The Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs are located in Grapevine Canyon on Spirit Mountain near Laughlin, Nevada, and are listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. The area is also known as Christmas Tree Pass.   The Drive is only about 10 miles from downtown Laughlin, NV and a great diversion from the slot machines and table games of the casinos.

From Downtown Laughlin Get on NV – 163 West.  Proceed about 6 miles, turn right on to Christmas Tree pass Road.  The Road is easy to find and labeled well.

The road in is dirt and you will see several warning signs stating that the road is not Maintained, even 4 wheel drive recommended. I realize that the National Recreation area is covering their own rear ends by listed this warning, but from the number of compact cars and 2 wheel drives in the parking area, most people choose to ignore this warning and proceed on.

About 2 miles and you will come do the Trail Head parking area.

Most trail maps state that the full trail is about 3 1/2 miles round trip to see the entire trail.  However, most of the fantastic Petroglyphs can be seen in a few minute walk from the parking area.  This was a easy stroll, and we witnessed several people that I would never refer to as “hikers” along the path.

 

This is a huge collection of Petroglyphs.  I read that this is an estimated 250 panels of glyphs.  Without a doubt this is the largest collection I have seen in one location at any given time.  Regardless of how many or what you have seen, this is impressive and I believe this would be enjoyed by all that see it.  without a doubt the ease of access and its proximity to Laughlin, make this a great diversion from the city.  So take the quick detour, before you go back the Smoking, Drinking, and Gambling of Laughlin.

Here are some of my photos.  All of these are “Camera Phone” images, and were easily obtainable.  I am sure a real photographer with a decent camera could have done much better.

Enjoy…