Saturday, April 8, 2017
Newspaper Rock in Gold Butte National Monument.
After work on Friday, Diane and I headed out of town again and drove through Utah right back into Nevada. It felt like we were just there recently? This time we would be staying in Mesquite for two nights so we could attend a concert in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Since the concert didn’t start until later in the evening and it was only an hour and a half drive to get there, we spent a few hours in the morning hiking within the newly created Gold Butte National Monument. This Monument was created at the same time as the Bears Ears National Monument back in December.
This would be Diane’s first visit to the area, but I’ve been here a few times in the past searching for rock art and unusual rock formations. This time I had my sights set on finding another petroglyph panel known as the Twenty-One Goats Panel. We took Diane’s Ford Edge on this trip instead of my Jeep, but we were still able to get everywhere we needed to go, although driving a little slower and more careful than usual.
I was surprised to see they already had a new sign up!
Our transportation this morning.
Following the wash to the petroglyph panel.
We quickly found the impressive Twenty-One Goats Panel, although I am pretty sure they are sheep, not goats…
Diane hiking back down the wash towards Black Butte.
It didn’t take us long to visit the petroglyph panel, so we headed over to the Falling Man area so I could revisit and Diane could check it out for the first time.
The EDGE of ADVENTR
Right off the bat I spotted a bunch of petroglyphs I had missed the last time I was out here.
Continuing up the trail.
Diane follows me through the small arch.
I was happy to find some nice wildflowers in front of the Gold Butte Newspaper.
We explored the area for a while and saw a lot of petroglyphs.
I think this was one of Diane’s favorites.
Hiking back out with a nice view of the Virgin Mountains in the distance.
The Falling Man
On our way back to the trailhead Diane spotted one last petroglyph panel high above that I hadn’t seen before, so we climbed up for a closer look.
As always, the best trip reports out there!
Thanks John!
amazing petroglyphs. going to try to find it this year. is that the same road as to get to the falling man? found a source saying 170 to Gold Butte road, follow for 21 miles. we have a Subaru Outback with good ground clearance, but AWD.