Name the Rock Art?

[Utahtea]

Well, I can't say as I've ever been there, but your clues point pretty squarely toward Grapevine Canyon, just outside of Laughlin! Next time I come up your way for a visit, Mark, I'll have to make a little detour and check it out!

In the meanwhile, I'll toss out an easy score for somebody:

Where is this set of petroglyphs? (Be as specific as possible):







More clues are available if needed, but this particular place is about as obvious they come!

Rick

I don't need any more clues since the answer is looking me smack in the face! ;) Been here at least once in 1988. I thought we had been again but can't find any photo proof that we had.

Utahtea

[Rick Quinn]

I don't need any more clues since the answer is looking me smack in the face! ;) Been here at least once in 1988. I thought we had been again but can't find any photo proof that we had.

Utahtea

Okay, then. What was the name of that place again? I didn't quite catch it in your answer...

Rick

[Utahtea]

I don't need any more clues since the answer is looking me smack in the face! ;) Been here at least once in 1988. I thought we had been again but can't find any photo proof that we had.


Utahtea

Okay, then. What was the name of that place again? I didn't quite catch it in your answer...


Rick

Petroglyph National Monument just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.


:)


Utahtea


Ok...let's try another. Hummm...where to go from here....there are so many to choose from! This one popped up on my Facebook memories the other day...so let's go with it.

The hint I'll give is there is a tool in the petroglphys and that's the name I'm looking for. This is not a place to visit in the summer!




These two pictures were taken in the same location.





Do you know where these are?

Utahtea

[DonnaR57]

Nevada - Valley of Fire State Park????

Petroglyphs and their relatives are always interesting, but we don't go out of our way to find them except when we were showing them to our kids when they were young.


Donna

[Rick Quinn]

Nevada - Valley of Fire State Park????

Donna

Donna takes this one! I have it on good authority that she is correct: those photos were taken in Petroglyph Canyon at the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

The tool: atlatl (spear chucker).

The exact location: Atlatl Rock!

Those are great pictures, really sharp! And some really interesting symbols, all left by travelers passing through.


Here's a spot with a similar theme, and a twist on the notion of what makes a petroglyph a petroglyph (as opposed to graffiti!):

Name this Rock Art:









Rick

[Mark Sedenquist]

Well, I can't say as I've ever been there, but your clues point pretty squarely toward Grapevine Canyon, just outside of Laughlin!

Yes, it is Grapevine Canyon and here are some of the articles we've published about it:

Camping at Spirit Mountain (September, 2016)

Grapevine Canyon (March, 2012) (This has a map!)

Ancient and Mysterious Wonders (April, 2005)

Carved in Stone (December, 2000)

And here's a photo that only a very few of folks who visit see. You have to climb past the first waterfall to see this intriguing section of grapevines! Peter Thody and I made this short trek in 2019.



And here is Peter Thody, (holding a RTA water bottle no less!) and Megan Edwards with some interesting art as we were leaving the canyon:



And here is an interactive map that Tom Herbertson built that shows one possible route for a day trip from Las Vegas to Grapevine Canyon, Christmas Tree Pass and back.



If you use the satellite view and scroll in, you can see how far up canyon the grapevines go. Fewer than 5% of visitors have ever walked to the upper canyon.

Don't miss this place on your next trip to Southern Nevada!

--Mark

[Utahtea]

Nevada - Valley of Fire State Park????

Petroglyphs and their relatives are always interesting, but we don't go out of our way to find them except when we were showing them to our kids when they were young.


Donna

Donna takes this one! I have it on good authority that she is correct: those photos were taken in Petroglyph Canyon at the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

The tool: atlatl (spear chucker).

The exact location: Atlatl Rock!

Those are great pictures, really sharp! And some really interesting symbols, all left by travelers passing through.


Here's a spot with a similar theme, and a twist on the notion of what makes a petroglyph a petroglyph (as opposed to graffiti!):

Name this Rock Art:









Rick

Donna and Rick are correct. My petroglyphs were from Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.


I have one picture with me and my boys from 1988 at the same petroglyphs in Rick's first picture. Back then with film and developing costs we didn't take a lot of pictures. We were in El Morro National Monument, NM

Utahtea

[Rick Quinn]

I have one picture with me and my boys from 1988 at the same petroglyphs in Rick's first picture. Back then with film and developing costs we didn't take a lot of pictures. We were in El Morro National Monument, NM

Utahtea

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Drive south from Gallup to Zuni Pueblo, hang a left (east) on NM 53, and you get a very pretty drive that's an easy alternative to a dull segment of I-40. As a bonus, you get not just one, but two National Monuments!

El Morro National Monument is the first, and you can see it coming from miles away: a steep-sided sandstone bluff with the ruins of a medium-sized pueblo at the top (not visible from the ground; you have to hike up to the top to check it out).


The main attraction here isn't the bluff, or the pueblo. It's more of an intersection of circumstances, and a cross-cultural aspect of human nature that spans the centuries. At the base of El Morro, there is a perennial spring that creates an oasis of sorts in this otherwise arid landscape. A reliable source of water, easy to find, has provided welcome respite for travelers as long as there have been travelers passing by this way.


The long, smooth sandstone rock face around the base of the bluff was perfect for pecking out petroglyphs. The Native Americans who were first to pass by left hand prints and symbols, their way of saying, "I was here."


After Europeans arrived in the area, Spaniards passing by carved their names, in flowery script, along with the inscription, "Paso por Aqui," Spanish for "passed by here." Everyone else who came along did the same, over the course of almost 700 years, altogether, creating a stone campground ledger with more than 2,000 entries. Travelers kept right on pecking out their names until 1906, when the National Monument was created, and Inscription Rock, as it's known, was officially protected from any further additions to the ledger.


The Inscription Rock Trail leads along the cliff face, an easy short hike that allows you to get up close and personal with the weathered carvings. As petroglyphs go, the inscriptions at El Morro are unique!


If you're traveling east, shortly beyond El Morro you'll cross into a section of badlands, extensive fields of black lava. NM 53 is the back door into El Malpais National Monument. Both of these National Monuments, along with Acoma Pueblo, which we already talked about, are featured in Scenic Side Trip #18.

If you're traveling on I-40 in either direction, and you're going to be passing through Gallup, this side trip is barely out of your way, and definitely worth the little bit of extra time required.

Now, all the rest of you guys: how about some more of that really artistic rock art?

[Utahtea]

This is one of our early finds and we've been back many, many times. It's an easy to reach location and there's no real hiking involved. My pictures are the main petroglphys and pictographs but it you go exploring you will find many, many more! What I love about it is there are such a range of dates of the petroglyphs and pictographs. I RARELY publicly post pictures of myself but I wanted to give you an idea of their size.









Do you know the location/name of these petroglyphs and pictographs?

Utahtea

[Rick Quinn]

Do you know the location/name of these petroglyphs and pictographs?

Utahtea

Oh my goodness--these are stunning! I had to stoop to Google, because I was dying to see if pictographs this size were even a thing--and of course the search engine took me right straight to your spot, because they're not only stunning, they're unique. Such a shame that "Clay Whipple" and his pals felt compelled to deface these treasures!

In any case, I now know where these are located, but since I cheated, I'll disqualify myself on this round, just in case somebody else knows about them through more legitimate means.

I'm taking notes here. My next trip to Utah is going to include lots and lots of petroglyphs (and at least one set of life-sized pictographs)!

Rick