Access to the Coso petroglyphs is granted by the U.S. Navy to the Maturango Museum. We are honored to be able to provide tours to this world-class rock art site. Because security on the Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, is a priority, and because protecting the Coso petroglyphs is essential, we need all tour participants to be well informed before they enter the Base. The tour of Little Petroglyph Canyon is unforgettable. We want you to have the best experience possible!
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If you have not already seen our new slide show about the Museum's Tour to Little Pet Canyon, click on this photo and enjoy. Note the quality of the rock art, and note also the canyon you will be walking in. There is no trail- you will be scrambling over rocks and sand- which changes after every rain storm. "Class 2" walking. |
It is essential that you make reservations well ahead of the date you wish to go. The Navy requires us to have our paperwork in at least 10 days before a trip, and once it is turned in, no changes are allowed. No last minute additions or substitutions allowed.
Options for scheduling petroglyph
tours:
1) For a tour coordinated by the Maturango Museum, follow instructions
on the reservation form. The Museum charges a tour coordination
fee; $25 for members, $35 for non-members. Keep reading!
2) For a free private tour, contact the Public Affairs office directly (760-939-1683) to make arrangements. You will be responsible for finding two escorts, arranging car pools, and for filing all necessary paperwork. Up to 3 groups of 20 are allowed in the canyon each weekend day except middle of winter or summer. All of the information here applies to a private trip as well.
Tour Application/Registration form is available here. We'd prefer that you use this form, but you can certainly call the Museum and have a form mailed or FAXed to you.
TOUR INFORMATION:
-Tours are available through the Museum and are limited to 20
people per tour.
-Specific information is required for each registrant (see registration
form.)
-No children under 10 are allowed. Absolutely NO PETS are allowed.
* Only U.S. Citizens are being allowed to go to the petroglyphs at this time. Proof of U.S. Citizenship is now required for participants age 16 and older, PLUS photo ID. Acceptable proof includes Birth Certificate, current U.S. Passport, Naturalization Certificate, Military ID card- Active or Retired, Voter Registration Card, Blue DOD Weapons Division Badge. Your ID will be checked carefully at the NAWS gate.
-CAR POOLING IS MANDATORY: Please be prepared to either take additional passengers or ride with other people if asked by the tour escorts. The number of vehicles is limited to 7 total, and each vehicle needs to carry at least four people. If you drive a pickup truck or small car that only accommodates two people, you will need to ride with someone else in the group. There are some rough sections of the road, so vehicles must have adequate clearance - no Porsches...
-A valid driver's license, current registration and auto
insurance is required for each person driving and WILL be checked
at the Museum and at the Base gate.
-A picture ID is required of everyone 16 years old and older;
these will be checked at the Base gate.
-All vehicles will be searched upon entrance to NAWS. We
advise that you clean out any unnecessary items before leaving
home, or at least leave them at your Motel. NO ALCOHOL OR GLASS
CONTAINERS ARE ALLOWED. We cannot store such things at the Museum
- clean your vehicle before you get here!!
-PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY WEAPONS, KNIVES, etc. Any questionable
item may delay the group and might result in you and your vehicle
being denied access.
-Cameras and walking sticks should be in the trunk or very back
of the vehicle.
-NO pets are allowed.
-Some parts of the tour are difficult for non-hikers. Be sure to know your physical limitations. The canyon elevation is nearly 5,000 feet. There is NO TRAIL - you will be walking in a stream bed which changes with every rainstorm. It is composed of very loose sand, decomposed granite, and large basalt and granite boulders. It is not "a walk in the park," but rather "class 2" walking. Hiking poles with rubber tips, at least one, strongly urged to help you get up and down over the boulders. You will be stepping up and down a lot. You don't have to go all the way, or any farther than you want to, as long as you have a tour escort with you. You will be scrambling up and down over boulders!
MAKING RESERVATIONS Click here for the Tour Request Form
to fill out. but keep reading
* Museum charge for coordinating tour: $35 for non-members, $25
for members.
* Required: Each person's name, phone number, Social Security
number, birth date and birthplace- city & State.
* Reservations may be made in person, by Fax, or by mail.
* No phone or e-mail reservations, please.
* Please print clearly.
* Payment must accompany reservation form.
* Visa, MasterCard, and personal checks are accepted.
* Mail to: Maturango Museum, 100 E. Las Flores Ave., Ridgecrest
CA 93555 , c/o Petroglyph Tour Coordinator
* Fax to: (760) 375-0479, Attention: Petroglyph Tour Coordinator
* Confirmation will be sent upon receipt of registration form.
