Showing posts with label Petroglyph canyon trail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Petroglyph canyon trail. Show all posts

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Petroglyph Canyon Trail to Mouse's Tank - Desert Hiking

Petroglyph Canyon Trail to Mouse's Tank
Valley Of Fire State Park, Nevada

Located just a little over an hour drive from Las Vegas, Ronnie and I did a day trip out to Valley Of Fire State Park in Overton, NV. Before hiking Mouse's Tank, Rainbow Vista and White Domes trails, we stopped at the Visitor Center/Rangers Station in hopes of purchasing a color Trail Map of the park. Unfortunately, they had run out of those but were handing out an 8x10" copies of printed maps. Being the weekend and great weather, the park was packed! Enjoy some photos of our first day hike at the Valley Of Fire State Park - the Petroglyph Canyon Trail to Mouse's Tank.



Balancing Rock
The trail (more of a walk) to Balancing Rock is heavily trafficked out and back. It starts at the Visitor Center. This photo was taken from our car as we rode past it.











Petroglyph Canyon Trail to Mouse's Tank
The Petroglyph Canyon Trail begins off White Domes Road, and is also called Mouse’s Tank Road. It's about a mile up from the park's Visitor Center and a picnic area is located on the opposite side of the road. The picnic area is covered and has parking and several picnic tables. A sign at the start shows examples of Petroglyphs and their possible translations. 



It is advised to stay on the trail and not touch the Petroglyphs as they can be easily damaged and cannot be repaired or replaced. 

Surprisingly, this photo (left) and the next 4 photos turned out okay for being taken with my iPhone on zoom, as well as using the "Crop" function on my photo editor.









The trail is moderately trafficked and is an easy hike on level terrain. Left: Ronnie















Gorgeous rock formations everywhere
 you turn along this trail!




















Mouse's Tank
The end of the trail - Mouse's Tank is a natural basin in the rock where water collects after each rainfall. It is named for the Southern Paiute Indian renegade "Little Mouse" who used Valley Of Fire in the 1890's as a hideout after being accused of killing prospectors in the area. 

Pano of canyon from above Mouse's Tank

Desert Sand - it's like walking at the beach, but there's no ocean!

YouTube Channel - Hawaii Girl Adventures

Check out my YouTube channel at:  Hawaii Girl Adventures I will eventually be phasing out blog posts and be posting videos of my climbing, h...