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Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park and the surrounding area in California

76 posts

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. Once owned and operated by renowned prospector and rancher Bill

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 somewhat of a mystery about who built and used

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 and inconspicuous ledge, deep in the Joshua Tree wilderness, is an interesting pictograph site. When we discovered it in 2016, after a lengthy bushwhack, the park archaeologist told us that he believed it was a previously unrecorded site! Huzzah! The site consists almost entirely of abstract

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

Covington Falls Petroglyphs

Covington Falls Petroglyphs

There are a couple of very faint petroglyphs and pictographs out at Covington Falls. I think most hikers walking the route walk right past them without noticing. The petroglyphs are located at a granite dry fall that collects water after a good rain. This is a scenic spot. Shaded by