2016  HIKING, CYCLING,

& RV TRAVEL ADVENTURES

Thunder Mountain Trail, Red Canyon, UT

 

   
 
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   VALLEY OF FIRE STATE PARK, p. 4:
PETROGLYPH CANYON & THE VISITOR CENTER

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6

 
 

Continued from the previous page.

PETROGLYPH CANYON AKA MOUSE'S TANK

After hiking the White Domes Trail loop, I went back south on White Domes Rd. and stopped at Petroglyph Canyon. That was the first of two places where I saw numerous petroglyphs today. 

By late morning, I encountered more people on this trail than the first two. They were spread out enough, however, that I was able to take most of my photos without any people in them. The next picture is at the beginning of the oath, where the pavement ends and soft sand begins:

Instead of the variety of pastel hues in the rocks along the White Domes Trail, most of the rock formations and walls in this canyon are red or reddish orange and many of them have some dark "desert varnish" on them:

 

The canyon has a second name -- Mouse's Tank -- that recognizes an outlaw named Mouse who used the area for a hideout in the 1890s.

The "tank" is a natural basin in a slot canyon at the end of the developed trail, about 4/10ths mile from the road. Water collects there after rainfalls. In the Mojave Desert, water is a precious commodity so people and animals tend to live near any source of water they can find.

I could see some water in the rank today but it wouldn't be real easy to reach:

 

I was more fascinated by the prehistoric petroglyphs I saw all along the canyon on the walls to the north (left, outbound).

Various tribes from the Basket Maker People to Anasazi Pueblo farmers lived in this area from approximately 300 B.C.E. to 1150 C.E.  Paiutes were living here when the Mormons settled nearby in 1865. You can read a lot more about the history of Valley of Fire at this link on the park's official website.

Excellent examples of rock art left by the Basket Makers from 2,500 years ago can be seen in this canyon. They scratched out numerous pictures in the large splotches of dark slate blue or black colors called "desert varnish" on the tan and reddish walls: 


I used extra saturation and contrast when editing this group of petroglyphs so  
they can be seen better in this entry; the colors are more faded in person.

It's a miracle that so many of the pictures are still visible.

Some of the petroglyphs along this path have obviously disappeared over the years either because the varnish has worn off (weathering) or pieces of rock have fallen off the walls, such as in the next two pictures.

I marked the petroglyphs with a little red dot in the first picture and show a close-up of some of them in the second photo:

 

I was on high alert during this hike because I didn't want to miss any petroglyphs! I had to go very slowly and keep looking up to find the pictures but I think I found all of the ones visible from the trail on the way in. I double-checked coming back out and didn't see any more from that direction.

I didn't use binoculars. I did take high-resolution photos (57.7M) that I could enlarge in great detail while editing on my computer, and found even more petroglyphs in that process than I did with my naked eyes during the hike.

I can't show all of them here so I'm presenting some of the most interesting rock formations and rock art. Not all of the formations shown here have rock art on them.

Above and below:  I showed two more photos of this petroglyph grouping at the top of this entry. I put
a red dot above the varnish; the man looking up at the rock art gives the formation some perspective.

 

I didn't see any petroglyphs on the rocks to the right (above) . . .
but there are some on the formation to the left (below).

 


Side of the formation facing the trail

The petroglyphs on that formation are higher up than some of the others so I had to zoom in on them. They are also more weathered than other clusters of rock art in this canyon.

Note the tiny hands at the top right in the picture above. A board at the trailhead that has possible meanings for some of the symbols indicates hands mean either a personal signature -- or death.

Here are a few more pictures from several other groups of petroglyphs along this trail:

 

 


This one has several animals on the side and top, most likely bighorn sheep.

It is significantly harder to find the petroglyphs in this canyon than at Atlatl Rock, which has a large wall covered with numerous pictures. If you have very limited time in the park and can go to only one of the petroglyph sites, I'd recommend going to Atlatl Rock instead of Petroglyph Canyon.

