Back in 2012, one of my mine exploring trips got canceled at the last minute, so I suddenly had some free time on my hands. I decided to try to find a supposed arrastra and petroglyph site out in the Mojave desert. Arrastras are always fun to find because they are so rare besides being historical. Petroglyphs are more common but can be equally difficult to locate. (Not to mention, they are both cool.)
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Black Lava Butte Petroglyphs
Black Lava Butte is one of a pair of mesas rising from the desert north of Pioneertown within the Sand to Snow National Monument, its dark basalt cap slowly eroding at the edges. Lava-covered mesas are rare in the Mojave, and these two stand as remnants of volcanic flows that
Hondo Wash Pictographs
The Hondo Wash pictographs sit where granite boulders narrow the canyon to a passage. Rock art on both sides of the wash, exactly the kind of spot where people would pause as they moved through.
The site features both petroglyphs and painted images in red and black. What's