent time in this canyon a few thousand years ago. The park asks hikers to stay in the wash and not climb on the surrounding rocks, which are fragile. Set out southeast on Petroglyph Canyon Trail, hiking along the bottom of the sandy wash with formations of red sandstone on both sides. A sign at the start shows examples of the rock-carved symbols that you might see, accompanied by potential translations. A picnic area among the red sandstone formations on the opposite side of the road is one of the nice places to sit down for lunch in Valley of Fire State Park. Petroglyph Canyon Trail begins off White Domes Road (also called Mouse’s Tank Road) about a mile up from the park visitor center.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |