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Amargosa Basin

The Amargosa Basin, north of the Mojave Preserve and east of Death Valley in California

11 posts

Beacon Hill Petroglyphs

Beacon Hill Petroglyphs

The Beacon Hill Petroglyphs are reported to have nearly 600 ancient etchings spread across 31 boulders. However, after an exhausting search of the site, which left us questioning our eyesight and sanity, we found a dozen or so at best. Perhaps the desert sun has a way of multiplying petroglyphs

Halloran Spring Petroglyphs

Halloran Spring Petroglyphs

Surprisingly, just off the I-15 freeway northeast of Baker in the Mojave Desert of California are four or five groups of rock art scattered across small basalt hills and along a sandy wash. The main site is right next to the freeway. And when I say right next to the

Riggs Cabin

Riggs Cabin

Out near Baker is the Riggs Cabin at the old Riggs Mine. We first went out there on a chilly January day in 2004. I've been back many times over the years. It makes a nice place to camp. The oldest mine in the Silurian Hills, the Riggs

S and S Mine

S and S Mine

Way back in 2009, we went hiking out into the middle of the white-hot heart of the Mojave Desert in search of a modern mining site. We found it. The operation had been inactive since at least the early 1980s, and the mining camp was nearly intact. Almost everything was

Halloran Arrastra

Halloran Arrastra

In the summer of 2014, I was out in the Eastern Mojave exploring around (which is pretty normal for me). This time, however, I was looking for an old mining site with an arrastra. There aren’t too many arrastras left out in the wild, so finding one is always

Jake’s Cabin

Jake’s Cabin

We’ve been going to Jake’s Cabin for over twenty years. It is a great place to camp out in the middle of nowhere. The cabin is part of an old prospecting camp. A tin can dump is scattered nearby, and a small shaft is hidden down the wash.

Alta Silver and Rock Eagle Mines

Alta Silver and Rock Eagle Mines

Way back in 2004, I met up with Dan, my dad, Micah, Lewis, his son Aaron, Werner, John, and his cousin for a trip to some out-of-the-way mines out in the Mojave desert. Some of these are very old mines. This mine was discovered by Frank Riggs, who worked the