There is a native Petroglyph site just outside of Laughlin. Heading west on Hwy 163 about five miles you turn right on Christmas Tree Pass Road. The road is in excellent shape and navigable by small cars. About two miles down the road you turn left toward Grapevine Canyon. A half mile down this road is the parking lot.
An easy walk in a dry wash takes you to the pertroglyph site. They are left, right, and straight ahead. Lots of them and a bit of rock scrambling allows you to see many more. The petroglyphs are a few hundred to a thousand or more years old.
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| Christmas Tree Pass Road |
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| The wash facing toward the petroglyphs on the rocks ahead. |
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| Balanced stones. |
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| See how shiny this huge boulder is? It was so smooth from water running over it for thousands of years. |
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| Well weathered and worn stones. |
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| This spring was running. Water attracts animals and people to theis area and has for hundreds of years. |
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| A view from the top. You can actually see parts of Bullhead City in the far off valley. |
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| We see a duck, do you? |
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| Nearly every rock face has carvings. The dark surface is called 'desert varnish'. Caused by the natural environment and makes for a great palete to carve petroglyphs. |
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| The most faded are the oldest. |
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| Brighter petroglyphs are newere, but still at least a hundred or two old. |
We talked to a couple from Stonewall, Manitoba who had driven the full Christmas Tree Pass Road the day before in their rental car so we figured we would be fine in the truck. The road was in very good shape for the first several miles, got a bit twisty and rough near the summit, then smoothed out for the remainder of the road.
The scenery was very nice. No Christmas trees as such but some nice Juniper-type trees that were very photogenic!
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| Looks like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars |
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| Huge rocks |
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| Lots of evidence of errosion. |
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| Incredible views |
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| Maybe a dogs face? |
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| Juniper-type bushes |
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| Very rugged |
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| Duck with a man-bun?? |
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| There were faces in so many rocks |
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| Did I mention the views?! |
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| More errosion. |
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| A close-up. Trees growing out of the rocks. |
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| Palm-type trees as well. |
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| Cal-Nev-Ari from near the summit. About seven or so miles away. The far mountains are in California. |
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| Good road. Smooth and all snad/gravel. |
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| The Davis Dam as we were entering Laughlin. |
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| Casinos in Laughlin. |
The whole road is only fifteen miles long and ends at Hwy 95 just south of the town on Cal-Nev-Ari. A pleasant drive, great scenery and a chance to hike as many miles are you wanted. It was a quick trip back via the highways (95 and 163).
A great way to spend a few hours, we arrived back in Bullhead City in the late afternoon.......and that was Our View From Here!
I love the name of the road every time we pass it makes me smile. Nice to know it can be travelled by truck we have always wondered. Love that area and all the rocks coming out of Laughlin. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWe saw that road when we were last in Laughlin but didn't do the drive, we will have to do it next time as it looks interesting from your post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great pictures of your drive. We had heard about Christmas Tree Pass from some friends and after looking at your pictures I am sorry we did not make time to ride over to it. Definitely on our list for next time. Thank you for taking us along on the ride.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great area with lots of variety in the geography.
ReplyDeleteStunning views. Love the amazing art work, you'd wonder how they could be such good artists so many years ago when their 'canvas' was a rock!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, I enjoyed it very much.