With more time, do both sites. Hunting the petroglyphs in this canyon was fun! Kids would love it, too, especially if they're competitive with each other and want to find the most petroglyphs.

I mentioned to one couple that for all I knew, I was looking at more recent graffiti but they said no, they'd been on a guided tour of the canyon previously and what I was looking at was the real deal. That's good to know.

Here are some other photos from this interesting trail:

 
Two people are climbing the rocks, lower right.

 


Brittlebush


Curiosity

Above and below:  This spot near the end of the trail
looks almost haunted with several skull-like rocks.

 


One of many arches and windows I noticed in the park today; this one is near the trailhead.

The trail through this canyon was all deep sand and slow-going. I went through a lot of soft sand in the first two trails, also. The sand is sometimes almost white, sometimes more pink or orange, depending on the types of nearby rocks. Very cool. 

I recorded 1.05 miles at Mouse's Tank, which included exploring a slot running off the main trail. This trail has less than 100 feet of total elevation gain and loss.

I wonder if Mouse ever noticed the petroglyphs?

VISITOR CENTER 

I continued south on White Domes Road and descended the long hill to the visitor center, which was open by now. The building is set against the base of a long ridge of red rock that would be fun to explore if someone has time:

 

I wandered through the displays and checked out the small gift shop, which has books, postcards, and souvenirs for sale.

I was hoping for a cool "fire wave" design on a shirt but was disappointed they didn't have anything like that.

Windows face south across the valley toward a long ridge of gray mountains called the Muddy Mountains that are composed of the oldest exposed rocks in the Valley of Fire.

Interpretive panels in the visitor center say that fossils of ancient plants and animals in these rocks place them in the Paleozoic Era between 250-550 million years ago:

Water covered this whole area starting about 600 million years ago. The gray rocks are primarily composed of limestone and dolomite from the remains of all the plants and animals that once lived in that warm, shallow sea. Deposits were laid down over several hundred million years.

The red rocks in the park are younger, laid down in the Mesozoic Era between 66-250 million years ago.

VALLEY OF FIRE, EAST:  ELEPHANT ROCK

After leaving the visitor center I continued a short distance south to the end of White Domes Road and turned left on Valley of Fire Road/SR 169.

Then I drove several miles through the park to the east gate, which I marked with a red dot on the second picture below, and parked at the Elephant Rock trailhead just inside the gate:

 

 

There are restrooms, a large stone shelter, and interpretive panels at this parking area.

I hiked a short distance over rolling terrain to Elephant Rock, not knowing you can see it right from the road until I was driving back past it and on the wrong side of the car to take a picture. There is no parking along the road in front of the elephant and signs warn drivers not to park there.

Above and below:  trail to Elephant Rock

 


There are several caves and niches along the trail.

The "elephant" formation at an angle (under red dot in picture above;  a closer shot below)

There are better perspectives than this but I didn't realize it at the time. You can see other angles that look more like an elephant if you do an internet search for "elephant rock nevada."

STONE CCC CABINS

On the way back west I turned off on a short paved road to three tiny stone cabins built by the CCC in the 1930s to house travelers on the Arrowhead Trail, which used to run through the park between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles:


Westbound on Valley of Fire Rd. from the east gate


Narrow road to the cabins; there are restrooms and a shelter here, too.

 


The cabins blend in so well with the rocks because they are made from the same kind of rock!

Above and below: There are two buildings with three separate spaces inside.

 


View past the cabins

The cabins are no longer used but they are historically significant -- and photogenic.

As I continued west on Valley of Fire Road I took photos of the Seven Sisters -- a line of seven big red rocks -- as I drove past them . . .

. . . then I headed for the Scenic Loop Rd.

Continued on the next (and final) page:  more petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock, scenes from two campgrounds, and views of arches and other interesting rock formations

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup

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© 2016 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil

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