Pipes Canyon is a pleasant and easy hike. The trail heads out from the visitor center at the Pioneertown Mountains Preserve and follows the canyon up into a riparian habitat. The canyon is usually dry, but water does occasionally surface to support this isolated oasis.
Read next
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
Parson's Ranch Petroglyphs
Rattlesnake Canyon Smelter and the Heartbreak Ridge Arrastra
Most people interested in the old mines of Southern California know about the old "Spanish" smelter on the eastern edge of the San Bernardino Mountains. It is just off Burns Canyon Road in Rattlesnake Canyon and is well-visited.