Information about Museum location, departure time, orientation,
etc. will be included.
* For information, call the Maturango Museum's Petroglyph Tour
Coordinator Fran, (760) 375-6900, Wednesday through Friday, 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. E-mail to matmus4@maturango.org
CANCELLATION POLICY:
*Cancellations are usually due to unexpected test scheduling or
adverse weather conditions in the canyon. If NAWS or the Museum
cancels your tour, you will be given a full refund or you may
reschedule. Individuals must cancel three weeks prior to the
date of tour in order to receive a (50% of your fee) refund.
No refunds are given for cancellations made after the 2-week deadline.
THERE CAN BE NO SUBSTITUTIONS once the
list is sent in to the Navy.
Group/organization reservations: (group size limit is 20) Please check with the Petroglyph Tour Coordinator for details. Group and organizations requesting reservations for 10 or more people must pay a 50% nonrefundable per person tour fee for each space reserved. Balance must be paid 30 days prior to tour. Again, NO substitutions once names have gone to the Navy. Call 760-375-6900 and ask for Petroglyph Tour Coordinator, Wed-Fri, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. For more information on group reservations, call the Museum and ask for the Petroglyph Tour Coordinator.
When: Tour members meet at the Maturango Museum at 6:30 a.m. sharp. Each tour member must report to the Museum Staff person to ensure an accurate count of participants. You must sign 2 waivers - one for the Museum, one for the Navy. The Tour Leader and escorts will give a short orientation talk and show a short video presentation. The number of cars is restricted and Tour Guides will help arrange car pools. All cars must go to and return from the petroglyph site in caravan. We pass through several Navy security gates. You will have 6+ hours in the canyon. Tours return to the Museum between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m. The Museum closes at 5 p.m.
You must call the Museum on Friday afternoon to check that the tour is still on!! It won't be until then that the Navy knows what their schedule will be, and we know what the weather is doing up there. Rarely will a tour be canceled the morning of the trip, but sometimes departure is delayed a bit for a Navy test.
Cameras/video/digital,etc. are allowed and encouraged in the canyon (only). A polarizing filter on your lens can enhance contrast in your pictures. Bring telephoto lenses and binoculars to help in viewing the designs up higher on the walls, as you are not allowed to clamber up to them. BRING PLENTY OF FILM, tapes, batteries, disks, whatever! - there are over 6000 images on many panels, and the light changes during the day highlighting different things at different times. You'll be shooting stuff on the way down and back! You will see animals unless it is very hot or cold.
Important Guidelines:
*Come to the Museum with a full tank
of gas. *Have enough food and
water (plastic bottles only) (at least 2 liters per person) for
the entire day. It is a 90 mile round-trip with no facilities
or stopping along the way.
*Have a backpack to carry your water and snacks, lunch, camera
stuff and clothing with you all day. It's a long way back to the
car and you can't go unescorted!
*No open-toe shoes (no sandals, Tevas), no loafers. (we're concerned
about snakes as well as rocks). Wear sturdy shoes! Long pants
best to prevent bites, sunburn, etc. etc.Use a walking stick
aid. Rubber tips on hiking poles are required by the Navy.
*No matter what month you come, you will need a hat, lots of sunscreen,
sunglasses, and layers of clothing. Mornings, especially in Nov
and Dec. can be quite cool up there. It can be quite hot in September.
There is no shelter or shade. You'll need head covering, and many
layers! Bring an ice chest to leave in the vehicle for cool drinks
when you get back from the hike!
*Bring twice as much film/tape/disk/batteries!! as you think you will need! There are over 6000 images in just this little canyon, and you'll get tempted to take each one several times, and again as the light changes! Don't forget to charge batteries, bring extras, etc. You will go crazy with your camera!
DETAILS ABOUT LITTLE PETROGLYPH CANYON AND THE TOURS
Little Petroglyph Canyon, (actually Lower Renegade Canyon), a National Historic Landmark, is located in the rugged volcanic Coso Range of the Upper Mojave Desert, on the test ranges of the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), China Lake, California. The canyons in this area contain what has been described as " the highest concentration of rock art in the Western Hemisphere." Thousands of designs have been chipped into the dark desert varnish over the past 16,000 years and the images are as varied as the artists who created them. The images include bighorn sheep, snakes, atlatls, anthropomorphic figures and abstract 'entopic' designs. Little Petroglyph Canyon has well over 6000 images for you see! It is the canyon which is little, not the petroglyphs! There are at least a dozen canyons with inscriptions in them scattered throughout the Cosos, but the Navy only allows public access to this one - and it is THE BEST!
