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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.

149 posts

Ascending Sheep Pictographs

Ascending Sheep Pictographs

We found an amazing set of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs in the Utah desert. The panel consists of an animal spirit figure surrounded by bighorn sheep and two amorphic figures on the right. In the center of the panel, the animal spirit figure is a composite of a bighorn sheep’

Blue Sun Pictograph Cave

Blue Sun Pictograph Cave

My friend Don Austin coined the name "Blue Sun Cave." The Kumeyaay people once lived here. And even though there is no water nearby, the shelters created by the massive granite boulders provided a welcome home in this harsh desert. The pictographs are considered to be the La

Monolith Alcove Pictographs

Monolith Alcove Pictographs

In early 2016, I met up with DarthJenni and JP to do some exploring in the backcountry of Joshua Tree. We went on a slightly longer-than-normal hike into a seemingly endless maze of granite boulders, arches, and spires. It was almost enough to get lost in. We wandered through an

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

The Juggler Petroglyphs

The Juggler Petroglyphs

This is an interesting and fun little Fremont petroglyph site in the Molen Reef just east of Emery, Utah. Concentric circles surround this single anthropomorphic figure. Amusingly, he looks like he is juggling suns, hence the name. It’s possible there are a few more petroglyphs around in the immediate

Belden Arrastra and Mikiska Petroglyphs

Belden Arrastra and Mikiska Petroglyphs

I had looked for this arrastra some time ago but instead found another mining camp. That ended up being a good trip, even without finding my elusive target. Still, it wasn’t an arrastra. So, some time passed (actually, a few years), and it sort of dropped off my radar,