Stories on Stone: Rock Art from the Pahranagat Trail // ADVENTR.co

Presidents Day Weekend | Thursday – Monday, February 15-19, 2024

This year for the Presidents Day holiday weekend I decided to take Friday off from work so I could spend four days exploring and searching for rock art along the Pahranagat Trail, which straddles the Mojave Desert and Great Basin Desert in southern Nevada. Just like last year, I invited my friend Jared along and he was up for joining me again. Unfortunately, he was unable to get Friday off from work so we planned to meet up later that night, which meant that I was on my own for Friday. I left from work on Thursday afternoon, headed to St. George where I grabbed a late dinner and then found a spot to camp just over the state line in Arizona. On Friday morning I was up early and on my way into Nevada.

This time instead of following I-15 through the Virgin River Gorge into Nevada, I took the Cedar Pockets exit and followed the scenic road through the Beaver Dam Mountains during sunrise for a little change of scenery.

Beaver Dam Mountains Wilderness

Cedar Pockets Road

After returning to the interstate in Littlefield I finished the drive to the Moapa Valley and then started heading north on my way to the Pahranagat Valley. I took a detour along the way to visit a couple of petroglyph panels found at the base of the Mormon Mountains.

After finishing the drive to the Pahranagat Valley, I spent the rest of the day searching for a couple new rock art sites and then found a campsite for the night where Jared would meet up with me later.

On Saturday morning we woke up to a colorful sunrise and then spent the rest of the weekend searching for rock art along the Pahranagat Trail.

There was even a little bit of a sun pillar this morning.

Morning Virga

North Pahroc Range

Driving into the Valley of Faces.

Stone Cathedral

A short hike up Little Boulder Canyon.

It really should be called the Canyon of Faces…

Rock Art from the Pahranagat Trail

Below is a collection of just some of the photos of rock art I took this weekend while we were out exploring the Pahranagat Trail. Some of these sites were new to both of us and some of them I returned to with Jared since he had not been to them before.