With a tip from a friend, I went out searching for a remote set of petroglyphs in the backcountry wilderness of Joshua Tree National Park in early 2020. I had a few clues in my search. I was looking for petroglyphs that were near an old campsite and hidden on the backside of a large boulder. That’s not a lot to go on in the vast wilderness of Joshua Tree, but I had a couple of other hints as well.
Read next
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
Pine City Overlook
Pine City was never a city. Instead, it's a peaceful collection of pinyon pines and junipers scattered among granite boulder formations at 4,200 feet elevation in Joshua Tree National Park. This unusual concentration of drought-resistant conifers in the otherwise sparse desert landscape likely inspired early miners to
