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Southern Nevada

Southern Nevada, including the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, Gold Butte National Monument, Valley of Fire State Park, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and sections of Lake Mead National Recreation Area

22 posts

Alkali Flat Native Site

Alkali Flat Native Site

We met up with a group of friends out in the remote desert of Nevada just off US 95 to visit a small native site. Turns out there is much more out in these small unassuming hills than I would have guessed. No directions to this site.

Yellow Plug Petroglyphs

Yellow Plug Petroglyphs

This is a small and interesting site, not all that far from Las Vegas, and in an area I wouldn’t have guessed would have many petroglyphs. The name originates from a land outcrop of yellow sandstone that the petroglyphs are on. My photos are from 2008 and 2023. No

Lone Grapevine Petroglyphs

Lone Grapevine Petroglyphs

When I heard about this site, I was eager to see it. The petroglyphs possibly show a historical event or at least contact with white man. Some of them look recent, though, so it is hard to tell just how old they are. After a short hike, we had to

Mouse’s Tank

Mouse’s Tank

This is a neat site inside the Valley of Fire State Park. It is my favorite petroglyph spot in the park. The story of how the tank (a tinaja) was named is interesting, although I’m not sure how accurate it is. I won’t recount it here. The petroglyphs

Atlatl Rock

Atlatl Rock

Not exactly a remote site, but Atlatl Rock is worth a stop. The site is inside the Valley of Fire State Park and is easy to find. The petroglyphs here are most likely the work of the Virgin River Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloans) and are pretty interesting. There are multiple sites

Brownstone Pictographs

Brownstone Pictographs

This is one of the most amazing pictograph sites around. They are set on Navajo and Aztec sandstone inside the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. I have wanted to go up there for a while, and one day in 2008, I had the chance to go with fellow explorer

Willow Witch Petroglyphs

Willow Witch Petroglyphs

We visited a small petroglyph and pictograph site out in the middle of a lonely Nevada valley. The petroglyphs are primarily around a rain-filled tinaja in a basalt lava flow. The tinaja is the only source of water for some distance. This would have been an important stop while traveling,