Overview

The White River Narrows Archeological District is an area of outstanding rock art that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The White River cut a narrow canyon through light-colored volcanic rock (rhyolite), providing a series of desert-varnished and unvarnished rock panels on which native people etched and painted representational (e.g., bighorn sheep and human figures) and abstract images. Unfortunately, vandals added their marks too (I have edited some photos to deny vandals the publicity they seek).

The BLM and Lincoln County opened this area to the public, and Lincoln County printed a 55-page brochure with information about the site (including GPS coordinates) as part of their Get Primitive tourism campaign. Download the brochure from Lincoln County or snatch a copy here. Stay off the unpaved road if it is muddy.

Link to Area Map, or North Sites Map, or South Sites Map.

Location

The White River Narrows Archeological District is located beyond the Pahranagat Valley about 130 miles north of Las Vegas on Highway 318.

From town, drive north on Interstate 15 to US Highway 93 (Table 1, Site 0674). Exit onto Highway 93 and drive north past Alamo and Ash Springs to the intersection of Highways 93 and 318 (Site 0677; about 110 miles out).

Turn left onto Highway 318 and drive west for 0.7 miles to Crystal Spring, which is marked by a stand of tall cottonwood trees (Site 676). The road forks here, stay to the right on Highway 318 and continue north.

At about 23.8 miles from Highway 93 (Site 1105), turn right onto the Old White River Narrows Road. The turn is marked with a stop sign. The turn-off apron is paved, and there is a cattle guard where the road goes through the highway fence.

On Old White River Narrows Road, stay to the left at two forks (Site 1106; Site 1107) shortly after leaving the pavement. Past the second fork, the road gets a bit rough as it runs up and over a low ridge -- perhaps not be suitable for a sedan. Past the low ridge, the road is fairly good until the last 0.2 miles where it get a bit sandy.

The road technically ends at a "No Vehicles" sign adjacent to the sign-in register. Park here; this is the trailhead, although it is obvious that some people continue driving the last few yards to the petroglyph site.

Hours

The area is always open, but it probably should be considered day-use only. There are no established camping areas.

Fees

None.

Note: In this area, gasoline is available only in Alamo and Ash Springs.

The Site

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 01), walk west along the old road watching the nearby cliff face. Within about 100 yards, rock art appears low on the cliffs. There are several panels, but the best are between 400- and 600 feet from the parking area (Wpt. 02), although rock art can be found most of the way to the end of the cliffs (near the highway; about 1/4 mile away).

After leaving this site, consider visiting four smaller sites on the way back. On the way out, the first dirt road to the right (Site 1110) loops out the the west and then back to the main road. Where the loop road first hits the cliff, look for some nice petroglyphs a few yards to the right (Martian Home Site; Wpt. 03).

Back on the main dirt road, the first left turn leads to an interesting panel (Calendar Fence Site; Wpt. 04), although it might be better to walk from the other end of the loop (Site 1109).

Continuing out, the second left turn (Site 1108) leads to two more sites. This isn't the best road, so it might be better to come in from the other end (Site 1106) on a much better road and walk a few yards to the Ash Hill Site. On the side road, drive south about 1/4 mile to a light-colored point of rock. The north face has some rock art (Ash Hill Site; Wpt. 05), although this site is more interesting for the layered geology.

Following the side road south, the road bends to the east, then shortly joins a much better road (Site 1113). Turn hard to the right (almost a U-turn) onto the better road and drive west towards the highway. When the road hits a point of dark-colored rock (Site 1114) with some amazing lichens, stop and check the east facing rocks for petroglyphs (Cane Site A; Wpt. 06). You don't need to get out of your vehicle to see most of these.

When ready, continue west and back to the highway (Site 1107). The total distance driven here is about 3.5 miles, so hikers could park on the pavement and take a nice day-hike around the area.