Historic Beauty near Las Vegas: The Petroglyphs at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area

Date: December 26, 2020

Place: The Petroglyphs at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas, Nevada,

Coordinates: 35.916271, -115.126113

Length: 4.4 miles

Level: moderate (includes scrambling up or down a dry waterfall).

Toward the end of the summer of 2020 it looked like things were getting better in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. The accursed 'curve' was being flattened and there was talk that the vaccine was in the making and will be ready soon. Then there was another surge and everything was being shut down again. All of the national parks in California were closed down as well and our plan for a family trip to Death Valley National Park on winter break was scrapped. I fell into deep depression, that was alleviated by a solo trip I took to the Coso Range Wilderness early in December of 2020. Meanwhile, Pappa Quail had devised an alternative plan for our winter break - a vacation in Las Vegas. It was a reasonable destination - Nevada was much more lenient than California but I was mortified at the thought of spending a whole week in Sin City. But Pappa Quail had no intention of spending any time within the city either - it turns out that Las Vegas is surrounded by great desert beauty all around, and all of the parks and hiking trails were open to the public. So I found us a lodge in one of the far outskirts of Las Vegas on the south, and we made the road trip there on a single da's drive on Christmas Day. 

The morning after Christmas we were ready to go hike and our first destination was the Petroglyph Trail at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. 

We weren't surprised to find the visitor center closed. The parking lot however, was nearly full - going outdoors was pretty much the only recreational activity left to people at the time, and people were making use of it, just like we were. 

Our trail as captured by my GPS

No canyon was visible from the trailhead, just a wide, dry wash that came from the south, from what looked like some low hills up ahead. We packed our water and snacks and started south on the trail, which at its beginning paralleled to the wash on the west. 

Petroglyph Trail

Soon the trail dropped into the wash and continued south within its slowly rising banks. Everything all around was very dry, wash bed, rocks, and nearly all the plants we saw.  The sun was bright and only a few feather clouds were in the sky. Looking back at my photos from nearly four years ago, it looks like it was a warm day in the desert. In fact, it was a cool day and the photos show we were wearing jackers. 

There were a few plants that had some green left in them. Some low mesquite bushes, too small to be considered trees. Most of the bushes we saw, including most of the mesquite, looked bone dry. It they were alive, it would have only been their buried roots below the ground. 

Mesquite

We saw some old, used bird nests on some of the bare bushes. It surprised me to see nests so close to the trail. I have a hard time believing that the birds could have raised their fledgelings in a location so accessible to humans. If they did, the hikers here must have ben truly well behaved. 

The nests we saw were all deserted, but there were birds active along the canyon, and Pappa Quail and the elder chika got busy photographing them. 

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

I was looking for other green and living plants, and as we got deeper into the wash, I found more and more of them. Many were short yucca plants, likely the Mojave yucca species.  

Mojave Yucca

We reached the trail junction where the loop going through the petroglyphs gallery begun, and we needed to make a choice: in which direction to walk?

The wash angled to the east and a small sign directed us there. The trail bypassed a small wash's opening and ascended the twisted rocks on the side. 

Shortly after we've ascended, the trail wash again and we continued upstream on the gravelly wash bed, in between the rising rock walls.   

The day warmed up as the sun rose towards the center of the sky, and within the canyon walls we were protected from the cool breeze. The wash was narrower here, but still wide enough to hike with ease. We walked at a good pace but occasionally had to pause and wait for the younger chika who seemed lost in her inner world. 

The mesquite I saw inside this part of the canyon were certainly greener, apparently able to hold on better to moisture in there. We paused there for a few minutes before the next part of the hike, to allow other hikers that were coming down the wash to move on. 

Mesquite

The next part of the hike involved scrambling up a dry waterfall. This waterfall was a bottleneck not only for water flow (which seemed almost fictional at the time) but also for hikers. A couple of family groups were slowly descending down the rock ledge and we waited patiently until they were down and moving on before we begun ascending it ourselves. 

Dry waterfall, bottom view

The dry waterfall had two drops. The elder chika made it all the way up but I stopped in the middle, on the flat ledge between the two drops. The younger chika was hesitant going up and Pappa Quail was supporting her from below while I aided her from above. Past me, Pappa Quail ascended the upper drop first and our roles switched: I supported the younger chika from below and Pappa Quail pulled her up from above. 

Dry Fall half way ledge, view downstream

Before ascending the upper drop I took a closer look at the canyon wall - the rock looked twisted and broken in so many directions that it looked chaotic. Later I learned that this was formed by an old volcano eruption and the twisted rock was lava cooled slow. 

I was the last of our family to make it up to the top of the waterfall, and I stood there momentarily to snap a few photos. The hiker that approached from the bottom while I ascended moved voluntarily to the side of the rock to avoid being in my frame. 

Dry Fall, top ledge, view downstream

We found the petroglyphs a short distance upstream of the waterfall. There were many of them, all around. Some were very close to the trail. 

Other petroglyphs were much farther up the slope of the wash's bank. Apparently there are over 1,700 distinct images in that one place, and that's why it's referred to as the petroglyph gallery. 

We sat down to rest and snack a bit before exploring the petroglyphs. I looked ahead where the trail continued inside the wash for as far as my eyes could see. At some point there would be a junction with a trail looping back, but from where we were I couldn't see where it split off. 

