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Rock Art

Native American pictographs and petroglyphs. No directions or waypoints to rock art sites unless they are already known or published.

154 posts

Hondo Wash Pictographs

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

Grass Canyon Petroglyphs

Grass Canyon Petroglyphs

Native Americans passed through Grass Canyon thousands of years ago and left their marks on the basalt. I am not sure why they picked these rocks, though. There are plenty of other surfaces around that don't have anything on them. But this spot where a basalt butte meets

Parson's Ranch Petroglyphs

Parson's Ranch Petroglyphs

Cary's Castle North Petroglyphs

Cary's Castle North Petroglyphs

In 2016, on an adventure north of Cary's Castle (one of many), I stumbled upon these petroglyphs hidden among the granite boulders of the Eagle Mountains. The abstract designs appear to be Desert Archaic in style, likely created by indigenous peoples who traveled these washes for thousands of

Burham Canyon Pictographs

Burham Canyon Pictographs

Two things make Burham Canyon remarkable: the vibrant pictographs painted in red, white, black, orange, and traces of blue, and the fact that women from three different tribes traveled here specifically for childbirth. The Kitanemuk considered it home territory, but Kawaiisu women came from the northeast and Tataviam from the

Pocketed Rocks Petroglyphs

Pocketed Rocks Petroglyphs

Unlike the dramatic canyon walls at White River Narrows a few miles away, the rock art at Pocketed Rocks requires more careful exploration. The petroglyphs are more scattered here and, more interestingly, on unusual volcanic tuff formations surrounding tinajas (natural rock basins).

Greenwater Canyon Petroglyphs

Greenwater Canyon Petroglyphs

The Greenwater Petroglyphs comprise two distinct sites scattered along Greenwater Canyon in Death Valley. Etched into the Pleistocene-era Funeral formation basalt and volcanics, these ancient markings represent a significant Great Basin Abstract rock art collection in the California desert region. One thing that makes this site particularly remarkable is the