Boulder Sunday, Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs

January 2019 · 2 min read

#BoulderSunday created by @shasta

Grapevine Canyon is a shallow ravine through the Newberry Mountains northwest of Laughlin, Nevada partially, in the Lake Mead National Recreation area. There are plenty of boulders!

Vegetation is typical of the Mojave Desert, with plants such as creosote bush, red-spined California barrel cactus and indigo bush.

It is a half mile walk from the parking area along an easy sandy trail to the mouth of the canyon where there are several hundred panels of petroglyphs, I visited in the winter months when the temperatures were pleasantly cool, but expect desert heat during much of the year.
A half mile longer more strenuous hike takes you past several springs including the main one (Moss Spring). This is where you can find the wild grape vines (vitis arizonica) after which the canyon is named. The early Indian tribes gathered here near this water source for meetings and the signs left on the rocks gave messages about local conditions.

The petroglyphs are found on boulders and rockfaces along the sides of the wash, from close to the wash to about 50 feet up. There are lots of opportunities for rock climbing.

This rock art was created between about 1200 and 1800 AD.and the majority are crisp and distinct.
Designs have a wide range of subjects, including animals and human figures,
geometric shapes, and hunting equipment.