After a few minutes' rest we started exploring the petroglyphs. There were many of them, and the most interesting ones were a bit too far for my camera so I requested Pappa Quail to get some close ups for me.

While some of the petroglyphs were easy to understand, others were quite strange. They must have meant something to the people who etched them in the rock, but I couldn't figure out most of them. 

This area of Sloan Canyon has been used by the native people of the area for hundreds of years - the older petroglyphs date over a 1,000 years ago. Others are newer - only a couple of centuries old. The try desert air preserve them exceptionally well. 

I must admit that some of these petroglyphs did evoke in me some thoughts similar to those expressed in Erich von Däniken's books about aliens that visited Earth in ancient time and left their impression on stone age people.  

Petroglyphs

If I'm not mistaken (I've read his books many, many years ago), von Däniken's did use native people's art as supporting evidence for his theory. I must admit that the petroglyph artist did have some interesting inspiration, and certainly lots of creativity. I do know however, that many types of nNative American ceremonial regalia could inspire these figures as well, and there's no need to look for it in other planets. 

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs were not the only distant thing that Pappa Quail photographed for me. He also took photos of a few lovely looking barrel cacti that grew between the dark rocks that were the canvas for the petroglyph artists. 

California Barrel Cactus, Ferocactus cylindraceus

As with the bighorn sheep images, there was no problem figuring out the meaning of the cactus image, especially when the model plant was growing next to it. 

And there were the petroglyphs that most f all reminded me of today's graffiti. Images that look abstract to me but probably meant something to those who inscribed them and their friends. 

Petroglyphs

I'm pretty sure we saw only a limited selection of the 1,700 that were identified in that canyon, but it was time to move on and I returned my focus to the local plant life, even the dry looking plants. 

Cholla Cactus

We continued for a while inside the wash where the petroglyphs were. The canyon walls receded and the wash banks became gentle-sloping hills, but the wash bed narrowed. 

We found one last petroglyph rock on that part of the trail. A rock with mainly abstract figures and a coupe that could be seen as human figures. 

Petroglyphs

We reached the junction with the trail that was looping back, and we paused for a little to drink some water. The main wash trail continued south into the depths of the Sloan Canyon Wilderness. I assume that there are times of the year in which the longer hike would be very appealing to me, but it is fairly unlikely that I'll get there. Not in any foreseeable future, anyhow.  

A narrow foot path took us up a narrow side wash between the low hills. There were more green yucca plants growing by the trail and up the mild slopes. 

Mojave Yucca

The trail ascended the side of the smaller wash, snaking northward just below the crest of the hills. One of the hills had a large rock monument protruding from its top. 

I was compelled to climb up there for a closer loop but Pappa Quail and the chikas were striding away, so I followed them, settling for an enlarged photo of the buttress. 

I caught up with my family when they paused to check out another deserted empty nest. This nest too was right by the trail, easily accessible to any hiker. 

The trail ascended more. We passed a small patch of dried up creosote bushes that were too sparse to be considered chaparral, but dense enough to provide shelter to small wildlife. 

The wildlife we saw there, consisted primarily of small bush birds. Some of them were even out in the open, considering us as we considered them. 

Black-throated Sparrow

Considering that we were going upstream when we were inside the Sloan Canyon, and that we continued ascending also on the loop trail back, there had to be a steeper downhill part of the trail coming our way. Sure enough - after a good deal of a mild uphill walk we reached the high point, where we also got a nice view of the south part of Las Vegas. 

Las Vegas View

Pappa Quail and the elder chika had other things to look at from that view point - a large red-tailed hawk circled the sky overhead, looking for pray. 

Red-tailed Hawk

From there the trail dropped steeply down towards the wash. We walked carefully as to not slip on the loose gravel that covered the trail. I used the slow pace to get good impression of the twisted volcanic rocks that flanked our path. 

Some of these rocks I saw on the way down looked exactly like the twisted rocks that we saw earlier inside the wash. They might have originated in the same eruption event. 

More rock buttresses appeared along our path. They were smaller than the first one we saw earlier, but they were still prominent above the line of the hill. They too looked like they would be nice to see up close, but I resisted the temptation and remained on the trail. 

When we reached the wash I turned and looked upstream again to where we started the loop part of the trail, in the direction of the Petroglyph Gallery. The shadow of the canyon walls was longer now - we were well over mid-day. Winter days are short. If we wanted to go anywhere else today, we needed to be walking quicker now.  

Turning back north we started walking briskly down the wash. We were going relatively fast now, but I still took pauses to look at what attracted my attention, like the cotton top cactus by the trail side. 

A mile or so later the trail separated from the was, ascending onto the low alluvial plateau above it. We continued northwest above the wash. I took a photo on a rare moment where I saw no other hikers on the trail. Otherwise, it was more like a hikers highway. There were still many people out to see the petroglyphs. 

We reached the parking lot and found it full of cars that stretched to an overflow area. The chikas immediately said they were hungry. I snapped one final shot of Sin City then got in the car. A late lunch was next on our agenda. After that, Pappa Quail wanted to check out the Clark County Wetlands Park, which was supposed to be the local birding hot spot. 

Our 2020 winter break trip started well with a hike through a beautiful desert wash with a fascinating historic site of very cool petroglyphs. It is a very nice option to any nature lovers who find themselves in, or passing through the area of Las Vegas. I was glad to find in the week that followed, that someone like myself could enjoy Las Vegas a great deal without visiting the strip even once.