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Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park and the surrounding area in California

77 posts

Circle Sun Valley Pictographs

Circle Sun Valley Pictographs

While hiking in the backcountry of Joshua Tree over the winter, the good folks over at Peregriff and I came across this small pictograph site. There isn’t much to the site, just a simple rock shelter with a handful of red pictographs on the ceiling, but it is an

Sky Cross Pictographs

Sky Cross Pictographs

Deep in the wilderness of Joshua Tree National Park is a site that I call the Sky Cross Pictographs. This is a rather large rock shelter with unusual red lines painted across a domed ceiling. The lines form arches across the ceiling, reminding me of the night sky. There is

Wall Street Mill

Wall Street Mill

The Wall Street Mill is Joshua Tree National Park’s most intact remaining historic gold stamp mill. Finding a stamp mill like this is rare these days. I’m grateful the NPS has preserved it for future generations to enjoy. History Once owned and operated by renowned prospector and rancher

Pinto Wye Arrastra

Pinto Wye Arrastra

An arrastra is a simple and primitive gold milling device. Heavy stones are dragged over gold ore to crush it. Mercury and water are added to the floor of the arrastra to create an amalgam and capture the gold. There is some mystery about who built and used this arrastra.

Pictograph Boulder at Queen Mountain

Pictograph Boulder at Queen Mountain

Back in 2012, I decided to go out to Joshua Tree National Park and see if I could find a small pictograph site hidden in a boulder field in the backcountry. I had a good idea of where it was, but you never know for sure, and I would still

Circle Sun Ledge Pictographs

Circle Sun Ledge Pictographs

Hidden on a small, inconspicuous ledge deep in the Joshua Tree wilderness lies an intriguing pictograph site. When we discovered it after a lengthy bushwhack, the park archaeologist informed us that he believed it was a previously unrecorded site. Huzzah!

Lost Pick Prospector's Camp

Lost Pick Prospector's Camp

While hiking way out in the backcountry wilderness of Joshua Tree National Park, my friend JP and I stumbled upon an old prospector’s mining camp. Hardly anything is left at the camp: a few cans, wood debris, a rock-stacked wall, and a fireplace. Hidden nearby in a pile of