Great Basin National Park Gallery

Great Basin National Park Rock Art Gallery

I visited Great Basin National Park on the afternoon of Monday, November 4, 2019. While the park is not really known for its rock art, one of the Rangers at the Visitor Center tipped me off to an area of the park accessed by a four wheel drive road along a creek that had some caves with pictographs in them. She did not give me specific directions so it took a little exploring to find the caves. There were a number of caves above a beautiful creek, and I explored them all. Only two had pictographs– the first had a sign at the mouth of the cave identifying it as “Upper Pictograph Cave” and stating that it was closed. It appeared to be a large and deep cave, that I would have loved to explore. I was able to see and photograph some pictographs around the cave entrance. The second cave with pictographs was signed as “Lower Pictograph Cave” and was also closed. This cave was much smaller and shallower and I believe I was able to see all the rock art without entering the cave. None of the rock art I saw that afternoon was spectacular, but it was interesting none-the-less, and I had a great time exploring the stunning area around the creek. For the trip blog that includes my visit to Great Basin, look here. Below are some of the pictures of rock art I took that afternoon at Upper and Lower Pictograph Caves.

20191104_124735 — The entrance to the Visitor Center at Great Basin National Park, with Wheeler Peak in the background.

20191104_131301 — On this Great Basin map, you can see the four wheel drive road I took along Baker Creek. I turned left onto the road from the paved road to the Grey Cliffs Group Camping Area. Can you find it on the map?

Photos From Upper Pictograph Cave…

20191104_133503 — The sign at the mouth of Upper Pictograph Cave.

In this photo you can see the sign (from the photo above) down by the mouth of Upper Pictograph Cave. This view gives you some idea how large and deep it is.

The only rock art I could see inside the cave was these red lines and perhaps one element.

The rest of the art at Upper Pictograph Cave was to the right of the cave entrance, beginning with this panel. All of the anthropomorphs were very faint and faded.

A closer view of the upper portion of the panel.

DS_20191104_134258_CRGB — A D-Stretch of the the panel above provides some clarity.

Wish I could have seen this panel before it became so weathered and faded.

DS_20191104_134619_CRGB — A D-Stretch version of the panel in the photo above provides much more detail.

20191104_133810 — Yours truly at Upper Pictograph Cave, Great Basin National Park.

Photos From Lower Pictograph Cave…

As you will see in the following photos, the rock art in Lower Pictograph Cave was very different from Upper Pictograph Cave. It was all bold red, painted on very dark and often rough rock surfaces. Nor could I identify any anthropomorphic figures at Lower Pictograph Cave.

20191104_135119 — The sign at the mouth of Lower Pictograph Cave.

The above sign in context at the entrance to the very small and shallow Lower Pictograph Cave.

The sun was not good for photographing this site. As you will see below, I stayed long enough for the panel to the right of this element to emerge into the sunlight.

You can barely see the rock art that is in the shade.

I observed only one small element on the right hand side of this cave.

A little closer view of the element on the right hand side of the cave.

And Finally, a Picture and a Video of the Creek Below the Pictograph Caves…