Little Petroglyph Canyon is a north/south oriented canyon about 1.2 miles long, (round trip from the cars to the fence and back is 3 miles) and you walk in the sandy and rocky wash bottom. There is no trail. Some spots are steep but most of it is gentle sandy downhill. The first part is quite easy, the middle is moderate, and the lower end involves sliding on your rear down some very steep sections. Total drop is around 300 feet - which, of course, you must come back up... You will be walking over and around arroyo boulders. This is NOT an "easy hike." Climbing up on the 20-30 foot high side walls is not allowed. Good walking shoes (=hiking boots) are a must, and walking sticks might help you navigate. There is NO shade, and there are no trees. Small desert animals live there, including interesting birds, lizards, and rattlesnakes. The altitude is about 5000 feet; you are in an arroyo cut into the basalt covered Wild Horse Mesa of the Coso Mountains.
Click HERE for a page of some of our petroglyph panels. They are GIF and will take a while to load, but it'll give you an idea of what we have and how nice they are.
The National Park Service has developed a page of petroglyph
info featuring our Coso Rock Art. Be sure and check all the side
boxes and under the flashing X box for info.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/rockArt/index.htm
The facilities include vault toilets and a covered picnic area near the parking lot. You must bring your own food and water for the entire day. When hiking, you will need at least 2 liters of water per person. Salty snacks are highly recommended. (we're worried about heat exhaustion - salted snacks and lots of water will make sure you feel good all day!). Our desert is very dry and can be quite hot in early fall, even at this elevation.
The road to the site is mostly paved, and there is a long steep grade as you climb up on to Wild Horse Mesa and some rough in spots due to flash floods; the last seven miles are graded dirt. High clearance vehicles are required. 4x4 is not necessary.
The Cosos are a wild, beautiful place to be. There are dangers in the wild - be ready, be careful! The weather is of concern at all times - this is high desert and temperature extremes are normal! There are very poisonous rattlesnakes in all the canyons - it is their home - and we must be on alert for them. We will have you sign a waiver of responsibility so that you think about your safety at all times - it's YOUR responsibility!
Bird watching is fun - you'll see black-throated desert sparrows, chukar, ravens, rock wrens, sometimes a short-eared owl, at all times of the year. There are many lizards, and several species of snakes, both poisonous (sidewinder, Mojave rattlesnake) and non-poisonous (gopher, king, red racer).
The canyon itself is a delight - the walls are 20 to 40 feet high. The basalt rocks often have colorful lichens all over them (some on top of the rock art, alas). You'll want MANY pictures! But the hike is sandy and rocky - it's easy to twist an ankle if you're not watching!
No climbing up on the canyon walls. No walking on rocks with petroglyphs on them. Stay on the canyon bottom. Some folks unintentionally walk right on top of petroglyphs without knowing it or seeing them - and that cannot happen! Your escorts have been instructed to keep you on the canyon bottom or on dirt paths; no rock climbing!! There's a whole lot of rock art way up high (30 feet)- like our " logo" shaman - and you won't be allowed to clamber up closer to him. Think telephoto lens!
Please read all of this information carefully so that you can fully enjoy your trip to the petroglyphs.
Select several dates as these tours fill FAST!! Reservations with payment are accepted in person, by Fax, and by mail. No e-mail reservations, please! Please download the application and send this to us.
Dates for Fall 2009 Petroglyph Tours:
September 19, 20, 26, 27;
October 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25;
November 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22;
December 5, 6
Dates for next Spring will be announced in February, 2010.
Please consider: the low light of Nov and Dec is great, but it's COLD up there. If it rains, the roads turn to quagmire and trips cannot go. You might want to select a date earlier in the fall as 2nd preference, just in case. Sept and Oct- it's pretty hot in the canyon, light is sort of overhead, but you'll be there long enough to get different lightings anyway.
Museum tours meet at the Museum at 6:30 a.m. for check in, orientation (with video), and to establish car-pools. You will have about 6+ hours in the canyon, including lunch time.
Return to the Museum around 4 - 4:30 p.m. The Museum Store will be open until 5:00 p.m..
Books on rock art, petroglyphs, and on OUR petroglyphs, and two excellent local videos are available at the Museum and on-line for sale. Get these before you come and study up!!
IF you want to arrange a special trip with Peggy Shoaf at NAWS Public Affairs office, we are not able to assist you with the details. More than one group of 20 can be in the canyon at one time, and private tours can be taken any weekend day except mid summer and mid winter. 760-939-1683
Return to Maturango Museum home page
8/20/09